Released a full two years later and the first title in a wave of second-generation games for Microsoft’s next-generation console, Halo 2 and Gears of War clearly have nothing in common, and nothing would be gained by trying to compare them. So why am I doing it? Because that’s the nature of my illness. After having completed the game twice through now (still working on Act 5 on Insane) I feel compelled to write up some observations comparing the game I’ve spent the last two weeks playing to the game I’ve spent the last two years playing. Beware Gears spoilers!

I already made some remarks regarding Gears’ all-things-to-all-soldiers cover system; how Frankie said it wasn’t appropriate for Halo 3 (which it isn’t) but wondering what Halo might have been like had it stayed a third-person game and used controls like Gears. Both games are still sci-fi shooters, though, which means they have a lot in common that has nothing to do with cover or controls. There are quite a few resemblances in a number of areas, but Gears also does a number of things right that Halo 2 didn’t, and as much as I’m saying to myself now, “oh, Gears does this just like Halo” I can’t help but wonder, by the end of this year, will I be asking “why doesn’t Halo 3 do this like Gears did?”

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