Gears of War. Resistance: Fall of Man. Two great next-gen shooters, but which one to buy? Here's the point-by-point breakdown.
The Scenario
Let's say you didn't pick up a 360 yet. In the year since it's launched, though, it's gathered some cool-looking games. But now, just as you might consider grabbing one, in comes the PlayStation 3 with a hot new title -- Resistance: Fall of Man. Is it worth getting a PS3 for it, or should you pick up a 360 and Gears of War instead? Both are visually intensive shooters with a big online component. Some have even gone so far as to call Gears of War the new Halo. But Resistance has up to 40-man multiplayer, something you don't recall being possible before on a console. So what is a shooter fan to do?
This is what you do: You let GamePro break it down for ya!
The Storyline
Gears of War's storyline is B-grade schlock, complete with some of the most atrocious dialogue ("'Sup, bitches?") to grace a video game console since Zero Wing. The core setup ain't bad, with grisly subterranean monsters invading a war-torn future, but the writing, pacing, and climax are all great disappointments. In fact, parts of the game make so little sense (could somebody explain why I riding on this train, again?) that it almost seems like Epic slashed entire chunks of the game at the last second in order to make the November ship date.
Gears of War offers some creatively challenging opponents.
Resistance, meanwhile, takes a different strategy for its story. Set against the backdrop of a faux documentary film dating from the early 1950s, the storyline emphasizes mystery and intrigue over macho stereotypes and trash talk. The setup is a little murky, with a mutant threat known as the Chimera attacking a WWII-era Europe, but the execution is excellent.
VERDICT:
Resistance by a landslide. Gears of War stacks cliche on top of cliche to achieve its B-movie flavor. Resistance shoots for more mystery, with better writing, dialogue, and pacing.
The Visuals
Gears of War sets new standards for next-gen console visuals. Environments, characters, and special effects all look mind-boggingly detailed thanks to the game's cutting-edge Unreal 3.0 engine. Even the real-time cinematics sparkle visually.
Resistance (pictured) looks good, but the Unreal Engine 3.0 is amazing.
Resistance looks perfectly adequate as a next-gen shooter, with massive environments and sharp-looking monsters. But the relatively plain-Jane special effects and textures just don't match up with Xbox 360 shooters such as F.E.A.R. or Call of Duty 3, let alone Gears.
VERDICT:
Gears of War dominates this category handily, blowing away Resistance's PS2-on-steroids look. Resistance isn't ugly, but its visuals are disappointing for a PlayStation 3 game. In Gears of War, detailed environments, detailed characters, fluid animation, distinct atmospheres, sometimes moody lighting and some dramatic cutscene camera work practically set the bar for graphical presentation.
The Weapons
Gears of War keeps its arsenal streamlined and sleek. The weapons will seem familiar to old-school shooter fans -- a shotgun here, a machine gun and sniper rifle there. But thanks to the new Active Reload system, which rewards players for carefully timed reloading, there's still a layer of freshness to the combat.
Insomniac's exotic weapons make for some fun moments in Resistance.
Resistance takes a different approach with its wildly original arsenal, which feels like something ripped straight out of the Ratchet and Clank series. (Not surprising, considering Insomniac's development history.) Some guns fire giant balls of explosive goo, others zap crowds with electricity, drill through walls, or launch floating turrets. Combat may not be as satisfyingly gritty as in Gears of War, but it's arguably more fun.
VERDICT:
Resistance, though it's a close call. Gears of War's sleek guns feel ultra-tight, but Resistance has a bigger, more inspired arsenal, with the added perk of dual firing modes.
The Single Player
Gears of War has a solid single-player mode, though the story drags. The key complaint is that the campaign is too short, though a robust cooperative mode and multiple difficulty settings keep the replay value high. Only the highly scripted levels throw a wrench into the works.
Gears of War singleplayer: awesome, but short.
Resistance's campaign is much longer that GOW's, and that's an asset. It's also well-paced, with nice variation between front-line skirmishes and epic boss battles. Split-screen cooperative modes (no online co-op) and multiple difficulty settings add a boost to replayability, as do a whole host of secret weapons that only appear on the second playthrough.
VERDICT:
Tie. Resistance has a longer, more satisfying single-player campaign, but Gears packs in more intensity and a bit less monotony. Either way, gamers win. Gears gets a special nod for its online cooperative play mode.
The Multiplayer
Multiplayer matches are a key component to Gears of War, and it shows. The interface is slick and efficient and -- aside from a questionable decision to not allow parties in ranked online matches -- it's highly effective for online matches. The new game types are solid, too, with an emphasis on ultra-tight tactical shootouts.
Resistance's 40-man multiplayer breaks new ground, technologically.
Online is also a key strength for Resistance, but in a different way altogether. Matches top out at a staggering 40 players, and the game's sprawling maps are more than enough to contain these epic battles. Game types lean more towards the standard fare, with deathmatch and capture the flag, but the massive game sizes and innovative weapons add a nice spark.
VERDICT:
Tie. Gears offers ultra-intense survival matches, but supports only eight players. Resistance matches are faster and shallower, but support up to 40 (!) players. Internet performance in both games is exceptional. Since Resistance multiplayer leans more towards large-scale action, and Gears emphasizes team cooperation and tactical maneuvering, it's difficult to measure them equally. You may be better off choosing whichever style suits you best.
The Innovation
Gears of War, contrary to some reports, actually takes some sizeable strides for the action genre. It doesn't really do anything "new," but it smoothly blends ideas like blind fire, cover-to-cover, flanking and other tactical elements into a third-person shooter. And with rapidly-loading maps and a straightforward weapon selection, you can focus more on honing your gameplay skillz and less time on watching progress bars or figuring out how some exotic weapons work best. Active Reload, where you can get a damage bonus if you time it right, is also nice touch. And did we mention that the game also looks quite nice?
The tactical combat in Gears of War is a welcome change.
Outside of its outstanding arsenal, Resistance doesn't do much to advance its genre. One exception is the multiplayer mode, which pits regular humans against Chimera (who can see through walls when in a special Berserker mode). On the whole, it's a well-crafted game with plenty of merit, but a groundbreaking title it is not.
VERDICT:
Gears of War cleverly combines Halo's "30 seconds of fun" gameplay loops with a tactical, stop-and-pop combat style -- and it doesn't get old, thanks to a constantly changing set of locations and challenges. Resistance is an excellent shooter, but outside of its wacky arsenal, it is straightforward and relatively predictable in its execution.
Conclusion
In case you weren't keeping score, that's 2 wins for Resistance, 2 wins for Gears of War, and 2 ties. Each one is a clear winner in one category. But we're giving the nod to Gears of War. It has a certain X factor that can't be denied and, as a package, presents one of the most impressive console shooters to date. It has that let-me-play type of gameplay where it's almost painful to watch and not get in on the action. That said, the gap isn't as wide as you probably expected. Hopefully Sony can manufacture enough PS3s to fill those 40-man multiplayer sessions, and it sounds like Epic wants to continue its traditional post-release love with new maps and whatnot. So at least for now, it's Gears.
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