Gears of War 2 hit this past week and I’ve been playing it for a couple of hours here and there. I think I’ve just started Act 4 (casual mode), but it’s pretty hard to tell that at first glance.

Here are a few initial impressions of the single player campaign (warning - beyond the likes of here might ye may encounter spoilers):

1. The size of the game has increased. Areas you’re fighting in are more open and the game feels less like it’s on rails than before (except for the areas where you’re literally on rails). Battles fought against the locust feel much more epic - when they’ve finished, I’ve found myself gasping and scrounging for ammo.
2. Some levels are simply amazing in concept and execution. Vistas and environments are brilliant.
3. With the size of the battles, they’ve introduced more enemies to the fight - and I don’t care about them at all. Some of the enemies, ones with maces and shields especially, feel rushed and not explained.
4. The story itself is also much more fleshed out. It really feels like they’ve spent time planning out the history of the world and are more dedicated to telling its story. It’s a really welcome addition to an already excellent game. I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the actions and plot lines that revolve around a couple of the characters when not playing. I’ve also come to discover that a lot of my theories about the game world itself are true and it’s fun seeing them all unfold as I soldier along (Haha!).
5. There are a few areas where it’s very easy to feel lost. A couple of times I couldn’t figure out where I was supposed to go, and was hoping for a Dead Space-like system to tell me where I was headed.
6. There are tons of new collectibles that help explain much more of the back story - and different types of collectibles too.
7. The voice acting isn’t too bad. I haven’t yet found a game with flawless voice acting, but this is one of the best in recent memory, that’s for sure.
8. I haven’t tried any of the multiplayer modes, but I can’t wait to give them a whirl. Horde mode especially sounds exciting.
9. They have added a couple of platform sections to the game, specifically by adding dodging sections that you need to negotiate to pass. It’s an interesting addition, but it feels a little cheesy and tacked on.
10. Despite all of the technical achievements, the game still suffers from “soccer corpose” syndrome. When you kill an enemy and run into or over their corpse, they move around as though they are made of packing styrofoam.
11. Sometimes your teammates are jerks and don’t revive you, despite having run right past you. I’m looking at you, Dom.  :(
12. During a couple of driving areas, the game suffers from slowdown that isn’t a game-wrecker, but certainly is a bummer. I like that the driving sequence is less of a chore than it was in Gears 1.
13. I’ve noticed that a couple of times the game’s onscreen checkpoint marker interrupts the onscreen dialogue (I’m looking at you seafaring-section).
14. I still don’t care about or use the chainsaw on the lancer.
15. I still love absolutely fighting wretches.

We have taped episode four of the show and are in the process of editing of together. Stay tuned!

Bungie has finally started to lift some of the secrecy surrounding their new game, which is called Halo Recon. Based on the trailer, it looks like you play a human soldier who isn’t Master Chief in an effort to defend Earth on the ground from invaders. In the past, the game seemed like a mix between a much larger scale and intimate battles. This one looks like there will be lots of close-quarters action.

Makes me wonder if there will be more games based on other versions of armour coming out, as this one is based on the Recon armour class.