If I'm going to review Gears of War, I couldn't help but get the same feeling as another franchise with "war" in the title.  No, I'm not talking about God of War, I'm talking about something outside of the video game market.  Game producers and designers hate being compared to the movie medium because they feel like games do much more than a movie ever can, but I can't help but draw parallels between Gears of War and Star Wars.

Yeah, that's right.  As I started in with Gears and I expected the story to be integral, I realized that it was more about the ride than the actual details.  Let's face it, Gears of War was likely intended to be an ongoing franchise from day one.  You don't put that kind of production value and marketing dollars behind something that you think will come and go.  This was supposed to be a finely crafted world in which the immersion would be resonating.  But you know what?  When you first sneak up behind one of the Locust enemies and lay the chainsaw into them and feel the controller vibrating to the grinding of the flesh, it's one of the most satisfying moments I've ever experienced in a video game.

It was like that first moment that I saw Darth Vader walking through the smoke and dead bodies onboard that hijacked ship in "A New Hope."  As a matter of fact, as things progressed through the game and the story was only alluded to and not expanded upon, I couldn't help but think that this whole game was analogous to the experience of sitting through that first Star Wars film.

The thing is that it had a lot more personal touches that I will talk about later, but let me first let you know what I mean.

A New Hope was an experience when it was released in 1977.  It wasn't something where you anticipated the dialogue to be magnificent prose of uncompromising elegance.  It was probably what many would term the first great "popcorn" flick.  It was about the actual experience of watching some spaceship jockeys blow up a giant killer planet in style.  It was about a relentless enemy that wouldn't stop until it had completely dominated the universe.  It was about a rogue mercenary who cared about nothing but himself and belted "Woooooo-hoooooo" a lot.  Oh and it was about an incredibly hairy manbeast and absurd hamburgers-taped-to-the-head hairstyles.

As I read many people criticizing Gears of War for its undeveloped story, I can only think of the same lack of depth that the first Star Wars had.  I know that many, including myself, had expected more from the story, but I tend to think that since video games are about interactivity, I came to the conclusion that I didn't really care in this initial game.  To me, I loved Halo, but I didn't come to appreciate the mythology and depth to Halo's story until after I played Halo 2.  It was funny because after I finished the campaign of Halo 2, the first thing I did was go back and redo the campaign from the original Halo to see if I missed anything.  

In that I think Gears has succeeded in creating a world that many of us will wind up caring deeply about much the way that Empire Strikes Back did for Star Wars.  The key for Gears of War was to lay that groundwork and establish a gameplay style that would rise above any shortcomings in plot.  And Gears succeeded magnificently in doing exactly that.  The gameplay in this game is remarkable.  The fact that your enemies charge you if your teammates are down is a testament to the fantastic AI.  

You all know it is a "stop n' pop" game as opposed to the "run and gun" style of Halo.  I learned this very, very quickly as I had a hard time making it out of the very first area.  I suddenly realized that I was playing a game that was going to redefine shooters, but I didn't realize how much until the first time I asked someone to join my game.  I suddenly realized that experiencing cooperative play over XBL in Gears of War was worth every penny I paid for my 360 and XBL.  There is nothing like being able to strategize with someone else and saying, "OK, you take the guy on the left, I'll take the one on the right."  You then count down so you pop up at the same time and blow some Locust Horde away.  Obviously that ability carries over to the multiplayer but I'll get to that in a moment.

While I openly wondered whether or not the pop and stop gameplay would be appealing to me, I had no idea that the co-op would wind up becoming like gaming crack.  I got to a point in Act Two where I didn't even want to play the game unless I had someone tag-teaming the Locust with me.  It was more fun to not only go through the campaign that way, but I found that it really brought out the voyeur in me.  I wanted another person to see me get better and pop some Locust melon with the sniper rifle.  It was something that I never expected, although I probably should've considering my brother's repeeating over and over again how much he loved co-op in other games and wished there was more of it.  I think this is the game that makes co-op become something that is essential in future games.  Although my one knock on the co-op is when you have to seperate I wonder how come your AI teammate can't revive you?  This can make for laborious games of replaying the same section repeatedly because when one of you finally figures out what they're doing, the other one still has to do the section perfectly each time.

I also realized playing through the game one little thing that became somewhat of a revelation to me.  I had no idea that I often loved games for their enemies rather than the hero.  The Locust Horde was very well balanced and Gears introduces new characters to you at a nice pace.  You are killing largely the same bi-pedal creatures for a good portion of the game, but the Berserker was one of my favorite enemies of all time.  My heart was literally racing when I first stumbled across this she-beast.  Her relentless attacks made you want to go hide in a corner and not come out.  Yes, there are times when she could be slow, plodding or get caught on cover points, but the several times you run into one, the pacing is excellent and she is a frightening beast.  The Kryll were also an inventive and eerie opponent that were terrifying if you happened to wander into the dark by accident.  Also, the Boomers were a nice touch because they're aggressively stupid.  They'll basically charge right at you and will announce when they're about to shoot.  Their deep voice reminded me of one of my brother's favorite movies and the Orson Welles voice of Unicron in Transformers: The Movie, but he informed me that was just by coincidence.

I also enjoyed the final boss in that we see him gutting a COG soldier earlier in the game, but Marcus Fenix and company don't have to face him at that time.  Unlike other games, you don't get a couple of pot shots at him earlier and then face him later to finish him off.  I never liked that about certain other games.  When I face a guy, I want it to come to a conclusion.  Him or me, that's it.  But overall, the enemies were largely what makes Gears so fun.  My epiphany consisted of realizing that it wasn't necessarily controlling Master Chief was what made Halo so fun.  It was the perfect balance between facing Elites and Grunts and Jackals and Hunters.  Gears has that same great balancing in enemies.  

I thought the level design was fantastic and had a lot of variation despite the fact that the cover system is ubiquitous throughout the game.  And while many complain about the length of the game, I liked it's length.  If there's one thing that Jerry Seinfeld taught us, it's that it's best to go out on a high note and leave people wanting more.  I most definitely wanted more once the game ended, but at the same time the memory from the first Halo rang in my head.  Don't get me wrong, I love Halo: Combat Evolved but the campaign wound up being tedious and laborious by the end.  It felt like work and a great game should never, ever feel like work.  It should feel like it's your destiny to finish that game and something that you both look forward to and dread at the same time.  

That's also how I see this version of Gears relating to the first (or I guess fourth if you count the prequels) Star Wars.  A New Hope was great in creating the foundation upon which the rest of the franchise would spring from.  It was similar to Gears in that it took place after a great loss in war by the good guys.  Darkness rules and a reluctant hero steps into the fray.  So while there were hints of a greater story, the focus was on the action and the fun of the experience.

In many ways, the game also spoke to my past with my brother.  We grew up in a house perched high on top of a hill back in Massachusetts.  We had a basement that was a wondrous place for two young boys with nothing but their imaginations to occupy their time.  So when making my way up to the Fenix Estate in Gears, I couldn't help but think of the old house in the suburbs (it was certainly no "estate").  As I moved down to the basement of the Fenix Estate, I kept thinking back to what was likely an inspiration for that experience.

There was also a token line from my father in the game, although when I discussed it with my brother he told me that it was a coincidence.  When helping someone wounded, one of the COG soldiers would say, "Walk it off pussy."  My Dad was from the old school when it came to parenting and calling his boys the "p" word was very much a part of his vernacular.  For a long time in my youth I suspected that it very well could've been my name.  

The other thing is that many of Marcus' facial features bore a striking resemblance to my father.  My Dad wasn't a military man, but he had the soldiers' wide nose and general worn look to him by the time he passed away when he was 47.  Even if that wasn't intentional, I took it as a subconscious homage to our Dad because even if he was a gruff guy, we always knew that he loved us and did the best he could with what he knew.  Being a father myself, I realize that was his MO and I admire him for making a lot of tough disciplinary decisions.  Regardless, the experience of Gears made me feel closer to my brother given some of the subtle, albeit a bit obscure, references to our shared history.  But ultimately, I would've thoroughly enjoyed the game regardless of the familial involvement.  I love shooters and this is one of the best I ever played.

When you put Gears of War into your Xbox 360, and fire it up, you will quickly learn that Dominic Santiago's blowtorch that breaks you out of prison is also doing the same for your 360.  This is the game that will launch one of the best new IPs in gaming.  It lays a brilliant foundation for future endeavors.  There is a hint of something deeper within the Gears universe.  The imulsion...the COGs...the Locust Horde and their real intentions.  There are so many open questions and while I applaud the decision to not make gamers suffer through 15 minute cut scenes, I would've liked to have learned a little more about Fenix's father's trial.  I would've liked to have seen a little tiny bit more exposition at the beginning to really let us know what the horror of the first Locust attacks looked like.  Sera was once a thriving and serene planet, replaced by the destroyed beauty.  Let us see just a hint more of it.  I understand that this was all about establishing the gameplay elements, but a couple more cut scenes wouldn't have killed anyone.  I also would've liked maybe one more driving sequence.  Maybe that's the Halo-lover in me speaking, but I find it to be a nice break from the gameplay.

As for the criticism of the game being too short, I don't think gameplay-wise it was.  If anything, adding a couple more cut scenes would've helped me make more of an emotional connection with Fenix.  I know Marcus wasn't joining the COG soldiers for that R. Lee Ermey wannabe, and it's implied that he was doing it for his father and his family name.  But unfortunately, the unspoken won't get through to many people playing the game.  As I said earlier, I think the length was great.  It probably could've used one more difficulty level between casual and hardcore, but that's just picking nits.

I only got a short time with multiplayer and I had every bit as much fun with it as I did with Halo 2.  Perhaps that's because I was playing with a genuinely great bunch of people who were playing to have fun.  I've heard stories, terrible stories, about the ranked system for Gears so I've chosen to stay away and just enjoy the multiplayer maps for the fun that they are.  I don't need to have rankings to enjoy myself.  I'm also hoping that we can make a regular gathering of the Gearheads on multiplayer.  And maybe I'll get a little better and won't have my ass handed to me every time.

The final score on this one is 9.4 as I think Gears is pretty close to gameplay perfection and more importantly, fun.  The destroyed beauty moniker the developers tagged the game with long ago is as appropriate as anything I've seen.  The only thing missing is taking the storyline a bit deeper than the surface.  I personally don't care that they seemed like cliched marines.  Cole was hilarious, and the action is where this game excels.  And really, I don't play games to watch 15 minute cut scenes.  Maybe that's just me.

Ultimately, this is my Game of the Year.  I've played many of this year's top games (Zelda not included) and Gears of War just made me excited about what the future holds for this universe.  I imagine the possibilities for Gears of War 2.  Perhaps expanded co-op to four guys at once, perhaps an extra vehicle section or two and a faceoff with the Brumack and the Locust Queen?  As I said, I couldn't help but think of Star Wars many times while playing this game.  But I'll say this...if in Gears 2 Marcus is hanging off the a ledge and the Locust queen tells Marcus that she is his mother, I'm quitting gaming.