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GEARS OF WAR (X360)

LANDMARK LEVELS: ACT 1, CHAPTER 8 - "CHINA SHOP"

Xbox 360 | November 2006 | Third-person shoot 'em up | Microsoft | Epic Games
By Shane Battams © 2012. Posted 2nd August 2012.

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​“She can hear us... she can smell us”

That sums up, rather perfectly, the heated intensity of this Chapter in Epic’s evolutionary shooter. Things haven’t exactly been cheery up until this point – multiple ambushes from this newly discovered and persistent force known as the Locust have most likely drained the player of their life-force already. To top it off, Kim, the squad leader, has been brutally murdered by the locust leader Raam, one of the more shocking scenes as Raam coldly stabs him straight in the stomach. Players are no doubt on an emotional high right now, and they’re forced into a tight spot.

And things are already tense. Marcus and Baird, members of opposite squads, are arguing, only to be interrupted by the screams of some unknown creature. The player is informed by Marcus that it is a 'Beserker'. The game snaps to a shot of this large and intimidating creature, shackled by chains of mere grunts which it easily manages to break free of and escape. Naturally, the player is shitting bricks, and this is exemplified by a scared but foolish Cog soldier who attempts to run away, only to meet its bloody demise from this foul creature. Again, bricks are shat.

And you know what’s worse about this first fight? When Marcus asks “please advise”, the only thing that Anya can tell him is “standard weapons won’t work”. Up until this point, anything stood in the way of these brute soldiers can be easily dealt with by putting some lead into the repulsive bodies of these aliens. But now, we’re told that simply shooting this giant is not effective, and that the only effective weapon is the Hammer of Dawn. But, as the player knows and fears, the only way to use this weapon is satellite coverage. Outside. And they’re all inside this building right now.

Dank corridors pollute this level, heightening the tension considerably. This sensation is worsened by the game’s dark colour palette, really adding that extra grime to the entire messed-up situation. There is no vision of the Berserker right now; making you wonder how such a large and ugly creature is able to hide so successfully. Then, just to really make you jump, suddenly this creature bursts out of a nearby wall. Yes, it takes down an entire wall with ease. The player can only imagine the damage it would do to your character’s body of flesh.

And the chase begins. With a huge war-cry, the Berserker charges at you, like a bull to a red flag. You probably won’t expect this, and will suffer a rather potent and quick death. After that quick stumble, you must lure it outside. This requires dangerous timing, where jumping at the last second will either mean successful progress as the creature destroys a nearby door blocking the way, or a quick death as it steam-rolls straight through you. To make matters even worse, a timer suddenly appears on your screen, so know you not only have to deal with this creature, but do it in a quick fashion, really piling on the pressure. Once outside, you can finally burn this creature in a much wider space. The tension definitely eases up at this point.

This level is really memorable to me. It’s the first, and probably best, boss fight in the game, and the fact that it merely comes into play in the first act of the game really emphasises the scope of Epic’s shooter. It’s filled with such heated intensity; I literally flinched every time the creature charged at me. Deaths were a given, and every death brought even more nerves as this foul creature pummelled me to the ground. While it is essentially just a cat-and-mouse chase, it is done with such intense atmosphere that you certainly won’t forget this chapter anytime soon. The fact that, years after playing the game, I still vividly remember this level, says it all.

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