I have always been a huge fan of first person shooters. Call it a weakness but FPS games have been the only game genre that has ever been able to hold my attention for more than five minutes. I am a long time PC gamer but when my game rig finally took a crap for good I was forced to the console and boy am I glad that I made the switch! For a long time I hated console games because I could not get used to the controls. It was hard to go from winning UT tournaments on my PC to being the semi-retarded guy in the room who could not hit the broad side of a barn.
Part of the reason that I am a big fan of Gears of War is because it was such a good game that despite my suckitude, I enjoyed the game so much I could not put it down. My interest in this game got me through the painful process of learning to game all over again. Like a crippled football player fighting to learn how to walk, I emerged from the Gears single player having triumphed in my eternal struggle with the controller.
At first it was difficult for me to admit that I had left the world of PC gaming behind me for good but after playing five minutes of Gears I was hooked. What makes this even more amazing is that I recently hosted an xBox 360 party at my house.  This from a guy who was such a hardcore PC gamer that I ran and organized LAN parties for years, some of which were attended by twenty or more people.
So what was it about Gears of War that made all of this happen?Â
It was the tactile quality of the game that really jumped out and grabbed me by the collar. I am talking about tactile NOT tactics. Most games are an experience for the eyes and ears but what made Gears so engaging for me was the thump of my boots on the ground, the sound of my armor grinding on the stone wall as I took cover, the thunderous punch of my fist meeting the face of the enemy and the hollow whistle of a Boomshot grenade screaming over head. The subtle use of the force feedback and the images on screen took the experience to a whole new level for me.
As a PC gamer, the best I could hope for was weapon bobbing or boot thumping. Going back to these games after playing Gears was strange. My character moved smoothly through the environment as if on roller skates, it just seemed half-assed.
Adding to the experience is the artfully designed game mechanic. There is much you can do but as a player I never felt over-encumbered by the controls. Things are pretty straight forward and after five minutes of play you have it down. Having a host of really cool and insanely muscled characters to play doesn’t hurt either! If Epic could just find a way to allow me to play Gears of War and get a good cardio workout, I would never stop.
Game on!
