This was the first game I played on the X360 and also the first time I've played coop on a shooter since Halo2. My friend had been hyping this game up for me since he got his X360 about a month before I did. So my expectations for this title was very high.We started out and the first thing I noticed was the graphics of the game and just how good this game looks.The controls for the game are pretty solid though the cover controls can be off at times. For example you can be running and accidentally get stuck behind a wall in cover. You can also have trouble trying to get out of cover, but overall the cover system is great.The combat in the campaign is very exciting and keeps you going and does split you and your coop partner up at times and allowing you to help each other out from a distance. The story is not great, but the game play is there.Overall I'd give this game a 5/5 and is an excellent coop experience.

Let me say one thing right off the bat: I've ONLY played this game on 2-player online co-op mode. We beat the game. I've never played a single mission on one player, nor a single game of online multiplayer.That said, this game was a blast for me. I found the overall appearance and feel to be a bit more "real" than games like Halo, but not as "real" as something like Rainbow Six or Call of Duty. The visuals were stunning and the levels brilliantly developed and laid out. There is very little backtracking (looking right at you, Halo games!) and I constantly felt involved and entrenched in the experience.You and three others (one of which can be your buddy on co-op) will go through levels fighting the Locust Horde. Occasionally you'll split up from your buddy with a computer controlled guy, which adds a bit of difficulty. On regular missions, when you take enough damage you slump over and "die." You're not really dead though as your buddy can revive you by getting to you and pressing a button. In the split missions, this is not possible so it's an instant restart. This aspect of the game made it more interesting than Halo, where you could die and respawn infinitely as long as you didn't all die at once. Having to run into enemy fire and revive your buddy made you plan your attack with more precision and caution.There is no jump button. Instead, certain obstacles will let you vault or "mount" over them. Cover is a HUGE element in gameplay (think Kill.Switch or WinBack). Sticking to a wall, popping out to fire, then ducking back to reload is your bread and butter. If you try a run-and-gun approach you'll die. Repeatedly. This aspect again separated GoW from the pack as well.The weapons are pretty minimal, but instead of being limited to two weapons and grenades, you can carry two rifle-type weapons, a pistol, and grenades. Only one type of grenade seems limiting, but they are "bolo" grenades which you'll swing on a chain before throwing. The standard weapons are all present: shotgun, pistol, sniper rifle, sub-machine gun, etc. The gore factor is high, as the chainsaw bayonet on the standard issue Lancer machine gun would lead you to imagine. GoW has some unique game play elements. One level will find you in the dark with a flying menace called the Krill (think a cross between piranha and bats). One of you will aim a powerful searchlight on the other, who will traverse the dark streets to unlock the next path. You'll have the standard "protect this area until the door opens" portions, but they're usually fun and exciting.Glitches were few, and a nice save system lets you complete the levels at your pace. Ample Achievements are throughout the game too, complete with bonus achievements for completing the game in co-op. My only real beef is the game was a tad short. It's really not a short game, but it's not too long and the experience was so fun my brother and I completed it before I knew it, and on the second hardest difficulty too. We'd like to play it again, on the hardest difficulty, but there aren't a whole lot of things to look forward to aside from that achievement.Overall, I'd give this an easy 9/10. If there were more to the game that interested me it'd be prefect (game play mode, more co-op levels, etc), but as it was it's been one of my best 360 experiences yet.

Gears of War shines as a coop experience. I've played the entire campaign as both single and coop. As the above summary notes, the game was clearly designed with coop in mind. When I picked this up, I was getting pretty burned out on FPS style games and it was refreshing to play in a different perspective (even if it's still a shooter). The cover system adds an element of strategy to the game not often found in shooters. Without mastering cover, you will likely die. In coop, with a decent partner, you really feel like you are relying on one another to get past every battle. In a few situations, you must split up to follow separate paths and you suddenly feel alone and vulnerable each time. Pick up Gears, it's well worth the time.