Gears Of War 2 launches to ecstatic reviews

Microsoft’s big hope for the Christmas season hits the shops today, as the eagerly awaited sequel to Gears Of War finally goes on sale.

The original game won significant acclaim, and is one of the best selling games to date on the Xbox 360 console, selling somewhere in the region of five million copies. That’s not Halo numbers, but it’s still a significant amount by pretty much any other measure.

The sequel, which has again been produced by Epic Games, pops you back into the shoes of Marcus Fenix, and it’s set six months after the events of the first game. Naturally enough, there’s a new Locust threat on the way, and a big counterattack appears to be humanity’s last hope. Or in other words: there’s lots of action.

The reviews to date for the game, meanwhile, have been nothing less than ecstatic. Our own write up is following soon, but over at Metacritic, the game is currently tracking at a mighty 93 out of 100. Metacritic amalgamates reviews across a variety of reviewers, and Gears Of War 2 is currently eighth in its all-time list of Xbox 360 titles. Interestingly, the original Gears Of War is fourth, with Grand Theft Auto 4, Bioshock and The Orange Box leading the list.

The game is available, then, right now. Enjoy…