Daimon's Lair

I started Gears 2 the other night--it looks like it could be even better than the first game, but I hope there won't be as much vehicle combat as there was in the first few chapters because I'm not sure what I like about the new turret mechanics (unlike the first Gears where you could fire a turret indefinitely, here the turret can overheat so you have to stop firing and hold RB to quench the turret). Yes, I know it's more "realistic" but the whole point of turrets in shooters is being able to fire indefinitely except in Halo 3 where you can rip the turret off its mount and run around with a limited supply of ammo.

Otherwise, I like it so far. It already has more of a storyline in the first few chapters of Act 1 than in all of the original Gears. Graphics and sound look nice and I appreciate (for the sake of my kids) being able to turn off both gore AND language. (Though I have to say that chainsaw executions are only satisfying with the gore turned on).

The designers have made the game have four difficulty levels, with there being an easy/casual, normal, hardcore, and insane. So far even the normal seems easier than "casual" (which was the lowest in the first Gears) so I might bump it up and see what Hardcore is like. Then again, there were only occasional segments (i.e. Berserkers) that were very challenging in the first Gears on casual (thanks to the incredibly generous regenerative health system) so I might have to play again.

I also like the new Hammerhead assault rifle with its (limited) zoom function and more of a semi-auto function. Not quite Halo 2 and 3's Battle Rifle, but it's still nice to have as a complement to the Lancer. Especially since the two assault rifles in the original Gears were almost too similiar with the noticable exception being the Lancer's chainsaw bayonet.

We'll see if there are any other additions as I play onwards.