The fourth update to hit Gears of War 2 will be live in a matter of weeks. Here’s a roundup of what we can expect to see!

Experience points will be allocated as follows in Horde mode:

“My Way or the Highway” (25 points): Without being detected, complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene after choosing the stealth option.
“Highway to Hell” (25 points): Complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene after choosing the guns-blazing option.
“Two for the Road” (25 points): Complete the “Road to Ruin” deleted scene in co-op as either Marcus or Dom.
“Be Careful What You Wish For” (10 points): Reach level 5 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 10 on the War Machine map in Horde (any difficulty).
“Ride It All Night Long” (10 points): Reach level 10 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 10 on the Highway map in Horde (any difficulty).
“No, But His Face Rings a Bell” (15 points): Reach level 15 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 20 on the Sanctuary map in Horde (any difficulty).
“Lost in Transition” (20 points): Reach level 20 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 20 on the Way Station map in Horde (any difficulty).
“Like Father, Like Gun” (30 points): Reach level 30 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 30 on the Allfathers Garden map in Horde (any difficulty).
“Am I Only Dreaming?” (40 points): Reach level 40 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 40 on the Memorial map in Horde (any difficulty).
“Blood on the Sand” (50 points): Reach level 50 in multiplayer and complete waves 1 through 50 on the Nowhere map in Horde (any difficulty).
“Afraid of the Dark” (20 points): Play a multiplayer match on each of the seven Dark Corners Map Pack maps (any mode).
“Did Not Go Gentle” (30 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the seven Dark Corners Map Pack maps (any mode)
“Is it Hot or Is That Just You?” (25 points): Kill 25 Bloodmounts with a Scorcher Flamethrower while playing Horde on a Dark Corners Map Pack map (any difficulty).

We’ll keep you updated!

I’ll admit first and foremost, I was sceptical about buying this game. After playing Gears of war (1) on Insane, I was left scarred. It took me two years (yep!) to complete it, and even then I still only completed it on hardcore with a friend through co-op on Xbox Live. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t love the game though, Gears 1 is one of the best games on current generation consoles in my opinion, although I have honestly never been a huge fan of it’s online multiplayer, mainly because i suck at it. I finally decided to order Gears 2 on the Wednesday before it was released, just because I was looking forward to the campaign, and the new “Horde” game mode.

Starting the game, I whacked it on Normal difficulty and decided to “train the rook” seeing as I’m such an achievement whore and wanted the extra 10 points, and even in the intro and the training mode the development of character from the rookie Carmine (Carmine from Gears 1’s younger brother) is amazing, and the relationship that opens up between him and Marcus. Also at this point we find out about Dom’s emotional side with the introduction to his missing wife, Maria, who he is determined to find.

I won’t go into every single aspect and cutscene that the Campaign mode has to offer, but it includes some amazing cutscenes, and even a quite moving story, not only from Dom’s point of view, but Marcus’ aswell. There were some scenes in the game which did actually shock me; after being introduced to new character Tai, and actually believing he was “invincible”, as Carmine put it, seeing his self inflicted demise after being kidnapped and mentally and physically tortured by the Locust actually left me speechless. The same goes for the conclusion of the Dom and Maria sotry aswell, but I won’t go into that for the people reading who have not played the game yet.

The controls are very fluent in the game, and still exactly the same as they were in the first. You no longer get the annoying glitch that would not let you switch guns, which I’m very happy was fixed as it caused me to get chainsawed/beaten/crushed many times.

Level design of the game is pretty amazing aswell, ranging from the inside of a giant worm and having to chainsaw the arteries connected to it’s heart to kill it (before drowning in it’s blood), to the sinking of the city of Jacinto and riding a Brumak into the undeground Locust tunnels, whilst blowing shit up left right and center.

The new enemies introduced in the game are sweet, but can also be terrifying at the same time. The first time I heard a Ticker confused the hell out of me, and before I knew it i had been blown up by what looked like alightbulb/spider creature that was on fire. Also another character worth mentioning, mainly the last main boss fight in the game, is Skorge. I’ve got to say, he is much more awesome than RAAM ever was, he even has dreadlocks (kinda reminiscent of Predator).

The whole campaign took me about 8 hours to complete on normal difficulty, without conciously collecting all of the 41 collectable items. It was an amazing experience even it was on the second from easiest difficulty setting, but I am planning on going back and playing through it again on Insane on Xbox Live with a friend, which in my opinion, is a main part of the whole experience of this game, teamwork and experiencing it together.

The new Horde game mode is definately worth a mention, as this is what will really help build you up to get that Seriously 2.0 achievement (100,000 kills). It is a very fun game mode, which has wave upon wave of different Locust enemies attacking you, on the map of your choice. It is great to play with a friend online, but nearly impossible to complete by yourself. But always worth a try eh?

A new feature I didn’t want to mention until now, is the Chainsaw Battles. To be honest, I used it no more than two times in the Campaign, because i knew that it would only really have an impact in the online multiplayer, anyone can beat AI by repeatedly tapping B, but going up against hardcore Gears gamers is another thing, and actually leaves you feeling satisfied once you’ve cut a real human in half
All editions of the game came with a code to download the “Flashback” map pack (and a Golden Lancer for the special people who buy the special edition), which is a collection of maps from the original Gears, which is a great addition to the game, so you don’t actually have to get used to the new maps straight away. The online games modes are “Guardian”, which sets one player as the teams leader, and once he/she has been killed by the opposing side, your team loses the chance to respawn once they have died. There is a “Submission” game mode which puts players against each other trying to capture a “downed” character controlled by the games AI, and using it as a meat shield whilst transporting it to a certain point on the map. Other game types include Wingman, Warzone, King of the Hill, and Annex. It even includes an option for players to take screenshots of the online action while they are spectating, which is a great idea, although quite Halo like, not that that’s a bad thing.

Overall i give Gears 2 a 9/10, it delivers everything you expect and more. It’s not exactly a game you can just pick up and play for half an hour before you go to work, because you would not get anything out of it. It needs sessions of between one and three hours, because otherwise the experience is not the same.It has an amazing, yet rather short Story, but definately has replay value through Campaign co-op, Horde, and the online multiplayer. Even the achievements in this game are addictive, and will make anyone who plays it aim to get the full 1000. (I WILL get seriously 2.0 ).