November 11th, 2008

Gears 2 has finally arrived. I’m making my way through Single Player co-op now, and have already completed all 50 levels of Horde Mode. They have definitely brought a lot of cool new features to the table with Gears 2, especially on the UI front with their in-game friendslist via the LB button. Completely independent from the Guide system and it works beautifully. They also did an amazing job with their Achievements; making me feel like I’m ALWAYS getting rewarded for what I do. The pacing of achievements if perfect, even when I’m not getting achievements, their in-game achievement progress tracker is always reminding me that I’m working towards a big one. I love that shit! It’s the kind of stuff that pushes you to keep playing (besides the awesome gameplay). For example, I’m in horde mode, and it’s getting hellish. There’s locust coming out of the wood work and every locust I drop is a potential chance to get that sweet sweet reminder that I just hit my 400th / 500th kill. Good stuff.