Gears of War (PC)

Cry havoc and let slip the gears of war.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 3 Comments | Page 2 of 2

Needless to say, the action is brutal. Popping the head of one of the Locusts like a watermelon with the sniper rifle, blowing them sky-high, blasting them in the guts with a shotgun, or sawing a friend in half at close range -- this is what you do repeatedly in this game.

While the single-player component is solid, the real fun comes from the multiplayer modes, starting with split-screen co-op that can be enjoyed on the same computer or even online. Using the cover system for multiplayer deathmatches, capture the flag, and new games like 'execution' -- which requires players to run up to fallen opponents and boot or chainsaw them to death -- is great fun and a refreshing change from typical online running and gunning. Gears of War did multiplayer right on the Xbox 360, and it does it right here, as well. Of course, to play multiplayer online requires Xbox Live and associated fees.

Gears of War is one of the best-looking Xbox 360 games available and the graphics look terrific on the PC, provided your machine transcends the system requirements. If so, the graphics are sharper than the Xbox 360 version and the frame rates are higher. If you don't, the game doesn't perform well at all.

Also included as a bonus is a level editor, something you don't see very often in console-to-PC translations. A few of the problems with console-to-PC ports also rear their ugly heads, however. On a Vista system the game crashed, froze and sometimes wouldn't launch at all. On an XP system, performance was almost flawless. The problem with this is, other players have said the opposite, and a few have had no problems whatsoever.

Gears of War arrives in a market crowded with PC action games, but this one is something special. A brutally fun romp both online and off.

This review was based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher.