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Many gamers like to tell themselves that gameplay is more important than graphics. Yeah, in most cases, that statement is probably very true. But every once in a while you have a game so mindblowingly good-looking that the gameplay, good, bad, or somewhere in between, just doesn't matter. Say "Hi" to Gears Of War.

When Epic first started providing glimpses of their flagship Xbox 360 title, many questioned that the Unreal Engine 3-powered title would look as good as the earlier screens suggested. Well they've definitely proven any doubters wrong and in the process single-handedly blew the doors off of what to expect (visually) from next-generation gaming. Regardless of if you own an HDTV or not, Gear of War is eye-popping. Does it have shiny bald space marines and aliens? Yup. Does it really matter once you see the gorgeous visuals with your own two yes? Nope. Some may not be fond of the game's gaudy art, but I challenge anyone to not be impressed by the technical aspects of the game's graphics. The setting is suitably gritty and futuristic and packed with details, amazing lighting and texturing. The characters and creatures, while bordering on being cookie cutter sci-fi action flick-style, are near CG quality, during in-game sequences as well as close up cut-scenes. The character designers did an awesome job creating and modeling "non-perfect" looking characters for the game; meaning they are dirty, battle-scarred and really convey the look of being beat up and tired.

While earlier versions of Gears had some animation and framerate issues, Epic has ironed nearly every single problem out. The game speeds along at a near constant 30fps with very few bouts of slowdown, and they utilized just the perfect amount of motion blur. It's possible to go on and on about the visuals, though it's pretty obvious that it's one of, if not the best, looking videogames ever created. The only negative I can conjure up regarding the graphics is the fact that it makes practically all other next-generation games, both currently available and scheduled for the near future, look under whelming. Personally, the only other games I'd probably place in a similar category at the moment would be Fight Night Round 3 and MotorStorm, though for slightly different reasons. GoW also proves that the very adaptable Unreal Engine 3 is the real deal, especially in the hands of a competent developer.

Gears Of War is not a First Person Shooter and is really nothing like Halo. With that said, GoW heads in a slightly different direction with its slower-paced, 3rd-person, over the shoulder point of view and stop 'n pop gameplay. The game is still action-packed and loaded with a variety of weapons, as you would expect, and the designers created a somewhat more linear experience than one would find in your typical FPS. You and your small squad get involved in many battles that require you stop, and strategically choose a defensive location to fight the Locust Horde. "Sticking" to various pieces of the environment, such as barriers, walls, door frames and structures, and then peering around or over to attack the enemy, is really the game's primary gameplay schema. You can choose to run out in the middle of the battlefield with guns a-blazing, but you'll usually be torn to shreds in no time. The defensive aspect slows down the pace pretty dramatically, and to go along with the different style of play, the environments are usually designed in such a way to provide many areas to take cover. One related complaint is that with some of the levels, the arrangement of the barriers and such seems too blatant and obvious. In other words, in some scenarios, there might as well be a big arrow pointing out exactly where you should camp out. Another small issue with the level design is the occasional "invisible wall syndrome", meaning the game restricts you from moving to certain places within the levels which at first seem perfectly accessible. This is especially evident with your character lacking the ability to freely jump or drop off of edges, platforms, cliffs, or move anywhere that the game very specifically does not want you to move to. Its not a major complaint at all, it's just that the game's environments are definitely more linear than they let on at first. Overall, the gameplay won't set the world on fire, but it's different enough to be interesting and it certainly gets the job done.

Difficulty-wise, Gears is just about right. At the Casual level, it's definitely no pushover, and at the harder Hardcore or Insane levels the game can be downright difficult and frustrating. Regardless, you'll likely find yourself playing through certain parts of the game over and over before finally making it to the next checkpoint. Thankfully, the game is full of auto-saving checkpoints. Gears' difficulty is mostly fair, though there are some annoying bits such as the swarms of insta-kill shadow bat things named Kryll and the poorly implemented vehicle segments. The A.I. of both enemy and friendly characters is mostly adequate, although your squad mates sometimes freak out and stupidly get mowed down more often than they should. Depending on your skill level, I'd expect most anyone can zip through the single player mode in 8 - 10 hours or so, which is about the perfect length in my opinion.

Besides the single player experience Epic has provided plenty of enjoyable multiplayer action in GoW. The game was designed with co-op play in mind, so the co-op mode is perfect for kicking some Locust Horde ass with a friend, either locally, split screen or via Xbox Live. The Versus multiplayer modes are full-featured as well, though due to design considerations, it supports only up to 8 players. Again, Gears is not a FPS, so those expecting a full-on 40 player fragfest may be disappointed. Either way, you'll get your money's worth.

Gears Of War is the next-gen game to get in '06, if only for the incredible graphics and production values. It has a few gameplay quirks and the story is nothing to write home about, but in this case, the spectacular visuals easily trump anything and everything else. Get it!