June 24, 2006 - Are you for real? Gears of War has got to be one of the best looking Xbox 360 titles slated to release this year. The game is brought to you by the insane minds over at Epic Studios created exclusively for Microsoft Game Studios using the Unreal Engine 3. The background story for Gears of War is you are Marcus Fenix, a soldier of sorts, engaged in a war with a group of creatures referred to as Locust. They are creatures from nightmares and surpass your squad in numbers. You and your band of soldiers take on this new evil, starting on Emergence Day.

While some games can indeed convey a sense of fear, Epic intends to strike at the reality of fear. The entire atmosphere is designed to lock you in place while white-knuckling your controller and feeling your heart pumping in your ears. Epic’s goal is an exhilarating ride through the travesty of Sera surrounding you right in your living room.

Being able to take cover is the main goal behind shooters; no one stands in the open taking on heavy fire hoping to survive. Gears of War have increased the value of this feature by adding context sensitivity and an intuitive control scheme. Although you may think hiding in your cover as long as you like will keep you alive, guess again. The enemy AI will just as easily pick away at your current destination leaving you with nothing but tiny bits of rubble. The entire time shots fly over head and explosions pierce the air.

How can you play a game with squads without them having something to contribute to the team? The AI squad mates you are provided are no longer as dumb as they used to appear in older games, making their minds up for themselves, taking cover when the situation calls for it and fixing their own wounds. You still have the power to tell them what to do, but there is no need for you to worry they will aimlessly walk into the middle of the field and get taken out.

The whole concept of a war is 2 teams fighting against one another; Gears of War is no different, making sure you must work with your team effectively or death will come about quickly. Epic has the option to play Gears of War cooperatively in multiplayer so you will have human squad mates to help you along the battlefield. No many specifics have been said on this aspect so you will need to wait for our review to get the full details.

The Unreal Engine 3 makes Gears of War one of the most visually pleasing yet horrifying games to make its way onto the 360 this year. You can also look forward to the HD support making the combat explode off the screen into your living room. The Xbox 360 will have its limits extended on November 17 of this year.