With its gigantic alien monsters, plethora of futuristic weaponry and improbably muscular super soldiers, Gears of War represents everything that is good about sci-fi gaming. These arent just any normal alien beings from outer space though. The reptilian Locust are some of the most intimidating aliens ever witnessed in gaming, making Halos Covenant look like Ewoks ranging from the humble Drone to the gigantic Corpser, the Locust are not to be trifled with. The futuristic weaponry of Epics classic is suitably powerful to deal with such dangerous enemies. Even the basic Lancer assault rifle is equipped with a heavy-duty chainsaw bayonet to cleave your opponents in half. Epic didnt just treat its gamers to an arsenal of amazing weapons with run-of-the-mill third person shooter gameplay though. Gears of War would implement a revolutionary cover system which turned every single Locust encounter into a tactical dogfight. With the smart enemy AI, walking out into the open was suicide the player had to tactically manoeuvre from cover to cover to get an angle on the enemy. Though not the first game to implement a system like this, Gears of War showed how effective it could be and these cover mechanics have subsequently had a huge impact on the genre.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
