Us versus them

Finally, after months of reading about what our trusted brothers across the pond had to say about Gears of War multiplayer, we got the chance to saw through some chumps of our own. At a special fan event held by Microsoft at theaters around the country, we were forced to sit through The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (which sucked in a hugely gory, but wholly-rehashed-horror-movie-we've-seen-a-million-times-before way). After the film, however, Microsoft redeemed itself spectacularly by allowing the entire theater to go hands-on with Gears of War 's magnificently bloodthirsty multiplayer.

Honestly, after the videos we'd seen of semi-choppy animation and seemingly status quo over-the-shoulder gunplay, we were starting to get awfully skeptical of Gears of War - after all, Brute Force was marketed pretty hard and it was still terrible. After the first round, however, we were fully hooked on fragging Locusts.