Light on Story, Heavy on Action

The single-player campaign starts off just as it did on Emergence Day a year ago, with no back story or plot set-up but with plenty of attitude and action. The story - COG versus Locust Horde in the ultimate battle for supremacy! - remains just as stilted and contrived, but it's enough to drive the action. The new chapters are welcome as well, and it's very cool indeed to finally get a chance to come face-to-face with the Brumak. The extended story is less of a bonus and more of a necessary inclusion, as it was clear that the chase and eventual showdown with the Brumak was cut from the console version to make a 2006 holiday release date. Now, the story feels more complete, though the ending is just as unfulfilling as it was last year (though it does beg for a sequel).

Sprinting is sometimes necessary, but it's bound to the spacebar with several other actions

Frequent cutscenes build the action and provide a bit of character development

Gameplay hasn't changed, either: the game is still an exercise in managing ammunition and finding appropriate cover. By default, the space bar is the catch-all key, serving to initiate a sprint, take cover or roll between cover. While the W, A, S and D keys can be double-tapped to initiate a sprint or a roll, there's no reason that these actions couldn't have been separated to multiple keys. As it stands, there's no option to do so. I found aiming with a mouse and navigating with a keyboard more natural, but if you prefer the gamepad, Gears of War has a configuration option pre-set for the Xbox 360 controller (provided you have windows drivers, of course). I had no problems with the Xbox 360 gamepad, but the precise aim offered by a mouse is what I missed when playing the game on a console, so I moved back to the keyboard-and-mouse combo.

When Squad Means Solo

Squad controls are available toward the end of the first act, and they're as useless here as they were on the console. I spend my time finding better cover for myself instead of ordering my squad to either "Fire!" or "Fall back!" (yell using your gruffest Marcus Fenix voice). For some reason, I'm able to execute the reload double-tap with more precision on the keyboard, with a fairly consistent level of success (timing a reload just so greatly reduces the time spent changing out clips). The same difficulty levels are available, but a happy medium between the shooting gallery that is Casual mode and the sometimes-frustrating Hardcore mode would have been nice.

When your squadmates aren't busy dying, they're generally quite helpful

Really, this is no time to think about cooking. Also, down in front!

A baffling issue that hasn't been addressed is the lack of headshots with weapons other than the sniper rifle; a well-placed headshot with the Lancer, for instance, does the same damage as a shot to the foot. While it does have a tactical feel, combat is often reduced to waiting for that one last enemy to poke his head from behind some cover, until he's finally finished off and the satisfying area completion sound is played. And if you think I'm going to spend my time healing injured squad mates who will be automatically healed after an area is cleared out, you're wrong. I'll cover my own bacon, thanks, and the dense AI teammates can cover (or not cover) theirs. These are nitpicks, though, because the game is largely a solo shooter, and in that regard it has few equals, regardless of platform.