Gears of War 2 is an absolutely amazing game for the Xbox 360. The campaign mode is one of the very best there is in any game. Achievement points seem easy to come by but, perhaps thats more to do with how much fun the game is, you don’t even notice how much or little effort is involved in gaining achievements.

Here is the full list of achievements found in Gears of War 2:

• Green as Grass (10G) – Train the rook (any difficulty).
• It’s a Trap! (10G) – Story progression in Act 1, Chapter 2.
• Escort Service (10G) – Story progression in Act 1, Chapter 4.
• Girl About Town (10G) – Story progression in Act 1, Chapter 6.
• That Sinking Feeling (10G) – Story progression in Act 2, Chapter 4.
• Free Baird! (10G) – Story progression in Act 2, Chapter 5.
• Heartbroken (10G) – Story progression in Act 2, Chapter 6.
• Longitude and Attitude (10G) – Story progression in Act 3, Chapter 3.
• Tanks for the Memories (10G) – Story progression in Act 3, Chapter 4.
• Water Sports (10G) – Story progression in Act 3, Chapter 6.
• There’s a Time for Us (10G) – Story progression in Act 4, Chapter 2.
• Better Wrapped in Beacon (10G) – Story progression in Act 4, Chapter 3.
• Have Fun Storming the Castle (10G) – Story progression in Act 4, Chapter 6.
• And the Horse You Rode in On (10G) – Story progression in Act 5, Chapter 1.
• You Are the Support, Son (10G) – Story progression in Act 5, Chapter 2.
• Brumak Rodeo (10G) – Story progression in Act 5, Chapter 4.
• Does This Look Infected to You? (10G) – Story progression in Act 5, Chapter 5.
• Tourist of Duty (25G) – Complete all campaign acts on Casual Difficulty.
• Guerilla Tactician (50G) – Complete all campaign acts on Normal Difficulty.
• Artist of War (75G) – Complete all campaign acts on Hardcore Difficulty.
• Suicide Missionary (150G) – Complete all campaign acts on Insane Difficulty.
• Collector (5G) – Recover 5 collectibles (any difficulty).
• Pack Rat (15G) – Recover 20 collectibles (any difficulty).
• Completionist (30G) – Recover all 41 collectibles (any difficulty).
• One-Night Stand (10G) – Complete 1 chapter in co-op on any difficulty (Marcus or Dom).
• Open Relationship (30G) – Complete 10 chapters in co-op on any difficulty (Marcus or Dom).
• Friends with Benefits (50G) – Complete all acts in co-op on any difficulty (Marcus or Dom).
• Once More, With Feeling (10G) – Perform 30 perfect active reloads (any mode).
• Takes a Licking (30G) – Melee 30 Tickers (any mode).
• Organ Grinder (10G) – Kill 30 enemies with a cover mounted Mulcher (any mode).
• Shock and Awe (10G) – Kill 30 enemies with the heavy Mortar (any mode).
• Said the Spider to the Fly (10G) – Kill 10 enemies with a planted grenade (any mode).
• Crowd Control (10G) – Melee 10 enemies down with the Boomshield equipped (any mode).
• Smells Like Victory (10G) – Kill 30 enemies with the Scorcher Flamethrower (any mode).
• Variety Is the Spice of Death (30G) – Kill an enemy with every weapon in the game (any mode).
• Seriously 2.0 (50G) – Kill 100,000 enemies (any mode).
• Standing Here, Beside Myself (10G) – Win 3 matches of Wingman (public).
• Beat the Meatflag (10G) – Capture 10 meatflags in Submission (public).
• It’s Good to be the King (10G) – Win 10 rounds of Guardian as the leader (public).
• You Go Ahead, I’ll Be Fine (10G) – Win three matches of King of the Hill (public).
• Back to Basic (10G) – Successfully complete the 5 lessons of multiplayer Training Grounds.
• Party Like It’s 1999 (30G) – Play 1999 rounds of multiplayer (any mode).
• Around the World, Again (30G) – Win a multiplayer match on each map (any mode).
• Dirty, Dirty Horde (20G) – Survive the first 10 waves of Horde (any difficulty, any map).
• Hoard the Horde (30G) – Survive all 50 waves of Horde (any difficulty, any map).
• Crossed Swords (10G) – Win 10 chainsaw duels (any mode).
• A Parting Gift (20G) – Kill 10 enemies with a grenade while down but not out (any mode).
• Pound of Flesh (10G) – Use a meatshield to save your life 10 times (any mode).
• Photojournalist (10G) – Submit a spectator photo.
• Kick ‘Em When They’re Down (10G) – Perform all 11 unique executions on a downed enemy.

While many look at the genre of games to determine their next game, for me, split screen co-op campaign or on-line is one of the key factors when choosing my next game. As my partner and myself are both avid gamers and love gaming with each other, as opposed to watching, it makes it an extremely important factor.

Of course, we do still play single player campaigns and multi player, but it isn’t the same. Call of Duty 4 for example, great as it is, would have been even better with at least one split screen option (apart from custom games). So naturally, Gears of War, Halo 3, Unreal Tournament 3, are games we play frequently.

Rainbow Six Vegas and other games have been tried as well, so I have a fair amount of knowledge and experience of co-op split screen games. With the release of Gears of War 2, again naturally, this was a game we had to have as we love shooters and it offers split screen play.

It’s clear from the first few chapters, that this game was made for co-op and even split screen. A lot of thought went into the co-op campaign.

With other co-op games, I’ve believed it was more of an added option as well as a lot of fun. Gears of War 2 raises the bar on co-op campaign. You really have to work as a team in this game. As you progress further in the game, this becomes clearer. From moving in time and with co-ordination to carry the explosives to the security door, to driving together. With one driving and the other on the gun, team work is a must to complete the chapter with it becoming more difficult when the lights go out.

With missions like that, where working together is essential, it makes the co-op campaign so much better than others I’ve played. Gears of War also offered the same type of experience, however, Gears of War 2, in this gamer’s opinion, blows it, and every other game, out of the water in this area.

We’ve just finished Act Three, and I can’t wait to see what other missions are ahead, Gears of War 2 doesn’t fail to impress with such enthralling game play.