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Gears of War (2006)
Oh, the hype...
2006. The PS3. The Wii. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Twilight Princess. It might not be an understatement to call 2006 the most important year yet for gaming. But all in 2006 would be for naught without Epic. Epic Games created the Unreal Engine 3, the ultimate middleware engine for the next generation of games. It's posterboy has been hyped so heavily that it inspired not just a Megadeth song but an entire tour, and was likely the sole reason behind the moderate success of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Sequel. The most anticipated game since Halo 2? Say hello to Gears of War.
By sliding this disc into your Xbox 360, you will lose all control of your daily life. Gears of War will consume you for weeks on end based solely on it's audio/visual power alone. All the screenshots that we drooled over for years were real. Epic pulled no punches making this the best-looking game ever, and the gunfire, voiceovers and musical score all perfectly compliment that. While the underlying mythos isn't fully explained (more on that later), the plot itself is wicked intense and frenetic, and the characters are all the more believable because of it. All the complaints based on Marcus Fenix's overly manly voice should be discounted, because John DiMaggio's performance is awesome in every way. Augustus Cole, a.k.a. "The Cole Train", is a classic character, and Dom makes the perfect buddy to tag along with.
But I'd still give it at least a 9 without all those snazzy graphics and Marcus's general awesomeness. It's the gameplay that counts, and Gears delivers in freakin' spades. Running and gunning is never going to work in this game; you have to think tactical, as every move you make could lead to your demise as much as it could spell your victory. Enemies are tough, smart, and very hard to take down. They flank often, use advantage of cover, and generally make your fight to the death a living hell. Thankfully, you'll have access to the most innovative and accessible cover system ever seen in a video game, and within minutes you will be bobbing and weaving from couch to crumbling pillar like the ruthless killing machine you wished to be in real life. Only in a handful of times did I miss the cover I wanted to take and die a bloody death, and that was in the hands of me, screwing up due to being chased by a half-dozen Locust through a vicious gauntlet of gunfire.
But the Locust Horde bleeds red too, and you will see it by the bucketful in every minute you play. Your selection of weapons, while not as extensive as Resistance: Fall of Man, is impressive in every way. From the eviscerating shotgun to the precise Longshot sniper rifle, you'll love every weapon you come by, save the obnoxious submachine gun you start with. Every weapon has a vicious melee attack, including the Torque Bow, which slices your foes into ribbons with extended blades, and even the Bolo Grenades, which you stick to your enemies then run for your life from (self-explanatory; they're grenades). The only disappointment in the bunch is the Hammer of Dawn; it's by no means the architecture-crippling beast that it was hyped to be in the previews. It still has place in some really cool setpieces (think: my love for you is like a truck), but it's a letdown nonetheless.
The Lancer Assault Rifle is my favorite weapon of the bunch. A powerful little beast, it can cripple even the most fearsome Locust with just under a half clip. But that chainsaw... it just has to be seen to be believed. So much blood is strewn about in this scene; it puts the whole Crazy 88 scene in Kill Bill, Vol. 1 to shame in just 3 or 4 seconds. And it never gets old.
I don't play multiplayer much, but Gears packs a serious punch in that department. Gametypes like Warzone, Assassination and Execution keep you coming back for more, and maps are unbelievably well-balanced. Every match is special. And at this time of writing, it shouldn't be too hard to find a match; nobody's playing anything else on Xbox Live at the moment. Gears of War is why.
Not much else can be said about Gears's solo campaign, but with Dom at your side constantly, you'd need to seek another hobby if the words "Co-" and "op" don't spell themselves out to you. This game was made for co-op play. In fact, many of the "COG tags" in the game aren't accessible without a buddy (most notably moving a spotlight on a friendly so that he can reach a hidden tag at the corner of a shadowy alleyway; without the light, he'd be liquefied by the Kryll, reminiscent of Pitch Black's carnivorous small bats).
In short (or very, very long), buy this game. Buy it fast; if you don't have a 360, buy it too, just so you can play this. There are no excuses in skipping an experience of this caliber. It is now officially in your best interests to play the Game of the Year as soon as possible.
Good job, Epic. You've done me proud. Now, on to Halo 3...
Hitman: Blood Money (2006)
Best Stealth title of the year? Maybe...
Hit-man: Blood Money (played on the PS2) creeped me out right from the start. Not in a manner quite like Contracts, the 2004 installment of the awesome series, but in a different way. The main menus consist of what appears to be the protagonist's, Agent 47's, funeral, while Schubert's Ave Maria plays softly yet hauntingly in the background. This is just one of the many ways that Blood Money twists with your mind and makes you question your morality and sanity. This is, no doubt, one of the best games of the year so far, and aside from a few glaring flaws, is the best installment yet in the Hit-man franchise.
The major flaw in Blood Money is the way it begins. The beginning is dark, melodramatic, and moody, taking place at an abandoned amusement park, but the structure isn't as smooth as levels in the other Hit-man titles, and the game leads you by the nose for the entire level, effectively removing the open-ended nature of the series. But when you are past this training level, it's Blood Money to the Big Leagues time, with 47 taking no prisoners in a dark, violent tale of conspiracy and intrigue. It's a very compelling story, combining the international appeal of Silent Assassin with the brutish, disturbing nature of Contracts.
One of the best additions to the game is the Accident system. This will change the way you play Hit-man. It allows you to place explosives, poison foods, switch items and loosen bolts to sabotage your target's lives in cunning displays of ingenuity. These 'accidents' (ranging from pushing people from balconies to fake suicide, to forcing chandeliers to fall large heights before hitting anything remotely resembling a target) play perfectly into the Notoriety system, which tracks your mission stats and compiles them into a faux newspaper clipping. These stats, including your hit ratio, number of times seen, and the amount of people killed, factor into how well the enemy will recognise you in the next mission. It's a great concept, but don't worry about this one in the lower two difficulty levels; Notoriety is barely recognizable on the Normal setting, and doesn't even exist on Rookie.
Hit-man: Blood Money is a very good game in danger of being overlooked by the average gamer this year. In 2006, we've seen the jaw-dropping Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, a game I consider the best stealth title ever. Later this year, we'll be getting Splinter Cell: Double Agent, promising a true, next-gen experience on the Xbox 360. Hit-man: Blood Money, however, should not be overlooked; it is a near-perfect example of how to do a game right. It is, by far, the most mature game I've ever played. The story is deep, involving, and serious. The games industry has a problem with maturity, leading to many doubting the veracity of gaming as a whole. Hit-man sets the bar for maturity, and all other games strive to that mark. Jesper Kyd's orchestral-eletronica soundtrack is also phenomenal (as always), being the best thing to hit my ears this year.
If you play any games at all, and care for intelligence in your entertainment, by all means, play Hit-man: Blood Money.
Now.