XGC KNIGHT XI
Administrator
In case you missed the memo, Gears of War is friggin' fantastic. It's a no-nonsense shooter that's big, brutish and bloody.
We've crawled from our holes to bring you a list of the essential stuff that you absolutely have to check out on your first Gears of War session.
So, grab your COG togs and get stuck into the action...
Chainsaw
So, you've got this gun called the Lancer, right, and it's a good gun - it can waste Locust scum from a decent range and spits bullets at a rapid rate, but it's a cheeky little temptress that can get you in some seriously sticky situations.
Sticky grenade
Gears of War hurls chunks like a drunk; not chunks of whiffy gastric debris, but chunks of sopping blubbery flesh.
There's a variety of ways to Swiss cheese your enemies and make them quite literally fall to pieces - the Troika gun turrets, for example, will cut anyone or anything unfortunate enough to get in the way of their wrath into itty-bitty pieces. Neat.
But if you really want to "oooh" and "aaah" at a fleshy fireworks display, equip yourself with a frag grenade, slope up to an enemy and press B to stick the spiky boom ball on them. Move away and wait for the chunks to fly skyward before gravity brings the guts and gizzards back down with a satisfying splatter.
If you're looking for some comic relief minus the bloody mess, stick a smoke grenade on an enemy in an online fracas and laugh as they tear about the level in a cloud of fog. Then run in and go to work on their internal organs with the chainsaw.
Now that's what we call a punch line.
You see, it's equipped with a chainsaw and, in case you didn't know, chainsaws on the battle field are fun. So much fun, in fact, that in moments that require cool thinking, you're overwhelmed with an irresistible urge to rev that baby up and charge in like a demented lumberjack in the hope of plowing a fleshy trough in someone's chest.
But, believe us, its well worth the risk for the carnage it causes.
For ultimate satisfaction, sneak up on an opponent smugly manning a Troika gun turret in an online brawl and let them hear the buzzing sound of imminent death for a second before you plunge the steely, bloodthirsty teeth into their fleshy bits.
If walking away from a steaming pile of unidentifiable meat and bone doesn't make you feel like a real man, nothing will.
Active reload
Even reloading your firearm in Gears throws up a challenge with its own rewards: successfully pull off an active reload and you'll refresh your clip in double-quick time; nail a perfect active reload and your bullets do more damage for a limited period. Bonus.
Performed by tapping the right bumper button at the optimum moment when reloading has been activated, mastering active reloads is absolutely essential.
Normal reloads can take an age and while the pause in shooting gives you an opportunity to admire the shimmering heat haze from the barrel of your shooter, it's not ideal when you've got Locusts swarming your position with their chainsaws homing in on your oesophagus.
Fast-feeding your weapon efficiently is incredibly gratifying and reloading has never been so much fun. Try it and you'll see.
Roadie run
When you consider that the COG squad look like armor-plated Michelin men it's quite a surprise that they're such a nimble, acrobatic bunch. OK, they might not be in quite the same league as a certain time-dodging prince but for bulked up dudes they certainly can move.
One of Gear's constant objectives is the search for cover and diving between pillars and hurdling debris is super cool, but the 'roadie run' is the ultimate way to dodge hostile fire.
Used for covering open ground at a sprint, when breaking into the roadie run the lead COG operative and hulking man mountain Marcus Fenix hot foots it across the battlefield with his head down to make himself a harder target for the Locusts to nail.
But it's the shift in the camera viewpoint that makes the roadie run so irresistible. Bobbing behind Fenix at knee-level in shaky-cam style, the effect creates a feeling of genuine, running-for-your-life-in-a-war-zone atmosphere.
And all you have to do is hold down the A button. Simple, certainly, but so very, very sweet.
Curb stomp
You didn't think those honking great Frankenstein moon boots were just for show, did you? Hell no - these boots are made for some seriously gruesome stomping.
Jump into an online skirmish, get an enemy in your sights, smoke 'em until they drop to their knees and then ease off the trigger. They're down and vulnerable - do you show them mercy? No, mercy isn't an option in Gears of War... but grinding brains into the dust with boot power is.
Exit your cover point, swagger over to the wounded, soon-to-be-desplatilated sucker and stomp on its head like you're making brain cider. Revel in the delightfully sticky squish as its head explodes and splatters like a paint ball.
There's nothing quite like dropping your boot, pneumatic hammer style, on the head of a guy that's been stalking your every move.
Just make sure you don't tread that muck into the carpet afterwards.
We've crawled from our holes to bring you a list of the essential stuff that you absolutely have to check out on your first Gears of War session.
So, grab your COG togs and get stuck into the action...
Chainsaw
So, you've got this gun called the Lancer, right, and it's a good gun - it can waste Locust scum from a decent range and spits bullets at a rapid rate, but it's a cheeky little temptress that can get you in some seriously sticky situations.
Sticky grenade
Gears of War hurls chunks like a drunk; not chunks of whiffy gastric debris, but chunks of sopping blubbery flesh.
There's a variety of ways to Swiss cheese your enemies and make them quite literally fall to pieces - the Troika gun turrets, for example, will cut anyone or anything unfortunate enough to get in the way of their wrath into itty-bitty pieces. Neat.
But if you really want to "oooh" and "aaah" at a fleshy fireworks display, equip yourself with a frag grenade, slope up to an enemy and press B to stick the spiky boom ball on them. Move away and wait for the chunks to fly skyward before gravity brings the guts and gizzards back down with a satisfying splatter.
If you're looking for some comic relief minus the bloody mess, stick a smoke grenade on an enemy in an online fracas and laugh as they tear about the level in a cloud of fog. Then run in and go to work on their internal organs with the chainsaw.
Now that's what we call a punch line.
You see, it's equipped with a chainsaw and, in case you didn't know, chainsaws on the battle field are fun. So much fun, in fact, that in moments that require cool thinking, you're overwhelmed with an irresistible urge to rev that baby up and charge in like a demented lumberjack in the hope of plowing a fleshy trough in someone's chest.
But, believe us, its well worth the risk for the carnage it causes.
For ultimate satisfaction, sneak up on an opponent smugly manning a Troika gun turret in an online brawl and let them hear the buzzing sound of imminent death for a second before you plunge the steely, bloodthirsty teeth into their fleshy bits.
If walking away from a steaming pile of unidentifiable meat and bone doesn't make you feel like a real man, nothing will.
Active reload
Even reloading your firearm in Gears throws up a challenge with its own rewards: successfully pull off an active reload and you'll refresh your clip in double-quick time; nail a perfect active reload and your bullets do more damage for a limited period. Bonus.
Performed by tapping the right bumper button at the optimum moment when reloading has been activated, mastering active reloads is absolutely essential.
Normal reloads can take an age and while the pause in shooting gives you an opportunity to admire the shimmering heat haze from the barrel of your shooter, it's not ideal when you've got Locusts swarming your position with their chainsaws homing in on your oesophagus.
Fast-feeding your weapon efficiently is incredibly gratifying and reloading has never been so much fun. Try it and you'll see.
Roadie run
When you consider that the COG squad look like armor-plated Michelin men it's quite a surprise that they're such a nimble, acrobatic bunch. OK, they might not be in quite the same league as a certain time-dodging prince but for bulked up dudes they certainly can move.
One of Gear's constant objectives is the search for cover and diving between pillars and hurdling debris is super cool, but the 'roadie run' is the ultimate way to dodge hostile fire.
Used for covering open ground at a sprint, when breaking into the roadie run the lead COG operative and hulking man mountain Marcus Fenix hot foots it across the battlefield with his head down to make himself a harder target for the Locusts to nail.
But it's the shift in the camera viewpoint that makes the roadie run so irresistible. Bobbing behind Fenix at knee-level in shaky-cam style, the effect creates a feeling of genuine, running-for-your-life-in-a-war-zone atmosphere.
And all you have to do is hold down the A button. Simple, certainly, but so very, very sweet.
Curb stomp
You didn't think those honking great Frankenstein moon boots were just for show, did you? Hell no - these boots are made for some seriously gruesome stomping.
Jump into an online skirmish, get an enemy in your sights, smoke 'em until they drop to their knees and then ease off the trigger. They're down and vulnerable - do you show them mercy? No, mercy isn't an option in Gears of War... but grinding brains into the dust with boot power is.
Exit your cover point, swagger over to the wounded, soon-to-be-desplatilated sucker and stomp on its head like you're making brain cider. Revel in the delightfully sticky squish as its head explodes and splatters like a paint ball.
There's nothing quite like dropping your boot, pneumatic hammer style, on the head of a guy that's been stalking your every move.
Just make sure you don't tread that muck into the carpet afterwards.
