I've been playing through the first Gears of War, and I have to say I find it very overrated.

First, the good: Many of the battles are excellent, the cover system it more-or-less pioneered is great, and the graphics are of course incredible. Chainsawing dudes is awesome and the reload timing system is genius. Plus, I like the ability to be able to continue through your current campaign in co-op at any time, which Call of Duty: WaW didn't have (I remember playing through several chapter in co-op with a friend only to find out it didn't save our progress. We were pissed, needless to say).

But it's kind of weird that the most enjoyable parts are the normal gun battles. The boss fights so far have been lame. And don't get me started on the driving sections. Plus, I have to say this game has some of the most illogically placed checkpoints of any shooter I've played. Sometimes a checkpoint is in the next room, and sometimes you have to go through 2 rooms and 4 waves of Locust before you get a checkpoint. This is especially annoying when you're playing co-op and you have to split up, making you unable to revive your partner. It's infuriating to have to start over because of something your friend did on the other side of the level. Last night, on several parts we were ready to give up because of the checkpoints. In the end, the game destroys any sense of spontaneity by forcing you to resort to cheap tactics and learning the stages and enemy movements by heart.

The fact that we continued playing is a testament to how fun this game usually is, but I think it comes down to me preferring the more heavy, real-world weaponry styles of Modern Warfare, Killzone 2, and Uncharted. I wish the aiming was more precise like those games, too. Spraying bullets in the general area of some hulky aliens just isn't as fun.