Certain people have complained about Gears of War receiving perfect scores and that is just sad because Gears should remind us all that games are meant to be fun, not 40 hours long or amazingly deep, but fun! This is what Gears offers up in spades and that is why I decided to give my top-10 reasons why I think Gears of War deserves such high marks. A perfect game is something that does not and will never exist. The complexity of game design will always allow for bugs within a game but Gears rises far above the small bugs it has and gives everyone out there a reason to pick up a 360.

10. The Graphics – Ok this is obvious, Gears is by far the best looking game on the Xbox 360 to date. Each time I play I am still impressed with the unique and stylish visuals. Kudos to Epic and their artists for an amazing looking game. Just imagine what Gears of War 2 will look like. Oh you know they are already making it!

9. Headshots – Gears takes exploding someones dome to a whole new level. You can use a variety of weapons to spray gray matter all over the ground and the feeling is so satisfying that it just has to be fattening. Never has a headshot felt more satisfying then it does in Gears, and it will never get old.

8. The Torque Bow – This is a weapon that some would deem overpowered but it is truly a skill weapon, and if you are good with it you can help your team dominate any map you can find it on. Add the fact that your foe explodes when shot is all gravy baby. While a bow is nothing new, this version is by far the best one in a game to date.

7. Sounds – Sound design is something that is sometimes overlooked, but all the sounds in Gears do an awesome job of expressing what is happening in the game. The first time you hear the blood squirting from the spine stump of your dead opponent is a glorious moment. In multiplayer, your character will scream and talk in order to relay important information to you and your teammates, something that has saved my life a few times.

6. No Circle Strafing – I am not putting down any other game because I love me some Halo, but it is so nice to play a game that makes you think and react instead of just running and gunning. It is a nice change of pace and makes for a game which demands that you work as a team and play smart…or BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

5. The Chainsaw – Yeah you know I had to put this in here somewhere. The chainsaw is nothing new to video games but in Gears the 360 allows the chainsaw to really feel like a chainsaw. In the past games a chainsaw would just rip something apart with little detail, but in Gears you really can see the damage caused and that alone is why this is the chainsaw to beat.

4. Balance – When it comes to online games, balance is always an issue with gamers and Epic has done a great job balancing not only the weapons but their placement and usability. Maps are set up with near perfect placement of weapons and encounter points. They obviously took their time play testing Gears to death to get this level of balance.

3. Maps – Epic has done an incredible job creating the maps for Gears of War. Even though I prefer some maps to others, so far, none of the maps are duds. Each map has a style and feel of its own and that adds even more strategy to the gameplay. The 10 maps that shipped with the game are all great and with new maps coming before Xmas the game will only get better. It also doesn’t hurt that the maps look as good as the single player game.

2. Re-Playability – Taking aside the amazing multiplayer that Gears offers, the single player even though short is an amazing game on its own, and with a few different difficulty levels to play through, the game is a lot of fun to play through multiple times. It doesn’t stop there either. With co-op you have even more reasons to play through the campaign again. The game is so much fun on hardcore or insane when playing with a friend that is feels like your first time through.

1. The Multiplayer – If you play Halo 2 or any other great online game you remember that feeling you got when you first got a hold of the game and played online. It was great, the game blew away your expectations, which is what Gears has done for almost everyone who has played it. Not since Halo 2 has an online game been so well polished and fun. Many games suffer a major downgrade in graphics when playing in multiplayer, but Gears maintains 95% of that visual awe you get from the single player. Some people will complain about the lack of options but you must realize that Epic has plans to expand upon the online section and there is plenty of fun and variety to be had till then. Gears delivers a multiplayer game that tops almost every other online game when it comes to fun and that my friends is what games are all about. So stop bitching about the game’s reviews and go bust some locusts heads open.