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EA managers can moan and complain all they want about Gears of War’s good review scores and apparent lack of innovation, but they’re just ticked off because THEY can’t seem to make a game as good as Gears.

And a lot of other people may be looking at this game wondering, “Why the high scores? It’s doesn’t look that innovative.” But let’s make one thing clear right now. Gears of War IS that good. Allow me to explain why.

Strictly speaking, Gears of War is NOT innovative. But then, neither was the original Star Wars when it was released in 1977. Almost every single aspect of Star Wars was borrowed and lifted from other sources, from 30′s sci-fi serials to Kurosawa’s classics to ancient mythology. But so what? Lucas found a way to blend all of these elements on the screen, and at the same time made them LOOK and FEEL amazing. There are a lot of opinions about the overall value of other offerings in the saga, but no one can dispute the power and impact of the original on pop culture.

Gears of War is what we, as video game enthusiasts, have been waiting for. A game that takes the best elements from the past 20 years of games, movies, and television and brings it together in an undeniably powerful way.

Yeah, yeah, we’ve all done the fighting off alien invaders thing, but no other game has channeled the classics so perfectly. While playing, I repeatedly found myself thinking, “Oh man, this was my favorite part of Pitch Black/Aliens/Road Warrior/Black Hawk Down, and it actually feels so RIGHT.”

And it’s that feeling of “rightness”, the proverbial “IT”, that sets Gears of War so far above everything else.

But enough of my rambling, how is the gameplay? Let me put it this way. I KNEW chainsaw kills were going to be satisfying, but I had no idea they would feel THIS GOOD. And the 20th feels every bit as satisfying as the first. And if chainsaws aren’t your thing, there are myriad other ways of dealing close-range punishment. Shotgun fans will be well pleased, as will anyone who loves getting the “You stuck LaMeR182″ messages in Halo 2. Grenade tagging can have hilarious possibilities. “Ha! I chainsawed j00! Wait, what is this thing stuck to my back! OH NOES!”

And I hate to compare Gears of War to other games like Halo 2, but there’s no question that where Halo 2′s sword rules, Gears of War’s chainsaw completely and utterly dominates. Oh, and in multiplayer… EVERYONE gets a chainsaw, so things are fairly well balanced right from the start.

And chainsaw kills always look great. The screenshots and videos that you’ve seen don’t do the game justice. You need to see this on a Hi-def screen to really understand just HOW good it looks. Gears has set the bar for graphical quality in the “Next Generation”. Like Halo and Half-Life 2, I found myself stopping to gaze in wonder at some of the scenery. From rain drenched industrial centers to post-apocalyptic sunsets, the art direction in this game is beyond phenomenal. So far, there simply is no better looking game on the market. Period.

Another great thing about the gameplay is the perspective. This is the first 3rd person shooter that doesn’t send me into fits of rage because of camera control, etc. Gears of War plays like a FPS, and a lot of people on fora throughout the intertubes are even referring to it as a FPS. It’s not though, and after your first chainsaw kill, you’ll understand why. SEEING the chainsaw rippage and curb stomping is what it’s all about. That’s the payoff!

My one beef with the game is the matchmaking. We’re STILL doing this the old way? I can already see players gravitating to one map or another, and I predict that in a few years, you’ll be hard-pressed to get a full game going with one of the “less popular” maps. This is what Halo 2′s matchmaking has taught us. Sometimes, lack of control is a fair sacrifice for nigh endless variety.

Oh, and the single-player is SHORT. I wish it was longer… but it does lend itself to re-playability, whether due to the online co-op (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU) or due to allowing multiple paths at several points. I’ve finished the single-player story, and I can’t wait to jump back in for some co-op and get some revenge on portions of the game that bent me over its knee when I was playing through alone.

Gears of War is the non-innovative, 3rd-person FPS w/ chainsaws that completely deserves every perfect score it gets. It is the ultimate video game. It is “The Lord of the Rings” of video games.

The Good: Everything. Especially chainsaws.
The Bad: The single-player is short. It’s so fun, you’ll be wishing there was more.
The Ugly: Matchmaking and stats: Why does no one follow Halo 2′s lead? (Oh… that’s why.)