Gears of War 2

Big fucking guns, with chainsaws. Manly men, huge shoot-outs, bullets dodging and  cover jumping. Giant aliens, laser satellites and night loving air piranhas. This was Gears of War; all wrapped in beautiful graphics; complete with brilliantly integrated cooperative play. It was sweet.

Gears of War 2 hits shelves recently. And alongside standard graphical improvements and the extended story you would expect from a sequel, Epic Games have added a slew of tweaks and touches which keep the core gameplay perfectly intact, but fix a few of the niggles that arose with the first game.

Story-wise, Gears 2 follows the events of the first. You retake control of war hero Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago to lead the charge against the underground enemy threatening to overrun your home planet.

Dialogue is as raw as before, with our heroes about as gruff and hardcore as that guy down the pub with 'luv' tattooed on his fingers (as he lost, like... three; in a poker game). However, fan favourite 'Cole Train', isn't as present and wise-cracking as one would hope.

Events play out with you ducking and weaving your way through various battles, fighting against the evil and alien (maybe?) Locust. Controls are largely unaltered, with the single button 'run and cover' system (which is genius) returns and is, thankfully, unaltered. Aiming remains a simple affair and you instantly dive back into cover when not aiming for your ugly enemies mug. These both combine to make every battle a painless (ahem - to control) but intense affair, which anyone can get to grips with relative ease. Weapon selection is via the directional pad and the also seminal 'active reload' system makes a welcome return. This allows you to tap reload twice (within a specific timing window) for a much faster reload and damage boost.

Fans will be pleased to hear that the arsenal from the first game is pretty much unchanged. The locust chopping, chainsaw sporting Lancer Rifle is here, alongside the sturdy shotgun and a wodge of new weapons.  These include mortar launchers, flame-throwers and gun shields. Other changes to combat include enemies reviving each other and the opportunity to use an errant grub as a human (well... locust) shield.

The battles in game are more varied, but still as hectic as before, with a real and intuitive use of cover required to progress through the bastarding hordes with any pace. And what a load of hordes there are! The single player game is considerably larger in this release, making Gears 2 even more bang, duck, cover, rev and chop for your money than you could imagine.

Co-op is as solid as ever, and still the only real way to play. Split-screen or online, you and your mate can work together outwitting the enemy and saving each others keisters to great effect. Online play returns and is solid and addictive, with a whole host of options to allow you to tailor team based carnage as you desire.

Gears of War 2 is a prime example of "if it ain't broke, tweak it". No major changes appear, but why would they? A load of small improvements only add to the experience, and an extension of the story is done well. So if you need to kill something this Christmas, grab your Lancer and get a chopping, you won't regret it.