Sophomore Jump

When Gears of War was released for the Xbox 360 in 2006, one thing was apparent: it was one of the best-looking games released for any system.

Quickly gaining a huge fan base, it has since become one of the best-selling games for Microsoft's platform.

With the release of the new sequel, lead designer Cliff Bleszinski promised, in a handful of interviews on GameTrailers.com, a game that would be "bigger, better, and more badass." Bleszinski is no liar.

At the end of the first game, a light mass bomb was deployed to purge the planet Sera from an underground alien menace known as the Locust.

Gears of War 2 picks up about six months later. A disease known as Rust Lung has spread as a result of the bomb's detonation and the Locust have returned, bringing a force with them that is capable of sinking entire cities at once.

As with the first game, players take on the role of Marcus Fenix. He is one of many soldiers, known as Gears, enlisted to help end humanity's war with the Locust.

With one of the Gears' last military strongholds, Jacinto, in jeopardy of falling like the other cities, the soldiers dig underground to take the fight to the enemy.

The first thing to catch the eyes of players is the stunning graphics. While the first game blew the visuals of other games out of the water, there was a bluish-gray hue that permeated the game. The second game is much more visually attractive, with far more colors, details and effects that make that pretty aesthetic of the first game beautiful.

The storyline of the sequel is also noticeably different. The characters of the original game had little, if any, depth. Professional writer Joshua Ortega was hired this time around and it definitely shows.

There is much more time devoted to the characters' lives, with special attention to Marcus's partner's search for his wife. The gory gunfights are still ever-present, but the extra attention given to the characters makes the game an even more enjoyable experience than before.

For shooting games, gamers often look forward to what new weapons will be offered and all the weapons from the first game return.

Although it is a fan favorite, the Hammer of Dawn is noticeably absent for roughly the first 90 percent of the game. Making up for the loss is the Mortar, a weapon capable of causing just as much devastation. Also new are the appropriately named Mulcher, which is essentially a portable turret and a flamethrower dubbed the Scorcher among others.

The online multiplayer component from the first Gears of War was one area that received a decent amount of criticism. The game modes were fairly generic, games were sometimes difficult to join and only eight players were able to play at a time.

Gears of War 2 has somewhat remedied the situation, with new modes like Submission, an interesting take on Capture the Flag, and Wingman, where up to five teams of two fight to be the last team standing.

Games can still take a long time to join, but the game runs silky smooth with barely any lag. While it is an improvement, the games all max out at 10 players. With games like PlayStation 3's Resistance 2 allowing for 60 player battles, this may be an issue for some.

A welcome addition to multiplayer is the Horde mode. Up to five players can defend any map as wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies attack. It is relentlessly fun and with online leader boards, it will be interesting to see how far some people will be able to go.

Gears of War 2 is essentially everything a sequel should be. The designers at Epic Games went with a strict "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" policy and it paid off.

Everything that was great about the first game returns for the second game and nearly every flaw has been taken care of. The additions are too numerous to count and players will be provided with things they didn't even know they wanted, but will be more than happy to discover.

Sequels always have the extra pressure of living up to their predecessors. If the original game was a huge success, fans may believe that the sequel will never be as good as the original. Gears of Wars fans can rest easy. The sequel does anything but disappoint.