This holiday season has been quite a treat to gamers of any system or genre preference, and early November wasn’t an exception, because it saw the entry of two stellar titles: “Gears of War 2” and “Resistance 2.”

Each of these games is exclusive to their consoles, with “Gears” on Xbox 360 and “Resistance” on PlayStation 3. Having these similar titles released on the same week was a perfect opportunity to compare the two highly-anticipated sequels.

It should be noted that these two aren’t the same in gameplay. “Resistance 2” focuses heavily on weapons and their strategic use, whereas “Gears 2” is all about using cover to inch forward and take ground from the enemy. “Resistance 2” also takes place in the first-person, while “Gears 2” has the camera following behind the player.

Right off the bat, “Resistance 2” drops players into a massive war zone with a huge tank standing hundreds of virtual feet tall hovering above. It’s up to you to destroy this machine armed with little more than a pistol and rockets — keep in mind this is just the tutorial level, one of the easiest parts of the game. And trust me, it gets better.

“Gears 2” takes a different approach and prefers to lay out the events of the prequel — something “Resistance 2” barely touches on at all — before letting players take control of Marcus Fenix, the main protagonist. At this point, things are pretty calm, and experienced players can even choose to avoid the tutorial and jump into the story.

Speaking of story, both titles have greatly expanded from their predecessors in this realm, which I’m a big fan of. “Resistance 2” changes a few of its story-telling methods, as it loses the semi-omniscient narrator from the first game and, instead, tells the story entirely via the sergeant Nathan Hale’s experiences as the alien Chimera invades U.S. shores in an alternate history of the 1940s.

This is certainly much more interesting than watching still photographs accompanied by voice-overs a la “Resistance 1,” but it also causes players to lose perspective. I knew who the bad guy was, although I didn’t know anything about him. Yet, apparently, everyone else did. Somewhere there was a story of science gone awry, betrayal and loss — and somehow I missed it.

“Gears 2” continues not long after the ending of “Gears 1,” aptly illustrating the desperation of humanity’s struggle against the Locust Horde. There’s so much new story content to experience, however I can’t go into details for fear of spoiling it.

“Gears” suffers from some pretty awful writing while “Resistance 2” is barely above average. Both stories raise just as many questions as they answer — which can be kind of frustrating.

Graphically, the games are both top-notch. “Resistance 2” does an excellent job of not only creating some awesome high-definition visuals, but holding a steady frame rate as it does so. Even with more than 40 enemies on-screen, there wasn’t so much as a hiccup. The sense of scale created by “Resistance 2” is also something to behold, as players can sometimes see for miles or watch as an entire fleet of massive warships fly overhead.

“Gears 2” is jaw-droppingly beautiful, with all manner of incredible effects and superb attention to detail. Unfortunately, since the data is read straight from the disk, there can be an occasional pop-up, loading of textures or framerate dip.

“Resistance 2” takes place in the 1940s, and the sound reflects that. Radio drama, the crackling of vinyl records and military marches are all prevalent, as are the shrieks of the aliens Chimera. Each Chimera has a distinctive look, sound and AI to help distinguish it, which really helps players develop strategies for dealing with each new threat.

The soundtrack of “Gears 2” is vastly more epic, with a full orchestra to give the game a blockbuster movie feel. Enemies communicate with each other, and there’s more variety to them this time around — making firefights much more interesting.

In the realm of multiplayer, “Resistance 2” shines bright. Not only does the game support class-based cooperative online play, it also has a multitude of maps and games able to support large numbers of players.

“Gears 2” takes the formula that worked from the first game and expands upon it by adding a few modes, such as Submission, a new take on the traditional capture-the-flag mode. All of these are extremely fun, but can be dragged down by buggy gameplay or lag.

So, who wins in this head-to-head? The player does. Both of these titles are quite excellent and deserve much praise. Owners of either game should feel very, very proud.

— Sophie Prell is a junior in pre-journalism and mass communication