If my lack of enthusiasm for this game is a bit obvious I apologize, but I've played Gears on the 360 to death, which is actually a good thing, as I can offer irrelevant opinions about both versions.

But more about that later; what's interesting right now is the quality of the port, which fortunately enough isn't a disaster. Quite the contrary actually, as the movement and aiming scheme has been properly calibrated for the mouse and keyboard, and from a technical point of view your computer will probably choke trying to render all the prettiness this game has to offer.

Based on the Unreal 3 engine, on both platforms, Gears of War is an impossibly pretty looking game, and that's good when you're trying to create a proper setting for an action game, in a devastated fantasy world, almost razed to the ground by a conflict with some sort of strange alien race, called the Locust. The whole planet has been destroyed by the conflict, and that's the first thing the proud owner of Gears PC sees after exiting the introductory jail cell.

The way Epic managed to create something so beautiful from an artistic point of view and then turn it into dust deserves respect. You see what was once a great "human" city, you explore it, and you're only left with your imagination, trying to recreate the Gears of War universe without the war.

Going back to the jail cell, the former occupant is you, Marcus Fenix, freed because the infantry is running out of cannon fodder. From this point on, the story evolves around Fenix and a small band of tough guys who try to end the conflict using some sort of super weapon, recently developed by...someone, I guess. This translates in about 10 hours of gameplay, which is pretty short, but the game is so intense and brutal, it doesn't really matter.

Gears of War isn't trying to "recreate the genre", or "break new grounds", or do any other thing so many other games claim to do. It focuses on non stop action, marching on intensity, feeling, and coolness. And that's a good thing in my book, because I'm sick and tired of hybrids which try to combine every single game type in just one package, and fail miserably at every single one.

To quote CliffyB, the game perspective is "2nd person", which means you see Fenix from behind, very close to his shoulder, with the ability to zoom in on your weapon for proper aiming. The system is extremely good looking, and easy to get used to.

The main game mechanic is the use of cover. This means that every single encounter which involves combat (and that's all of them) will take place behind some sort of boulder, or wall, or anything which might stop bullets. Every single thing you do is thought out in such a manner you can do it while crouching behind something. You can navigate from safe spot to safe spot with ease, without the camera getting in the way, or the control scheme; if feels natural, and cool. This also makes the game's pacing a bit slower, and more tactical, as you have to fire in short, controlled bursts, without leaving cover. And, if there isn't enough time, blind fire is always an option.
So you have to think the fight, you have to flank your enemies if possible, and use your head a little.

Once the cover system sinks in, the game is hard to beat in its category, especially on the PC. The character animations are properly pretty and fluent to look at, you actually feel something when you shoot someone, the special effects are great, all adding out to that elusive thing called "feeling".
And there you are, behind a rock, shooting like crazy in the general direction of a pack of enemies closing in, when the ammo clip runs out. You quickly tap "R", but it's taking too long, and you tap it again. Surprise, the weapon jams, and Fenix starts hitting it, behind cover, and you, the user, are probably hitting the mouse against the table. Soon, the system becomes clear. If you time your reload, the weapon will fire longer bursts, the ammo clip will last longer, and the damage output will be doubled. For a perfect reload, that is. This system is great, making what is essentially the most basic thing you do in a shooter, reload weapons, a fun and rewarding way to kick even more ass.

At this point, I'd like to say that this deserves its separate paragraph: the Gears of War Chainsaw > all.

Another thing this game has it's consistency in design. The levels are properly tied together, it feels that the campaign was thought out by people who know what the "other guy" is doing, instead of having separate level designers doing their own thing, not having any idea about the work of the rest. You feel you're progressing, you feel you're accomplishing something. And then there's the little things; for example, at some point during the campaign you're being warned continuously that the "night's coming".