As a teenager, I had a lot of fun playing Gears of War, especially co-op and multiplayer. And while it didn't exactly pioneer the showcased mechanics as a third-person shooter, I think it perfected them in a lot of ways. This game and Dead Rising 1 were the two big early 360 knockouts, IMO.

As I was growing up, I got a little annoyed that the gaming spheres (that was considerably hipster-ish for late 00s/early 10s standards) turned their noses at Gears of War, calling it generic, boring, and with an uninteresting visual art style. Things I couldn't disagree with more. People dog on stuff like how there's convenient covers throughout the campaign, but the game is designed around that, so I think it's fine. The snappiness of clinging between walls is also a lot of fun.

I think the game sells its intensity extremely well with all of its little touches, like how the camera bobs, the damage meter being this tamped gear in the center, and this is all especially supported by its super-gritty art style. Don't get me wrong, it's all SUPER exaggerated and considerably obnoxious (look up the lead artist, he looks JUST like the locust enemies lmfao), but I think it's great, and it all serves a purpose.

Well-paced, gritty third person action, with its intensity cranked to the max through its competitive multiplayer. But for those that don't want MP, the 1-2 player campaign is great fun with some variety to keep it interesting from beginning to end.

This game became extremely influential, and led to some of my favorite games that came out after this. And part of me likes to think --maybe at a more subconscious level-- this game was meant to be a successor to Contra. It has a lot in common with that run-n-gun series in a way nobody cares to realize.