I've had Gears of War 2 lying around for awhile so I recently sat down and popped it into the Xbox 360 to have a bash. I've never played the GoW games before so I had no idea what to expect. The cynic in me suggested that it was yet another shooter with pretensions to realism and maturity - ho-hum in other words. Nevertheless, if GoW is a major force in the Xbox camp then it must have something going for it.
After playing for a little while, what struck me is that I really have no idea how I should be taking this. Everything seems so macho that I'm not sure if the game is trying to be serious. The male protagonists all have stupid names, speak in ridiculous voices, are in possession of absurdly muscular bodies and body armor that seems designed for anything but practicality. Everything seems overdone it's hilarious, with patriotic speeches, the sense of impending extinction against an unstoppable foe and Marcus Fenix being able to both absorb so many bullets and heal wounds without too much effort.
Again I reiterate: Is this a parody? It can't surely be serious. You can't have so many absurd elements and have it done with a straight face. But regardless of intention, the idea of a parody is enough to keep me going, so I will continue with this game and see how things turn out...
I actually have Gears of War and although I got stuck and haven't played the game since I find the massive armour and gravelly voices quite amusing. I imagine a Gears of War movie would include someone like Jesse James from Monster Garage to play Marcus Fenix :D
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