The player's health is represented by a red 'Crimson Omen' that fades onto the screen the more damage the player takes staying out of the line of fire allows the player to recover their health. Grenades can be planted on walls or floors as proximity traps that go off when an enemy nears, but only fragmentation grenades have the ability to kill foes when they go off. The Ink Grenade doesn't damage with its detonation, but instead temporarily poisons the area it was thrown, making it very useful for driving enemies out of cover. The Gorgon Pistol is an SMG-like machine pistol that fires four four-shot bursts per magazine. The chain gun and the mortar are heavy weapons, forcing the player to move at walking speed while carrying it in both hands.

Gears of War 2 rebalances the power of the existing weapons while introducing five new ones: a flamethrower, a chain gun, a mortar cannon, a 'Gorgon' Pistol, and the Ink Grenade. The game introduces the ability to engage in chainsaw duels should the player attempt to chainsaw an opponent also using the Lancer the player is presented with a controller button to press rapidly to try to win the duel and avoid death. Each weapon can be used for normal fire as well as for melee attacks the game's signature Lancer Assault Rifle can be used to instantly kill foes in melee with its mounted chainsaw bayonet. The player, playing as either Marcus or Dominic in the campaign mode, or as any of the human or Locust characters in multiplayer mode, can only carry a pistol, one type of grenade, and two other weapons at any time, though they may swap these for weapons found in strategic locations or left by downed foes or fallen allies. Gears of War 2 is a third person shooter with an emphasis on the tactical use of cover, and retains much of the same gameplay from the first game. It was followed by Gears of War 3 in 2011. The game received similar praise as its predecessor, with the new gameplay and multiplayer modes seen as outstanding additions. It was the seventh best selling video game of 2009 and received several accolades. On its release weekend, Gears of War 2 sold over two million copies, and within two months of release, had sold four million copies. New weapons and gameplay mechanics such as 'chainsaw duels' and the ability to use downed foes as ' meatshields' were added to the game. The game includes several existing and new multiplayer modes including five-on-five battles between human and Locust forces, and a 'Horde' mode that challenges up to five players against waves of Locust forces with ever-increasing strength. The player controls Fenix in the main mission campaign, with the ability to play cooperatively with a second player controlling Fenix's best friend and fellow Squad member Dominic 'Dom' Santiago. Sergeant Marcus Fenix leads Delta Squad into the depths of the planet to try to stop the Locust during the assault upon Locust territory. In Gears of War 2, the COG continues its fight against the Locust, who are attempting to sink all of the cities on the planet Sera. The development team brought in comic book writer Joshua Ortega to help write the plot for the game. The game expands technically on the previous game by using a modified Unreal Engine 3. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia on November 7, 2008, and was released in Japan on July 30, 2009. It is the second installment of the Gears of War series, with lead design by Cliff Bleszinski. Gears of War 2 is a third-person shooter developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360.

Gears of war 2 horde maps