Gears of War 2 Trailer- Initial Impressions

There is no denying that when it come to creating stunning graphics, Epic Games really knows what it's doing. I think the term trailer does not really describe the video accurately though, technical showcase seems like the better thing to call it. After the somewhat disappointing teaser trailer, which had no real footage in it, this new gameplay reveal trailer is something that fans can be excited about

The trailer begins with the infamous Gears of War logo, exactly where the teaser trailer finished off. The design director at Epic, Cliff Bleszinski, spends nearly the whole first minute proudly telling us about the footage he is about to show off, although most likely you have been distracted by trying to read what his T-shirt says. He tells us that we are going to see an exert from one of the levels (subtly saying 'Look, it ain't pre-rendered'). In perhaps one of the biggest understatements in the ESRB's history we are warned that the trailer 'May contain content inappropriate for children', reassuring everyone that Gears has not gone soft.

At the beginning of the gameplay, I cannot help but get the feeling of déjà vu. Riding of the back of a air transporter, with another transporter being blown out of the sky whilst a soldier yells 'Incoming!', sounds identical to the beginning of the Killzone 2 gameplay trailer. It quickly becomes unique however when the character, who is the same as in the last series, starts to machine gun down what look like giant flying octopuses (The Matrix anyone?) The trailer becomes more and more action packed as it goes on, with our guy fighting ships, locust soldiers and even a giant locust with a rocket launcher strapped to its back.

It is impossible to say something about this trailer without mentioning the graphical side of things. The game seems to have all the checkboxes ticked: high definition, smooth frame rate, high res textures, high res models, dynamic lighting, smooth anti-aliasing and a fantastic depth of field effect. The only real complaints you can make about it is that is has quite a dull colour pallet, with mainly browns and grays that are only livened up with a burst of orange gunfire or the series' signature vivid red blood, and the general darkness of the graphics. But then again, that can be said for nearly all of Epics games and certainly most next-Gen shooter games.

Overall this game looks very promising and can certainly hold its weight against its rival Killzone 2. Only time will tell which of the two games does come out on top, but no doubt hundreds of forums will be ruined by fanboys arguing over it.

Oh Yeah, and there are still chainsaws...lots of chainsaws.