Gears of War 2, which turns 15 today, is peak absurdity that would be near impossible to reboot

When I learned that Gears of War 2 turned 15 this year, I felt pretty damn old. That game - more than any other entry in the original trilogy - was a cornerstone in my adolescent gaming pantheon. It earned its own special place on the shelf, right next to Dead Space 2 and Street Fighter 4. I still have a lot of love in my heart for Gears 2, but I think it should stay firmly in the past.I say that with a heavy heart. Gears of War 2 was so, so special. The series shed its initial horror skin when it made the jump from the genre-defining original to Gears of War 2. At 25, I've sharpened my spooky sweet tooth somewhat over the years, but back then the shift towards a more action-heavy romp was exactly what I needed. The game doubled down on the gory action. More weapons, more characters. Bigger bombastic brawls with enemies that took the absurd style of Gears of War and amped it up even higher. I think Gears of War 2's place not only in its own series, but also in the wider context of the video game industry at the time, is perfectly personified by chainsaw duels. Whichever mad genius decided to add the chainsaw bayonet into proceedings knew exactly what they were doing, and making it so you and another person can have a mash-off to decide who'll get cut in half is so very 2008 that I can't help but love it. Read more