Pre-E3 blowout day one: Xbox 360

We can't wait

Gears of War
By now, we've all seen the jaw-dropping trailer, but we can't wait to get our hands on this festival of frags. Just the thought of burying the end of our chainsaw-gun into the face of a formerly subterranean dwelling Locust monster has our fingers twitching with anticipation. Being able to share the bloodletting with online friends in a little co-op play only makes the prospect of eviscerating Locusts more appealing.

We long to lose ourselves in the garden of what Gears developers call "Destroyed Beauty" and surround ourselves with the staccato sounds of stuttering heavy weapons. Of course, we're also pretty curious to see if any of the choppiness we saw in the trailer will be found in the game now that it's nearing completion as well.

Mashing intelligent squad-mates, even more intelligent enemies, deliberate pacing and a visual aesthetic that lands somewhere between weathered goth and steam punk all together in one package, Gears of War is being heralded as the "killer app" for the 360... but, to be totally honest, we're a little morbidly curious to see if it can live up to the hype up-close and personal.