I'd say the bulk of the game isn't as good as the first one, and the historical value the first one had isn't replicated either but this is when they wanted Gears to be a huge thing like CoD and Halo (and for a bit, it definitely was).

The story involves lots of sacrifices, although one death in particular felt like it wasted the character's potential (you'll know the one when you see it) but the rest fulfilled their purpose well. It's got a lot of cool moments but a lot of bad ones like the ice lake which blows up sections in front of you but you can't stop in time. Or some sections that have bits that feel too long between checkpoints.

It's not a bad game by any means, but compared to other shooters it never stood out a whole lot either.