[WARNING: Contains Act I and V spoilers.]

After 12 cans of Red Bull, mountains of pizza and difficulty breathing (it's that intense), we cut through the Locust Horde and beat Gears of War 2. Microsoft prohibits us from revealing the meatier details, but we can say this; Marcus Fenix's latest adventure is everything we expected, a blood-drenched and gorgeous action romp that is not only bigger, but also more cinematic and vicious than its now wimpy prequel. Forget about battling five Locusts at a time. Try 20. Never mind the standard grenade. Beware the poison one. You'll soon discover that while Gears 2 plays similar to the original Gears of War, you'll need to make one hell of a stand to battle adversaries intent on reducing you and your comrades to piles of quivering flesh.

Act I: Tip of the Spear sees the game's protagonist, Marcus Fenix and his fellow COG Dominic Santiago reunite with Delta Squad. After a failed attempt to destroy the Locusts with a Lightmass Bomb, the military fears that their monstrous adversaries have plans to sink Jacinto, the last great human city on the planet Sera. To prevent the disaster, they intend to mount a powerful offensive against their underground enemies that involves battling them on their home turf.

Almost immediately, Marcus and Dom meet a new recruit named Carmine, who they refer to as "rook." Similar to the previous Gears of War, you choose multiple paths, and your first decision is whether you need to learn the controls. Select yes, and the game quickly briefs you on the importance of taking cover and aiming (Dom challenges Marcus to shoot bottles), except instead of throwing you into a training room, you brush up in the field, and it's you teaching Carmine the finer points of being a COG, which is a nice touch that shows Marcus' softer side.

During training, you'll learn that pressing LB displays your current objective as well as your team's position, which is helpful when one them goes down and needs a revive. In addition, Marcus uses a new War Journal keep various newspaper clippings and other things he finds in the environment, aside from COG tags. This'll please gamers looking to get the most from their Gears 2 experience, as the items add depth to the already powerful narrative.

After quickly disposing of a few Locusts, including these creepy suicide bombers called Tickers, you wind up at a hospital that looks more like a gothic cathedral. There you discover civilians with rust lung. You also meet another of the game's new characters, Tai, a spiritual and beefy soldier with a tribal tattoo on his face. Unfortunately, you don't have much time to get acquainted, as Locusts storm the place.

From the opening shot, we noticed that the Lancer Assault Rifle, the one with the chainsaw attachment, sounds different. Although the previous gun has a great sound, Epic beefed it up. The result is a punchier sounding weapon that leaves behind smoke trails, so you can see where the enemy fired. The same can also be said for the Locust equivalent, the Hammerburst, which also features more dramatic audio that makes you feel like you've done considerable damage to your targets.

Gears of War 2's Locusts seem just as bright as the last game. There's just more of them.

We also enjoyed the awesomeness that is the chainsaw duel. Instead of just cutting through your opponents, if you mash the B button more than your adversary and you'll knock their Lancer Assault Rifle aside and slice through their gooey flesh. Fail, and it's your chunks that'll decorate the pavement.

As soon as we picked up a grenade, we experimented with sticking it to walls and immediately fell in love. Attaching a grenade to someone is cool, but so is mounting it on a wall and waiting for something to stupidly turn the corner is far more rewarding. Grenade explodes, chunks fly all over the place; it's glorious.

Upon clearing the hospital, we rejoin Delta and attempt to strike the Locust heart. Hundreds of soldiers converge on what they believe to be the opening to an underground lair. We meet up with another one of the game's new faces, Dizzy, a redneck tough guy operating a transport vehicle called Rig 314. As we barreled through the forest and admired the rolling mountains, tons of Locusts emerged from the ground and went on the defensive. This also included some visits from a few nasty and heavily armed Brumaks, as well as Locusts flying atop Reavers. First thing we did was jump on Rig 314's turret and use the Gatling gun to shred our opponents. Every Locust, even the hundred or so climbing up from the ground, can die, which puts to rest the rumors that they were all for show. This proves true when they attempt to board, and luckily for us, the turret is on a swivel, so clearing the rig of alien scum was no problem.

Things got harder when trying to stop a Brumak from bashing into the rig. We turned the turret on this massive beast and easily ripped through its armor plating, watching with sadistic glee as the bullets tore chunks off its flesh.

Later on in Act V: Aftermath, you get to ride a Reaver and zip through tunnels as Skorge, a badass Locust, pursues you atop a much larger creature. After exiting the underground, you fly through gorgeous outdoor scenery preventing Skorge and his pet from pulling you apart. Unfortunately, we can't discuss why this battle occurs or how it ends. Just know that it's a sweet sequence.

Since we don't want to ruin the game for you, we'll refrain from discussing the rest of the story. It's important to note, however, that Gears of War 2's narrative is superior to the original campaign. Characters display more emotion, openly discuss their feelings and have dramatic entrances. The cut scenes are more cinematic, showing off more of the game's sprawling environments, and Steve Jablonsky's (who also scored the Transformers film) soundtrack perfectly fits the game's action sequences. You'll also explore a much wider variety of environments, square off against humongous bosses and make horrible discoveries. All of this combines to form one of the most impressive presentations in video game history.

In Act V, Marcus and Cole try to outrun Skorge on a Reaver, one of the Locust's most popular modes of transport. It's as scary as it looks.

It also helps that Gears of War 2 is not only more challenging than its prequel, but a hell of a lot of fun. Enhanced technology allows for more enemies (and new enemy types) on screen, forcing you to rethink your strategies. Limited environmental destructibility adds more strategy when choosing your cover and the new weapons are outstanding. The Scorcher flamethrower reduces enemies to piles of ash, while the Mulcher Gatling gun is a mobile turret you can mount on cover and cool down by pressing RB (this works for all turrets). Of course, if you'd rather blow something's head off with the sniper rifle or reduce it to mush with the trusty Boomshot rocket launcher, feel free; in fact, all of the weapons from the original Gears return, and each of them has a signature melee attack.

There are so many things we'd love to say, but A.) you'll hate us for spoiling the game, and B.) so will Microsoft. If, however, you had any doubt that Gears of War 2 would fail to meet the hype, consider your concerns destroyed. This is without question one of 2008's greatest video games and we just spent our time discussing the campaign. There's still multiplayer (including the excellent Horde mode); we'll reveal that on October 15 and review the game on November 3. Until then, check out these gorgeous screens and brush up on your chain sawing skills with Gears. Otherwise, the sequel will knock you on your ass.

Related Links

Gears of War 2 Game Guide