Gears of War 2 certainly shows its age playing it all these years later. My first experience with the series was the Ultimate Edition of the original GOW so taking this step backwards was certainly sobering. Despite the rough edges the games still plays very well all these years later. The loop of getting into cover, taking your shot and then 'instant' reload is consistently enjoyable. I was pretty impressed with the number of large scale set pieces in this game, from riding on multiple Locust beasts to an entire city collapsing around you as you continue to fight. The additions to Dom's character are also fairly compelling, especially from a 2008 perspective. However I think this game certainly suffers from playing it after many other superior cover-based shooters in the years since. Even a game like Uncharted 2, which came out within a year or so of GOW2 completely outclasses it in terms of set pieces, story and general presentation. GOW2 is a fun romp, with still surprisingly crunchy and satisfying combat. It's a step up from the original in terms of story and gameplay but GOW2 has been far surpassed by similar shooters since it's release. It's a good time capsule of what shooters were like at the time and certainly was a major step forward in their evolution , but in retrospect this was only the first tentative step of many still to come.