Ok, after some less than stellar moments in the first act, the game has really picked up.  As the fight goes underground Gears picks up the pace as you move from one stellar moment to the next.  This time around there is a real feeling that you are part of a large scale war as you fighting along with several other Gears squads in the beginning of the game.  As you progress through the story it goes back to Delta squad or Marcus and Dom.  It's clear that Gears 2 has gotten a visual upgrade and I do think the game runs at a higher frame rate as well.  There are still are some texture pop-in issues but they aren't as bad as the first game.  

As I've mentioned before the story in Gears of War 2 is vastly improved.  There are a few questions answered but even more seem to pop up.  Gears barrows a page from BioShock by placing collectible items scattered around the game world.  These items add to the story and are well worth hunting down as they will help engross the player in the game world.

I also popped into some match making this weekend to see how it plays.  I played some wingman, submission and execution.  Wingman is a 2 vs 2 vs 2 vs 2 vs 2 game that takes some serious teamwork.  This is actually a really fun mode to play since the matches go fairly fast.  Submission is capture the flag Gear's style.  Instead of a flag to capture there is this drunk "stranded" guy you need to down then pickup to take to your base.  This is one of the crazier modes to play and is a ton more fun than any of the other modes.  Another fun mode is Horde, where you and four of your friends face wave after wave of Locust.  This time around the match making is vastly improved as well by using a system more like Halo 3 to find balanced matches. Overall the multiplayer is a huge step up and I expect it will regain the crown as the 360's most popular multiplayer game.