My Lancer rumbles,
Blood is on the floor,
The Locust is dead.

Gears of War has had a strong grip upon my gaming time since it was released. I had passed the first Gears game by in favour of Halo 2 and only played it because of Rob’s overwhelming enthusiasm a few months before Gears 2 was due.
Oh how I wish I had listened to him earlier, it was such an enjoyable game, and while the writing is not going to win any awards I found myself genuinely caring about the characters of Marcus Fenix and his merry band of miscreants as they threw themselves into danger again and again.
By the time I had finished the single player story of Gears of War on I was hooked, I had to know what happened next. fortunately for me, though less so for my wallet, I pass a video game store on the way to and from work every day and I was able to pre-order Gears of War 2 the next day.

Five days pass and release day is upon me and bright and early I pick up my copy as the store opens, for a brief moment all is good, then the reality that I have eight hours of work followed by an hour and a half commute to go before I can play hit me. Next time a big release is coming I will book a couple of days off work, like I did for Halo 3, and make an event out of it.
Still over the next two evenings I was able to sit back and enjoy the game on casual mode. Yeah I know what a wuss my excuse is the same as ever first off I want to enjoy the story, then if I enjoyed the game I will then go back for the challenge of the harder difficulties.

At the present moment I am on Act 2 Chapter 5 on Insane mode, and boy they weren’t joking with that descriptor. I have not played a game that has left me feeling such extremes of emotion.
My mind is filled with an inense feeling of disappointment in myself when I die after doing something stupid, furthermore when I hear that riff in the soundtrack signifying that the battle is over and I have emerged victorious, I actually feel proud of my accomplishment. I haven’t felt proud of myself for beating a game ever, I have felt satisfaction yes but pride, never.

It’s an amazing challenge I am loving the fact that not only am I pushing forward on Insane mode, but more importantly I am doing it solo. It’s even more fun because I am not really a hardcore gamer, I only got through Hardcore on Gears of War playing coop with Rob. He thought I wouldn’t be able to get through Gears of War 2 on Insane mode and was genuinely surprised when I told him how well I was doing, though to be fair I am surprised how well I am doing. Here’s to me continuing this streak all the way to the end of the game.

Greetings and Salutations one and all. I am Rob 077, 028’s wingman and friend, a friendly and capable H3 player and a very modest fellow and I will tell you all about how I obtained a copy of Halo 4, well Halo 3 but to me recently it has seemed like a brand new game.

I had the eventual luxury of purchasing a new HD TV earlier today. Of late, I had become somewhat bored/fed-up of halo 3’s bright happy-go-lucky atmosphere and environment (obviously sans live clientèle in this respect), instead opting for the dark and gritty Gears of War (ironically, a very mature and friendly populous in the vast majority of cases). I have come to a realisation of at least one of the likely suspects responsible for this deference and it is not, in this instance, the game’s fault.

You see, I spent my 4 years of student life with an ancient 26″ CRT TV, with a maximum refresh rate of “maybe”. I believe the make/model/artefact was a “Matsui”.. whatever that is, some kind of oriental dish? anyways.. This TV has followed me through the years, from Halo 2 to Gears of War, Halo 3 etc. and I’ve always enjoyed it, even assuming it was a 32″ screen!

With all the recent games being very HD by nature, reading text and seeing the finer details on this TV would be more or less impossible. Why, only very recently I realised that the nav markers in Assassins’ Creed actually had distinguishable features and I am able finally to read the contents of my game menus. How the HELL I managed to perform to level 43 in Halo 3 is beyond me and it’s no small wonder I need to go for an eye appointment.

So now I am the proud owner of a Samsung 1080p (37″) and a brand new copy of the new halo game, Halo 4, that is, Halo 3 the way it is meant to be played!

I LOVE the sound. I LOVE the visuals. The screen size is superb.. It’s.. It’s frankly, unbelievable. Finally a worthwhile expense in the gaming world. It has truly reimbursed my faith for the franchise and invigorated me further towards my own game development goals. I shall be on halo most of this weekend I imagine and tonight once I get off work if anyone is interested, add me or page me online!

~Rob (Gamertag addy: Rob 077)