Fans of the original smash hit Gears of War won't need convincing but those that aren't just need to give this game 20 minutes. By that time you will not want to put the pad down until you've killed every last locust and restored power into the hands of the humans.

So good is this game that my only gripe is its length. It's not that it's too short (you'll get at least 10 hours play out of the single player mode) it's just that you never want it to end.

The story starts off six months after the previous game, and predictably the Lightmass bomb that was launched has failed to kill the Locust and they're now out in even greater numbers and power too, with a weapon that is capable of sinking entire cities in to the planet. Even Jacinto, the last human stronghold, is threatened. It's up to the testosterone fuelled Delta Squad to help humanity win the war or be wiped out. And this time it actually feels like you're part of a bigger military machine. In the original Gears of War, Marcus, Dom, Cole and the ever cynical Baird always seemed to be four guys taking on the Locust horde by themselves. In Gears of War 2, while Delta Squad do once again play the pivotal role, there's a much larger scale to the battles and the sense that you're not fighting alone.

It may be gory, violent and very bloody, but this is no mindless shooter. As once again the cover system (where you either take cover or die trying) returns. This is where Epic's most....well I suppose epic....improvement has been made. It was only a small tweak in gameplay terms but has catapulted this game to as near perfection as you'll get for £39.99. Most combat actions, such as taking cover, running, vaulting over obstacles and such, are handled by the A button. In Gears 1 it worked, but every so often you'd roll when you wanted to do a SWAT turn, which which never seems to happen any more in Gears 2

There's enough new weapons, although I'd like to have seen more added seperately to the multiplayer mode as rewards etc while classic weapons have also been tweaked and improved.

On that subject, multiplayer returns triumphantly, featuring some new modes and maps, and some old ones as well. Technically, the game ships with ten multiplayer maps, but included in every new copy of the game is a free content download code for five re-enginnered maps from the original game. This seems like nothing but a cheap ploy to stop people buying the game second hand, but considering, at the time of writing, the game has sold 2 million copies, nobody seems to mind.

Old game type favourites return, and again, it is all team-based. Annex, Execution and King of the Hill return, along with the reworked Guardian (formerly Assassination) mode where if the 'Leader' of the team is killed, the team lose their respawing ability. Joining them are Wingman mode, where up to five teams of two battle for dominance; and Submission, a twisted take on capture the flag with an AI-controlled shotgun-wielding NPC, who must first be dropped to their knees before being carried like a human shield (a feature for the single player also) to your base. The best new multiplayer mode, however, is Horde. A fantastic mode where five team-mates take on wave after wave of Locust enemies, with each successive wave getting tougher and newer enemies arriving at all times. Death means you can't respawn until the end of the wave, but as long as one player survives, everyone respawns for the next turn. As the difficulty increases, so does the desperation, as your friends fall around you and you try to get that last mortar-launching drone at the end of the map.

This game is a serious improvement and serious achievement and one you can play time and time again either in co-op or multiplayer. The graphics are simply jaw-dropping and the whole atmosphere created is truly gritty and unique. People complain about the price of computer games and there are hundreds out there which quite frankly are taking liberties with people's money, but this almost seems too cheap for what you get. A triumph.

Bucksherald.co.uk rating: 10/10