Genre: Shooter	Developed By: Epic Games
	The sequel successfully manages to exceed expectations. The game is bigger, badder and now with a lot more color!

The story picks up right where the first one ended. Even though the lightmass bomb was detonated, the locusts have become more aggressive with their attacks and are closing towards humanity’s last stronghold: Jacinto. Realizing that simply defending would be futile, humanity launches a full scale attack to take the war to the locusts.

That means players will be involved in a large scale war at the start of the game. The momentum successfully carries through to the end of the game. To sum up the campaign, its bigger, badder and more intense than its predecessor. Fortunately, this time around the campaign has been beefed up and should take around 10 hours to finish.

It felt as if the designs of each level were carefully created to deliver an intense and highly enjoyable experience. The game strongly relies on pitting players in unique and varying scenarios. From defending the main base against a grueling locust attack to chainsawing the arteries inside a monstrous worm, the game provides stages that feel refreshing. Added to great fluid controls, it had me on the edge of my seat yearning for more.

Unfortunately, Epic decided to include a vehicle level that feels out of place from an otherwise stellar game. The vehicle can only turn sideways when at a standstill; this makes the control feel clunky and sometimes frustrating. Fortunately the vehicle part is not long and not as difficult.

At first I was skeptical when I had heard that the story would include Dom searching for his wife. But without giving much away, I was left thoroughly impressed on how that little arc ended. The story will not have any Oscar bells ringing, but it got the job done and had me highly interested on its continuation.

The attributes of a great developer:

 Despite the fact that the first installment had won numerous awards and praise from critics and fans alike, Epic has paid attention to the voices of its fans and this is clearly evident in this game.

The primary complaints of the first GoW were that the colors were too grayish, there were not enough enemy types and that the campaign was short. There is plenty of green, blue and red to go around this time around. The color scheme is good enough not to have us think we are in a 1960’s movie, and at the same time not at an excess to have players think they are high.

In addition there are also a varying amount of enemy types in the games. Brumaks are deadly and plentiful. After the butt kicking the locusts received in the previous game, they have learned to use deadlier weapons such as flamethrowers, mini-guns and mortars. Unfortunately for them, we can just grab these weapons from their dead carcasses and use their weapons to dishout punishment.  The game also lets you ride a Brumak. The primary purpose of this level is to overpower the player and let us have fun massacring the army of locusts. Needless to say, it is very satisfying.

Multiplayer:

Without a doubt, the best way to play the campaign is by co-op. This game is about providing cover, flanking and working co-operatively towards the goal. Also the AI partner is almost useless when it comes to boss battles. Epic has made it easier for people to play co-op by allowing the players set difficulty for each player. This allows us to play with our friends that have less gaming experience.

When the campaign is over, multiplayer provides a great reason to stick around. Due to the cover and different general game mechanics, the experience with the game is unique when compared to other shooters. With small teams, not only is there a greater value for staying alive, but there is also a greater scope for strategy especially with the use of flanking. Working co-operatively and choosing arms that complement others will go a long way in the game.

There is a decent variety of game types. New entrants include Submission, where players have to capture an armed AI character, and Wingman which has 5 two-man teams battling it out. But the mode that personally stood out for me was Horde Mode.

Horde mode has a team of up to five players trying to survive 50 waves of locusts. The type and quantity of locusts are the same every 10 waves. However after every 10^th wave the locusts will have their strengths increased. Although the mode is for 5 players and that many is needed to last 50 waves, playing with fewer people can be a blast as well. Each map is large and unique therefore offering a unique experience. With Epic releasing new maps on a regular basis, there is little chance that the game will collect dust if subscribed to Xbox Live.

Final Word: Epic has done a great job by listening to its fan and improved tremendously from its predecessor. This sequel delivers a larger, more intense and a truly epic campaign. At the same time with the varied multiplayer game types and introduction of horde mode, there is plenty to do while waiting for the next installment.