The original Gears of War is mostly a take it or leave it kind of game.  With all the hype surrounding it, many were turned off by its less-than-revolutionary gameplay.  Still, those people were obviously in the minority as the game sold a ton and helped cement the Xbox 360’s position ahead of the PS3 for a while to come (no such luck with the Wii).

Now comes Gears of War 2, and if one word could describe this first look it’s “Killzone.”  Killzone, really?  Yes, because what Epic has managed is to take the feel of the original Gears of War and translate it to a much larger action scale.  The change is akin to that from the original NES Contra to Contra 3: The Alien Wars.  This game looks like a war, and you’re in the middle of it.

One can only hope the final game doesn’t get too far away from the core gameplay that made the original such a favorite with fans.