Gearheads of War

Yet, at midnight today, we will officially hit Emergence Day as many retailers will be getting Gears of War sometime tomorrow and Wednesday.  The Sunday advertisements for Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's (my personal favorite because they ALWAYS have new releases on sale - including Gears of War for $49.99) and even Target contained prominent placement for our next favorite shooters.

The reviews for Gears will start showing up tomorrow since that's likely when the Microsoft embargo ends for the press.  I'll be very curious to see where the game lands on the spectrum.  GameRankings.com is usually where I check to see the average.  Like I've said many times before, Gears will be fighting against the avalanche of hype it has received from Microsoft.  Reviewers don't often cave in and give a 10 out of 10 to an overhyped game unless it completely blows their socks off...games such as Halo 2 are the few that actually get close to that mark.

I get the feeling from some early discussions on the game that it's the type of game that grows on you because it's challenging in the beginning.  I forget which podcast I was listening to the other day...it might've been IGN, but someone said, "it's like GRAW, but a lot more fun and beautiful."  If that's the case, I can barely stand the excitement.  Watching the multiplayer video on IGN, I couldn't help but get very, very excited.  Especially the moment when the guy tosses a smoke grenade and then comes up around the side of his opponent rather than tackling them head on.  It appears like Gears very well level the playing field for those who are somewhat inept at other multiplayer shooter games.  Because it appears for once that you may actually have to use your brains and strategy while attempting to retain the fun of it all.

Finally, Gears of War may be hitting shelves tomorrow and Wednesday, but that hasn't stopped enterprising journalists from seeking out confirmation of a sequel.

I think you can pretty much guarantee there will be a sequel as long as the game doesn't fall into Brute Force territory.  Microsoft has been longing for another franchise to come along and supplement their Halo juggernaut.  Gears has a good chance of being just that.

Get ready, Gearheads, the Hammer of Dawn will soon be in our hands.  As will that purty little chainsaw.