16 Years of Gears of War 2 and How It Changed the Way We Look At Game Sequels

The gaming industry has witnessed multiple revolutions over the decades. A few Iconic titles have taken down some default conceptions and shown gamers a new way to think of them. Taking a closer look will reveal The Coalition’s legendary series, Gears of War, has one installment that has rebuilt the way the entire gaming world looks at sequels. Without it making its way to the gaming universe, the scenario could have been something extremely different. 

Sequels are pretty popular in recent times. Whenever games get unexpected popularity, developers focus on bringing sequels to continue the storyline with more twists and turns. Fans also demand sequels for their favorite games. The approach to the sequel was not so positive and dynamic before Gears of War received its sequel in December 2008.

Epic Games Understands What Worked Best in Gears of War

The widespread conception regarding sequels was that they never reached the height of the base game. To be honest, this conception didn’t arrive randomly. If we go back a little and take a look at one of the greatest survival series by Capcom, Resident Evil, things will be clear. While the introductory game of the series was an immense hit, the sequels lack that quality to some extent. 

Very clearly, there are several other examples of sequels that failed to reach the heights the base game has set. However, when it came to Gears of War, The Coalition and Epic Games didn’t repeat the same mistake.

With some research, Epic Games figured out what worked for the base game. Therefore, when Gears of War 2 was released, it had all those elements intact, with some additional horror elements to increase the intensity. Plenty of shooter games failed before and after Gears of War 2, but this has still been considered one of the greatest sequels ever made, even after sixteen years of its release. 

This game passing the test of time clearly proves how well Epic Games understood what it needed to do, which Capcom and many other developers have failed to figure out. While the formula of the sequel was the same, it was still very different.

Interestingly, this entire series has given players loads of memorable characters, but Gears of War 2 has emphasized more things and not just the protagonists. Let’s go into more detail to check out what made this sequel a path-breaking one. 

Gears of War 2 Came With a More Impressive Storyline That Balanced Challenges and Survival

The story of the sequel was set six months after where the first game ended. During that time, the Locusts got stronger and captured other parts of Sera. In the sequel, this aggressive enemy faction was able to send cities underground. Therefore, the major thing that the civilians were trying to avoid was a plague named Dust Lung. 

Gameplay-wise, there was not much difference, but players would easily notice some changes that were made. While creating the storyline for this second major installment, the team paid careful attention to every detail. Therefore, as challenges increased, players now got a refined way to heal teammates. 

The first game had the system, but it was hard to crawl to a teammate when players were injured. The sequel improved it by adding a new feature where AI allies also got the ability to heal teammates. The best part was players were able to crawl faster, which increased survivability. As soon as survivability increased, players got more interested in playing the game. 

Gears of War 2 Took the Locusts to a New Level

Gears of War is a cover-based shooter series where players need to take cover to fight and survive. Epic Games realized this system worked well in the first. Therefore, it worked to make it deadlier. Therefore, Gears of War 2 took it to a new height by introducing new Locust enemies that didn’t let players stay calm even when they were hiding behind covers. 

The tension would always be there, and enemies like the Boomer, the Mauler, and the Bloodmounts wouldn’t let you stay patient to decide on your strategy. These enemies are not only powerful, but they are complicated enough to deal with. While some chase players with massive weapons, others stun them as soon as they drop their guard.

Some of these newly introduced enemies are too fast to tackle. Of course, the game brought powerful weapons to deal with them, but the challenge they posed before finally they died was something that made this sequel one remarkable game to play for years. 

Epic Games Nailed It With Graphics and Creating the Perfect Ambience in Gears of War 2

As soon as a sequel arrives, the first thing players start comparing with the base game is the visuals. While Gears of War had pretty impressive graphics, the sequel made it far better. If you just go through the gameplay once, you will be amazed by the movie-like visuals of the game. Even in the Locust-filled world, the scenery is bound to make you feel staggered. 

However, the best part is that when creating these eye-catching graphics, Epic Games never made them unrealistic. The war-ridden cities, hospitals, and scattered dead bodies were all included to make the scenes as real as possible. The more you look at the mountains, cities, and surrounding areas, the better you will realize why this game is still considered the best sequel ever made. 

Now if we just shift a little bit and take a look at the campaign of the game, it has brought a unique change where in the co-op mode players were able to choose difficulty levels based on their skills. Playing at a lower difficulty level in the co-op mode didn’t make the enemies behave differently to you, but your health bar would be less vulnerable and your damage intake would be less than others who play at higher difficulty. 

This one made the game enjoyable for everyone, irrespective of their skills. Multiple other reasons made this game step aside from other sequels and influenced players to look at game sequels with a new perspective.