Good Grapevine
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On November 7, 2008, Microsoft will release Gears of War 2 for the XBOX 360. It promises to be one of the most popular and most talked about video games of the holiday season. Not since the original Gears of War was released has a game had this much anticipation for release. The controls of this game are some of the best in any shooter game which is fantastic as the action is very frenetic at time.

For those who have not been a fan so far of the Gears of War franchise, it is a third person   by Epic Games for Microsoft Studios. It is an exclusive Microsoft title and can only be played on XBOX 360. The first Gears of War was also released for the Windows operating system. To power the game’s considerable graphics and gameplay, it relies on a modified version of the Unreal 3 engine.

The game play revolves around COG Delta squad lead by Marcus Felix. Their operation is to stop the Locust Horde from continuing to take over the world. Gears of War 2 will continue with that storyline and also keep the wide array of weapons that are used by you and your squad to kill the Locust Horde. Most player’s favorite weapon has been the machine, which is attached to a machine gun for both sawing your opponent and also shooting them. Gears of War 2 has a new feature that allows the player to use a downed opponent as a meat shield while you continue to shoot. This new tactic has gotten a lot of positive feedback from those that were shown the previews to the game. Killing the Locust Horde or your opponent has never been more thrilling.

Multi-player promises to be where Gears of War really shines. There have been a reported 15 new maps available for multi-playr action, which should help keep interest in the game until well into 2009. The multi-player option has numerous games that will keep players interested. It has been reported that there will be three different on-line multi-player modes. Co-op play is also included.

Gears of War 2 will be a very special game. The level of action and violence has been raised considerably. The gameplay is easily as good as the first, if not improved. Gears of War is easily one of the most anticipated games coming this holiday season for the XBOX 360. For those that enjoy Gears of War action figures or Gears of War toys, new versions of those will also be released during the launch.