Gears of War is a tactical third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was initially released as an exclusive title for the Xbox 360 on November 7, 2006 in North America, and on November 17, 2006 in Europe (excluding Germany, where Microsoft Game Studios did not publish the game after it was denied a rating). A Limited Collector's Edition was also released, which included a disc of bonus content and an art book titled Destroyed Beauty that detailed much of the game's back-story. A Microsoft Windows version of the game was created with additional content and released in North America on November 6, 2007, with a Mac OS X version also confirmed.

The game centers on the soldiers of Delta Squad as they fight to save the human inhabitants of the fictional planet Sera from a relentless subterranean enemy known as the Locust Horde. The player assumes the role of Marcus Fenix, a former prisoner and war-hardened soldier. The game is based on the use of cover and strategic fire for the player to advance through the scenarios; a second player can play cooperatively through the main campaign to assist. The game also features several online game modes for up to eight players.

Gears of War has been highly successful since its release; it sold over three million copies in just ten weeks and was the fastest-selling video game of 2006, and was the second-most played game over Xbox Live during vgy: 2007 A film adaptation is currently in the works. The first sequel, Gears of War 2, was announced on February 20, 2008 and is currently slated to be released 7th November 2008.

Gameplay

Gears of War is a third person "over-the-shoulder" shooter. The game places emphasis on the importance of cover, and on the harder difficulty levels being exposed to enemy fire for only a couple of seconds can result in death, making cover essential. While behind cover, players can choose to aim carefully with their weapons or use blind-fire to avoid subsequent damage from showing their heads from behind cover. Players have a wide assortment of rolling and cover maneuvers at their disposal with the press of a single button combined with directing the right thumbstick in the desired direction. The player can perform a roadie run, or a sprint, where the camera will lower towards the ground and bob considerably, as if the camera were being held by another person running behind the player.