Gears of War Multiplayer impressions

So i just got back from the Gears of War/Texas Chainsaw Massacre event here in chicago. The movie sucked ass, so i won't bore you with details on that. we waited for about 2 hrs outside the AMC theater in downtown, and were shuffled off to see the movie. after that tripe-filled poo fest, the REAL action began. after a 10 minute demo of the first level, we were set up by order of apperance and assigned to teams, the cog or horde. 4-on-4 multiplayer matches ( 3 rounds to win) took place on a map ( don't remember the name) with a series of low bridges and a shallow river in the middle. the games were elimination style, you lose, you go home. you win, you keep playing. (that's me on the left)

Controls
I felt immediatly comfortable with the control scheme, since the game controls eeriely like GRAW. LT to zoom, RT to fire, A to take cover and dive (hold A to combat run) y to zoom in on objectives (don't really recall using it in multiplayer) and x is context sensitive. (reload, swap wepons on the ground, and to do a Head Stomp kill....more on that later....) I did feel like the controls were too loose, kinda how some games are, the faster you move the reticule, the faster it moves. i was able to adjust in a round or too, so it wasn't a big deal. Switching weapons was done with the d-pad, and i didn't use the sholder buttons. B is melee attack, but aside from the Chainsaw-shotgun, didn't get much use.

Visuals
Jaw-dropping. as i drove home, i kept trying to think how to describe the awesome visuals. it's a HUGE step above ANYTHING out there right now. IMHO, it even outshines the CG Final Fantasy flick. just beautiful...the shakey-cam when you run is also awesome.

Weapons
the standard assault rifle, a pistol i didn't use, and the Shotgun-chainsaw all pale in comparison to the kick-ass bolt-bow. (not the official name) It's a bow that shoots explosive bolts. you hold the trigger to draw it , and the reticule slowly rises. relase the RT to fire. laugh as your enemy is blown to bloody chunks. the shotgun-chainsaw is also bloody-n-chunky, and got HUGE cheers whenever it was used.
the Grenade throwing should be familiar to anyone who's played Splinter Cell.

My team lasted pretty long, about 4 matches before we were eliminated. i got a GoW tshirt for my trouble, and a pretty sticker.

yeah. it was fucking awesome. this game just shot to the top of my must-play list.