After spending nearly 2 weeks constantly doing homework and exam revision at home, I finally decided it’d be fairly relaxing for me to start writing my article for the month. Although as soon as I opened up a new page, I couldn’t think of anything new or spectacular to write, so I decided to write about one of my favourite game series (without trying to spoil it for you): Gears of War.

The Gears of War games are third-person shooter games originally for the Xbox 360, but they were later released on the PC. It is set on a fantasy world known as Sera, which is coincidentally another world with life-forms. Its setting is pretty much like Earth in the way it consists of cities, roads and various geographical features, some more extreme than others. However the main difference between Sera and Earth is of course the fact that the underground is infested with ‘aliens’ called Locust.

I refer to them as aliens however they aren’t really what we would assume as being from a different planet, instead they come from the core of their planet, and judging from the gameplay there seems to be a bloody lot of them. They’re much like humans in a way; they’re very intelligent (although they might not show it), they have their own pets and they’re also connected as one community. I will explain all of these points now.

The Locust don’t show their intelligence with the way they will just casually walk towards you while you shotgun them down, or the way they seem to hide behind a wall even though you’ve walked round the wall and are revving up your chainsaw, but they are pretty much as intelligent as humans. They have managed to build their own city underground, which may not be as attractive or well built as the structures on the surface, but I must say it would’ve took them a lot of brainpower to do it all.

I also mentioned they had pets. Those who have played the Gears of War games will have giant question marks above their heads right now, thinking “What the fudge is he on about?” Well I use the term pets loosely, I am infact referring to the beasts we call Corpsers, Seeders and Brumaks. I also use the term beasts loosely, because these are more than beasts. Yet they seem to be controlled by the Locust. You might argue that they are Locust themselves, but the concept of pets nearly 1000 times the size of yourself just seems so awesome.

“They’re also connected as one community.” It’s a pretty bold statement to make considering you wouldn’t notice it in the games, but if you think carefully, and ‘read between the lines’, then you will see there’s much more to them than an army. Anyway, enough about these noobs, lets talk more about the games.

The Gears of War games revolve around a team of 2-4 people, who are members of the COG army. The main protagonist is Marcus Fenix, a badass convict with attitude. He takes charge of the squad, making most of their decisions. He is accompanied by Dominic Santiago, who in the first game comes across as pretty badass too, except in the second he lets himself down with the fact he wants to find his wife. Nobody likes a family man in a gory war game. The duo is occasionally accompanied by another duo, consisting of Damon Baird, a cocky mechanic, and Augustus Cole, a guy so big he could take you out blindfolded and with his hands tied behind his back.

The story basically follows this war between the COG and the Locust, focusing on Delta squads operations during this war. They range from saving hostages, to taking down the Locust infrastructure. It seems like a pretty hefty job for 2 people, but you can’t underestimate their power. They seem to take on a whole army, take on a guy with a turret in his hands, survive falling through a burning building and even being eaten alive. It may sound awesome, and I’ll tell you now that it is. The storyline is very interesting, and isn’t even hard to follow. It isn’t like your generic shooter, you have to use tactics and take advantage of your surroundings. You may also do well to choose your weapons wisely. So that I don’t spoil anything for those who haven’t played either of them, I’m just going to leave it with this: The campaigns are the most interesting and fun I’ve ever played on a game. If you haven’t played either of them, I’d highly recommend it.