Gears Of War PC

Released near the end of the Xbox 360's first year on the market, Gears of War was a defining moment for Microsoft's console. Its gameplay relied heavily on forcing you to take cover to avoid enemy shots, which meant that it required a healthy dose of patience as well as a steady trigger finger. It then beat that mechanic into your head over the course of its quality story mode, while also letting you team up with a friend online to take on the nefarious Locust forces together. Of course, it also had an amazing team-based multiplayer mode in which up to eight shooters could connect and go at it in a variety of different modes. Over time, more multiplayer maps and modes were added to the collection via the Xbox 360's download service. All of that great stuff is now available on the PC, on which the game looks better than it ever did on the Xbox 360, and without sacrificing anything in the process. If you've never played Gears of War, or if you just haven't played it in a while, do yourself a favor and try this new version of the game.


Of course, the rest of Gears of War is completely intact here, as well. And the complete package, done better than it was on the Xbox 360, is exactly the sort of mind-blowing that you might need to drop everything if you haven't already played it. Aside from a few frustrating cases in which the checkpoints are a little too far apart--and perhaps the need for a difficulty setting that falls between the too-easy "casual" and the occasionally punishing "hardcore" setting--it's hard to find many faults with the campaign, which will probably take new players around 12 or 13 hours to complete. The war-torn world you navigate through looks really great, and you're always wondering what will be around the next corner.

Minimum:

 OS: Windows XP SP3

 Processor: 2 GHz Intel Dual Core Processor

 Memory: 2 GB RAM

 Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon HD 2600 (256MB minimum)

 DirectX «: 9.0c

 Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space

 Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible

Recommended:

 OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Windows 7

 Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Quad Core Processor

 Memory: 3 GB RAM

 Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX460/ATI Radeon HD 5850 (512MB minimum)

 DirectX «: 9.0c

 Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space

 Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible