IGN PAX 2008: Gears Of War 2 MultiplayerThe map for our session was Security, an outdoor station full of giant blocks to use as cover while closing in on the Guardian. While playing, I was happy to see the game running so smoothly. Of course, this wasn't being played over the Xbox Live with players across the country, so who knows yet how lag could possibly affect the game. But as I moved in on the Guardian with teammates, I noticed their clothes fluidly rippling as they dropped into the roadie run to dash from wall to wall. In Guardian, the leader must be taken out via execution. You cannot simply pop the Guardian with a torrent of bullets and then let them bleed out in a corner. You must smash skulls or cleave them in two. This really inspires teamwork. At least one player always stuck to the Guardian not only to ward off incoming attacks, but revive a wounded Guardian before a finishing move could be executed. Cliffy B has pointed out that the violence in Gears of War 2 tends to veer toward "slapstick" instead of gruesome, kind of like the bloodbaths that spill all over "Evil Dead 2." He's right on this count. As I watched other players engage in chainsaw duels and carve COG warriors like Thanksgiving turkeys, the screen ran red with blood. But it's not like entrails and muscle chunks are flying everywhere. The goal here is not shock-horror -- it's over-the-top lunacy bathed in a fair amount of crimson.
The chainsaw duels look cool from a third-person perspective. When I spied one going down in our game, I'd purposefully close in to watch the animations. Even in a multiplayer game with so much going on, the animations looked smooth as sparks flew and eventually meat was flayed from the bone. Watching other gamers play Gears of War 2 was interesting, too. Seeing Gears of War 2 in-person is not exactly new for many people at IGN due to events like E3 and GC. But it was obviously something very special for the PAX attendees. They were genuinely eager to get their turn. They'd point out things from the line, such as the chain saw duels. And when you step back and see the game from their perspective, you understand the value of a show like PAX. I'm sure all of those gamers were going to buy Gears of War 2 anyway, but getting to play it early like that probably guaranteed quite a few more Day One purchases. 
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