Gears of War

            On November 7, 2006, Epic Games shook the world of gaming and changed the view of third-person shooting forever. The ground-breaking game Gears of War has sold 5.88 million copies since its release. The game had the best graphics of its time, and a year after it was released, it had a fan-favorite online multiplayer added to it by a conjunction of Microsoft Studios and People Can Fly. Since the day of the first game’s release, two sequels and a prequel have been made. Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, and the prequel, Gears of War: Judgment all had topped the charts on sales the week following each release.

            Though the amounts of sales do speak volumes about the game, what really made Gears of War famous was the campaign storyline. The story takes place on an earth-like planet called Sera, where a battle rages between humans and a humanoid race called “locusts” that came from below the surface of the planet. With an additional enemy, the “Glowies” who appear in the third game. The Delta Squad, an elite group of Gears (soldiers) from the Coalition of Ordered Governments’ army, are the main protagonists of the series. Marcus Fenix, Augustus Cole, Dominic Santiago, and Damon Baird make up the Delta Squad throughout the series, who are later accompanied by Anthony, Ben, and Clayton Carmine, Tai Kaliso, Jace Stratton, Dizzy Wallin, Samantha Byrne, and Anya Stroud. Marcus, Dominic, Damon, Cole, Tai, and Anthony appear as players in the first game, followed by Ben in the second, and Anya, Clayton, Jace, and Samantha in the third. The characters in the game are close-knitted, and are easy to get attached to. The game allows the player to play the character while they interact with each other, and also has cinematic cut scenes. The cut scenes outline the story, and give the player a better grasp on the story line, which rarely fails to capture the attention and heart of the player as characters are lost in battle. Anthony, Tai, Benjamin, and Dominic are the characters lost (in order) in the first three games. Emotional attachments are made to all four characters, especially Dominic who is the main character’s best friend, who died in battle sacrificing himself so that his allies could survive an overwhelming attack.

            The amazing characters, clear audio, detailed graphics, heartbreaking storyline, and popular multiplayer make for a great and memorable game series for both solitary gamers, and online lovers. The millions of sales and great reviews don’t lie, Gears of War is a game to be remembered.