Best of E3: Gears of War steals the show

Gears of War has been given our Best of E3 award and I think we've just found the next killer app for the Xbox 360. Gears of War stole the show at this year's E3 with a single player presentation inside Microsoft's theater. I was also able to play in an eight person multiplayer match behind closed doors at the Microsoft booth.

During the single player campaign, you play as Marcus, a buffed up human with heavy duty armor and weapons. You're fighting a war against an evil race of alien invaders. In an effort to kill the aliens and save humanity, men have destroyed much of the Earth by their own hand. Your task is simple: stop the aliens and win Earth back--what's left of it at least. Although we've seen this kind of story before, the game play in Gears of War leaps far beyond what we're used to. It looks, feels, and plays genuinely next generation.

You'll operate in a squad with three other men as you progress through the somewhat open ended levels. Players are presented with multiple paths that often overlap throughout the level. The level that was featured in the presentation had two paths to the same final outcome. The first path led the player through several lower courtyards. There were plenty of enemies coming from multiple directions, and since it can take more than one clip to bring each big bad alien down, you can bet that this was the more difficult path. The easier path led the player up to the balconies above the courtyards. The same enemies appeared, but the concrete on the edge of the baloney provided great cover.

Finding good cover will be extremely important, and the controls and environments were designed with that in mind. Players move and look around using the standard control stick layout, but the "A" button is what the developers call the "Move All" button. Press this button while standing near a wall and your player will dive and slam against it for cover. Slide down the wall to the edge, press it again, and your character will run, roll, or dive to an adjacent wall to maintain cover. Each maneuver was fluid and well animated, but the control took some getting used to. On more than one occasion, I found myself slamming against a wall that exposed me to direct enemy fire when I had intended to duck and run.

The multiplayer mode in Gears of War put four humans up against four aliens in a team death match scenario. This is where I got to get my hands on some of the game's futuristic weapons. I tried the shotgun, a smoke grenade, and the dual pistols, but the assault rifle with the chain saw melee attack impressed/shocked me the most. Fire a few rounds while running toward an enemy. When you're close enough, rev up the saw, step forward, and sit back as the game takes over and cuts you're opponent in half. It's pretty graphic so I really don't blame them for saying, "this really isn't a game for kids" during the presentation.

So when can you get your hands on this thing? Hopefully by the end of this year.