I wrote this review 2 years ago on IGN.com. Thought I'd repost it for old times sake!

February 28, 2007 - Gears of War is a gritty, grimey, gorgeous game. The graphics are nothing short of amazing, and on an HDTV it causes uncontrollable drooling from the side of your mouth.

The gameplay is the best 3rd person control scheme I have ever played. The duck and cover is what gamers have been asking for in a game for years. Sure other games have tried it, but never were they as intuitive as GoW. The environment helps with the gameplay as each stage uses that duck and cover format seamlessly. No two stages are alike, which makes fighting the Locusts a new challenge every minute.

Online deathmatch is "okay" at best. It gets repetitive fast and can become bland. The maps are great, but there aren't many maps currently and the match types are few. Basically it boils down to just killing each other. Would love to see AT LEAST the classic Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, etc.

Even though the single-player portion isn't as long as most of us would like, it was put together very well. Not to mention Co-op mode and the different difficulty levels add to the replayability.

This is a must have game for the 360. Period.

Rating	Description
out of 10	click here for ratings guide
9.5	Presentation The minute the title screen comes on you know you are in for a hell of a ride. The stages are designed very well.
10.0	Graphics Best graphics I have seen so far in the next-gen era.
9.0	Sound Wretches. 'Nuff said.
10.0	Gameplay Killing aliens (or whatever they are) has never been this much fun. Duck and cover, baby!
9.5	Lasting Appeal The online versus modes could have had more flavor. However, the online co-op and difficulty levels will have you going back to GoW over and over. Not to mention getting all of the COG tags.
9.7	OVERALL (out of 10 / not an average)