Now that Gears of War 2 is out we can see who is actually king of Xbox 360.  Well, the only reason this caught my attention is I agree with most of arguments put forward by each game.

IGN has put together a head to head between Halo 3 and Gears of War 2.  Normally IGN has a very screwed up way of saying a game is better than an other.  Sometimes they have overrated games way to far (COUGH Resistance 2 COUGH).  Looking at this head to head I would never think they would get it right.  To my dismay I totally agree with most of the points put forward by each game.

Check out the Video head to head:

You can also read the full write up here.

GRAPHICS: Gears of War 2

As much as I love Halo when it comes to graphics, Gears of War 2 just blows it out of the water.  This is kind of a no brainier because Gears of War 2 has some of the best graphics I have ever seen on a console.

SOUND: Halo 3

Halo 3 has some of the best sound in any video game.  Now if you talking sound effects Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is still at the top.  However between Gears and Halo, Halo takes this one.  There is just something just awesome about listening to Marty O’Donnell’s score.  This is probably some of the greatest music for any game or even movie.  Marty has created music so epic and inspiring it just make you cringe inside.

Don’t get me wrong Steve Jablonsky score is also quite good.  It provides a more movie like feel to Gears of War 2.  But what Marty O’Donnell has created simply cannot be matched.

Playing Horde mode and the guy next to you has a Mortar and lets off a shot is quite awesome.  Then hearing it whistle through the air and then crashing to the ground.  But there is just something about hearing sniper rifle go off in the distance and hearing it crackle through the air.

STORY: Halo 3

OK this one is a bit of a toss up and solely based on opinion.  I think Halo 3 takes this one Just barely.  Gears of War 2 has some emotional areas but again creates a lot of questions which are not answered.  Halo 3 was the end of trilogy so it did suffer for having to wrap up Master Chief’s story line.  However with Halo 3 it felt like there was closure.  I did like how Bungie had it set up for a new game, if you watched the legendary ending.  Although the finale for the Gears of War series looks like it may shake up to be on hell of a finish.

GAMEPLAY: Halo 3

Again this is another close call and is also based on opinion.  I feel the Halo 3 gameplay is best.  With some of the best FPS controls and vehicle controls, Halo 3 plays a lot better.  With large battles and a lot of equipment and vehicles at you disposal.  This makes the fun factor higher on Halo 3.  Gears stop and pop gameplay is also fun.  But essentially you are doing the same thing over and over.  Run, hit cover, shoot, and then repeat.  To its credit Gears of War 2 mixed it up a lot with environments and scenarios.  The vehicle segments is cool but the controls where quite funky and damn those ice lakes.  Don’t get me wrong I still love Gears of War 2 but between Halo 3, Halo 3 stands on top.

FEATURE SET: HALO 3

With regards to features Halo 3 takes this one.  Gears of War 2 has two player coup, matchmaking multiplayer with 15 maps, and the ever so fun horde mode.  With a lot of modes and ability to take screenshots of matches.

However Nothing compares to Halo 3’s features.  Four player coup, forge mode, matchmaking with many different playlists,  screenshot taking, and video editor which then can be uploaded onto Bungie’s website.

MULTIPLAYER: Halo 3

Both these games will be played online for years to come.  Both are fun and enjoyable and bring things to the table that makes them unique.  Gears brings two player coup and horde mode.  In addition to matchmaking system with many modes and maps.

However I think the pinnacle is what Bungie has created with Halo 3.  With four player coup, forge, and matchmaking system (that I think is the best ).   In addition it is the greatest achievement of developer to consumer interaction there is out there.  Bungie has created a social network that simply cannot be matched.  With ability to change the matchmaking playlists to keeps all the games fresh and never old, and they do it on a weekly basis.  Coupled with some of the greatest web to game integration I have ever seen with Bungie’s home website.  Ability to see user created content and queue it for download on your console.  Bungie has created a something so great that other developers may be following in this same fashion, but I don’t think we are going to see the same thing that Bungie has created for a very long time.

OVERALL: Halo 3

If you have been keeping score that is 5 - 1 Halo.  As much as I love Gears of War 2, Halo 3 is still the better game.  From multiplayer to single player (Although the story between them, in my opinion, are very close) Halo 3 is the thop Xbox 360 exclusive and will remain there for years to come.  Unless they release another.

Share