Photo Courtesy of IGN Entertainment Games

This last Friday marked the release of “Gears of War 2,â€Â the sequel to 2006’s breakout hit for the Xbox 360. The sequel picks up where the first game left off and continues the war against the ground dwelling creatures — the locusts.

The duck and shoot game play remains the same, but runs a little smoother. But what really sets this apart from the first game is the overall story. While in the first Gears, you didn̢۪t really know much about the main characters or the enemies, or why they were fighting really. Gears 2 adds in the missing pieces and also makes it a personal experience between the gamer and the soldiers of Delta Squad.

To sum up the game’s strong points, it has taken everything that made the first game so good and went over the top to make it so much better. There are more enemies on screen at once — sometimes dozens. There is more comic relief dialogue between the main characters of Delta Squad.

Epic Games̢۪ use of their acclaimed graphics engine, Unreal Engine 3, has been put to full use. This can be seen in the game̢۪s many diverse environments, which range from being visually stunning to visually disturbing.

The online multiplayer mode has also been expanded to add much replay value. The usual death match and strategy-based matches remain with the addition of Horde Mode. This pits the gamer and up to four other players against 50 consecutive waves of Locust soldiers.

The only real downside to the game (besides online smack talk between players) is the abundance of checkpoints, which can make the game a bit too easy at times. This is very minor though.

All in all, if you haven̢۪t played the first Gears, but enjoy action and team-based games, you̢۪ll probably dig this game as well. For those that were diehard fans of the first game, but haven̢۪t bought this game yet, ask yourself why and go get it!

“Gears of War 2â€Â is available now exclusively for the Xbox 360.