To be very honest, Gears of War 2 is very similar to the original, as I mentioned in my first preview as well, it takes time for you to see the small details that make the visuals superior. Once your eyes adjust to the new, refined visuals, you start brushing up on the basics of the game. The basic gameplay remains the same, you take cover behind a solid object and blast the enemy to pieces, and occasionally rip them apart in two. If you got bored of the routine by the end of the last game than I would suggest thinking twice before you pick this one up, on the other hand, if you played the game more than once and still enjoy killing the locusts, this is pure bliss for you.

A major change in the game is the scale of the battle, there are more enemies on screen, which makes every battle resemble genocide. The Unreal 3 engine has matured on the Xbox 360, which leads to a stable frame-rate even in very large battles, which is the only major change in the game. There are minor changes like the ability to use your enemies as a shield or an occasional chainsaw duel, but they get old way too soon. I don't mean to sound cynical, the developers have tried many new things and yet again redefined the TPS or Third Person Shooter.

You get a new recruit in the start of the game and he turns out to be the brother of your old mate Carmine, who in the first game got shot in the head by a sniper. Our grim protagonist aka Marcus Fenix has to teach young carmine the rules of the game, and prepare him for the large battles. Carmine's character plays a very important role, which never making it too obvious. There are hilarious but rude one-liners exchanged between Dom and Carmine, which cannot be missed. Another important character is Dom's wife Maria, the locusts have captured her and Dom is intent on rescuing her. My favorite new character has to be Tai, a silent but tough solider, who Maruc respects a lot. These are the sub-plots that I talked about, they add more depth to the story, clearly indicating much better writing this time.