It helps that Gears of War was so explicitly designed to be played with a friend. For a team that had done little in the way of ambitious single-player experiences, Epic built a game that still sits confidently atop the superlatives it received nine years ago. Through a campaign whose length looks almost elephantine in comparison to modern shooters, Epic successfully iterated on the basic cover-based concept and made fights that even nine years later I still remember playing through the first time - like Embry Square, or the first appearance of the terrifying Theron Guard. Those encounters form the backbone of Gears of War, and remain its strongest aspect. It manages this in ways that feel almost quaint now, but the slow introduction of new weapons and new enemy types that are then woven into the game's various encounters works just as well now as it did then.
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Gears of War knows where to breathe, and how to ratchet up the tension. It still works, and speaks to how well the series has always managed downtime and combat without ruining its sense of pacing. Mechanics like active reload underline a successful effort to layer optional sophistication and skill-based gameplay between taking down enemies in Gears of War. It helps that the chainsaw-equipped Lancer rifle remains one of the most viscerally satisfying melee tools I've ever used in a game, and that the Gnasher shotgun still feels like a flak cannon. Gun battles feel more like fist fights, where you're beating the crap out of things with bullets, where any distance more than a few feet feels like it might be too far away. Bodies take a enormous amount of punishment, and battles aren't about quick, surgical shots. Gears' shooting remains distinctive, and remarkably so, given its success.