By: Matthew Rorie
Design: Randall Montanari

Owners of the Xbox 360 have been looking forward to Gears of War since well before the console even hit shelves. First announced way back in June of 2005, the title was one of the most promising pieces of eye candy that Microsoft had lined up for their upcoming console. With the Unreal Engine 3.0 and the power of the Xbox 360, Epic Games promised to deliver one of the most graphically impressive titles in the history of console games.

Now that Gears of War has finally hit shelves, almost a year and a half after its existance was revealed, we can definitely state that this is definitely in the running for prettiest game ever. What’s more, though, it also plays pretty well! In the game, you take on the role of Marcus Fenix, a tough-as-nails ex-con and former soldier, who’s busted out of prison to help his former squadmates defeat the Locusts, a civilization of aggressive subterranean beings that previously busted out of the ground all across the planet and started slaughtering the populace. To counter-act the threat, humanity wiped out most of their own cities in the hopes that this would contain the beasts, and now the two sides are left with little to do but fight over rubble and ash.

But fight you must! Gears is a somewhat slower-paced game than most of what Epic is known for, and you’ll find yourself quickly taken down if you attempt to fight out in the open; taking cover and firing from behind obstacles is the name of the game here. That said, there’s still plenty of gore and fireworks for the shooter fans out there; you’ll just have to be a bit more careful about how you go about obtaining them. GameSpot’s Game Guide for Gears of War will guide you through the entire single-player campaign from start to finish.