Gears of War 2 Solo-Campaign Review

     I reached the conclusion of the story of Gears of War 2 this morning with all of the collectibles safely in my War Journal.  I also ended up with all but one Unlockable, RAAM. RAAM is unlocked with a GoW1 achievement I don't have yet: "A Dish Best Served Cold".  I knocked out a couple of multiplayer achievements and have netted a total of 375 Achievement Points for GoW2.

My Solo-Campaign Review:

The PROS

• Interesting story and characters
• Options that allow for comfortable and successful gameplay  
• Good shooting mechanics and good range of weapons

The CONS

•  Very linear
• Everything was just different shades of grey

     The Gears of War 2 story was pretty good; I even got a bit teary-eyed twice, but I'm just a girl so that's expected, right?  I also really liked some of the characters.  The "Cole Train"  juxtaposed his big, black, badass-ness with unabashed hilarity.  I actually laughed out loud. Marcus, the eternal leader, has a soft spot.  Dom went to the ends of the Earth trying to find his wife, Maria. The jerkwad of the group was Baird with his Teflon exterior and rose-scented toilet water, but hey, it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round, or in this case, to make a generically dynamic story.
     In the end I know that I'll play through the game again but I can't promise you that it's not at least partially for the achievement points.  I am looking forward to playing the cooperative campaign and a bit of the multiplayer, though.  So I will update on that when I finally get a partner to run through with!

What was your favorite character in this iteration?  Any comments about the solo-campaign?