Sure it’s almost 2010. But more importantly, there seems to be a great schism happening between gamers on the Xbox. Halo held the top spot and redefined First Person Shooters. Then along came Gears of War and the bar was set for Third Person Shooters from then on out. Gears of War 2 is out now and already being enjoyed for all the right reasons, but does it put itself above Halo as the most popular franchise on the 360?

Who cares?

I’m not dealing with popularity here, nor am I dealing with fanboyism between Xbots and PS3 diehards. Gears 2 is a good follow up to a good first game and I don’t mind seeing more Gears games.

For those of you who played the first Gears of War, the plot revolves around Marcus Fenix, a tough soldier fighting against The Locust, a species of…aliens or monsters or something, I don’t know, I wasn’t paying too close attention. The important plot point to realize goes as thus: The world got annihilated by The Locust and now Marcus Fenix and a few other soldiers are one-man-armies, (well, maybe two-man-armies), about to bring the fight back to The Locust. The second game picks up with Marcus on his wacky journey to the center of the earth. Oh, and it’s straight-up awesome.

Gears is known for its cover system during firefights. If you attempt to play this game like a FPS and rush into trouble, you’re probably gonna get scrubbed. You need to stay down until the opportune moment to huck a ...