After all that time Marcus Fenix spent in Gears of War sawing Locusts in half the long way, you’d think he would have moved on to some less stressful activity like playing LittleBigPlanet. Actually not. Gears of War 2 is remarkably similar to the first installment: lots of shooting and duck-and-covering and, yes, sawing, plus the usual gravelly-voiced dialogue. Not that this is in any way a problem. The main difference is that the backgrounds in front of which all this happens are now even more spectacular: ruined churches, soaring caverns, mountains, airships. Maybe when Marcus is done killing Locusts he can finally retire there.
—Lev Grossman