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Gears of War Preview

Blasting onto the 360 with an explosive mix of hectic bullet exchanges and tactical, wall-hugging gameplay, this 3rd person shooter from Epic will have you itching your trigger finger and scratching your head in equal measures.
 
 
  Arriving, sorry, ‘emerging’ in time to make your Christmas a particularly ferocious one, you’ll control hard-man Marine Marcus Fenix, who lead designer Cliff Blezinski describes as ‘a guy who could kick your ass in a bar-room brawl, but would rather talk you out of it first’. Controlling a ruffian such as Fenix is great for two reasons. One, he has access to the most brutal weapons seen thus far on the 360 and two, he has the most tremendous box jaw seen thus far on the 360 (well apart from the guy from Prey). With guns such as ‘that one with the chainsaw on the back’, GOW certainly has earned its 18 age rating.

You’ll need to master the combined arts of sprinting for cover, shooting things in their heads and praying for your life in the campaign mode, wherein the discovery of a new energy source called ‘Imulsion’ and the subsequent bursting forth of awakened beasts called ‘The Locust Hord’ from the ground is just an excuse for a hedonistic and scare-tastic gaming experience.

The Locusts themselves are a race of alien-type creatures, a lot like Halo’s Covenant, that include many different and bizarre species. The main cannon fodder is the semi-intelligent drones, which pack a mean punch on their own. When coupled with other Locusts such as the 10ft mini bosses (think Hunters) and the flying bat-like creatures (think buggers) GOW promises a variety of combat opportunities.

Score:

9.4