It's a tough question. Then again, lets review:

Gears of War - Matchmaking

• Enjoy the tense firefights
• Hate the range of the shot gun
• Hate the wall bouncing tactics
• Hate the shotgun chargers
• Hate the instability (whether it is real or just perceived)
• Most nights I end up leaving frustrated

Halo - Matchmaking

• Enjoy the tense firefights
• No complaints about the weapon assortment
• No complaints about the bunny-hopping tactics
• No comparable issues to Gear's shotgun chargers (that I can think of)
• Lag issues are rare, but usually affect all players adversely
• Most nights I leave laughing

Gears of War - Campaign

• Awesome

Halo Reach - Campaign

• Awesome

Gears of War - Horde

• Tons of fun

Halo - Firefight

• Haven't ever really played this mode (would like to though)

If I voted on my impressions above, I would go with Halo. Hell, if this was a desert Island scenareo I'd probably go with Halo as well due to Forge. Thing is, I do enjoy Gears of War - when it works. It pains me to have that caveat in there, but it's the truth.

When Gears plays the way I like, it's perfect - but most of the time that isn't the case. Matchmaking is full of gamers who just ruin the experience for me. That plus my personal opinion on things (like the ridiculous reach of the shotgun) usually sour things. And there is always the shenanigans issue that rears it's ugly head. I don't know if I'm making it up or not, but it doesn't seem to be there in Halo so take that for what it's worth.

I enjoyed playing Halo last night. It was relaxing compared to a night of Gears. Still, I'm not ready to hang up my lancer just yet. What can I say, Gears just remains a love/hate relationship for me.

Halo wins for MP implementation hands down.  The only thing that is a negative in Halo's court for me, is the fact we have been playing it now for 10 years.  I'm tired of the gameplay.

Yes Gears is frustrating sometimes, but that can be tempered some by doing private matches.  And just realizing there are going to be some WTF moments.  The frustrating thing for me with GOW right now, is in matchmaking.  It always seems we get matched up with players that are way out of our skill league.  Which in turn ups the pain, suffering and shenanigans.

I'm going with Halo.  I do agree with soup.  The game play after 10 years is kinda old.  But at the same time there is a certain fun about it.  We are all more relax and just hanging out having a good time.  I do like Gears to break up the continous Haloing though.  Other arcade coop games fill the same need for me.  In my heart it will always be Halo Tuesday.

No question the gears WTF moments can be frustrating but, like tengaport said, when you feel like it is working the intensity level is unmatched. I hate the fact that the shotty must be used so much if you want to be competitive. I feel like tweaking the range, seemingly an obvious and simple fix would make everything better.
On the tactics side, I do know when I play more conservative I seem to play better, problem is I lack the patience to play that way and try to rush and do the crazy running shotty and it rarely works for me the way it works against me.
It is still my favorite shooter, I just have to learn when to leave a room and go find players close to my skil instead of torturing myself against a team of shotgun only peeps.

Well said everyone.

I don't know if it's balance or what Gears needs, but it definitely needs something. Having an enemy run in a straight line at me while I'm hitting them with Lancer fire only for them to headshot me with the shotgun just isn't fun at all.

From the start there seemed to be much stronger stopping power to the rifles, but I don't know if my aim just sucks or if players have found a way around it. I mean RUNNING STRAIGHT AT ME!??! That should be suicide for anyone attempting it, but 9 out of 10 times it works.

Like BW said, when I try these tactics I fail miserably. Out of cover and I'm down in a second by Lancer fire. Sure, sometimes I might not notice the crossfire, but most cases I just feel I cannot do to others what is done to me.

And that damn shotgun... I think it was Monday night's game. I was REPEATEDLY downed with a single shotgun blast from what seemed to me like a ridiculous distance. Not once, not twice, but consistently throughout the match. Active reload maybe. Skill as well. Bottom line though I was powerless to defend against it. 

Tried to hold back with my lancer - no dice, DOWNED one shot by a gnasher. Tried to use my gnasher, no dice DOWNED again in one shot. It's like playing rock, paper scissors with your hands tied behind your back. No matter what, you're gonna lose.

Private matches are less stress, but I feel incredibly guilty when hosting. I mean c'mon, it is just way to easy to trounce an entire team solo when you have the host advantage in a private match. When we play private and I host, I purposefully don't use my shotty (too much) as I know anytime I pull the trigger it's going to be a kill.

In matchmaking, when I pull the trigger on my shotty I just hope the damn thing fires. Most of the time I just explode on screen.

It's incredibly frustrating and it certainly has an impact on Gears' legs. I mean, just look how the active player count has dropped off. It's down to #7 on the Xbox Live Activity list (right behind Halo Reach)

will finish this rant later, gotta get back to work :)

I have noticed that the rifles stopping power seems to have decreased as well. It seems like in the beta/ early weeks a rifle would halt a roadie run pretty easily, now they just seems to run right through it.

One thing that can about Halo that can't be disputed is that the net code is second-to-none and they party options and functionality are the best around. I think I just get burned out on Halo after playing it so much, for so many years.

Maybe it's time to try BF3?  :)

I think we have all pretty much summed up every game of Gears 1, 2 and 3 in one word...frustration. When we drop $60 or more dollars on a game from a reputable company we should expect it to work. I know when I get into my Honda or Toyota and turn the key that 100 out of 100 times they are going to start...unless I left a light on or something. When I put them in reverse they are going to go backward, and when I hit the brakes they are going to stop. Can't say the same for Gears. Sometimes it starts, sometimes it doesn't. Put it in reverse and sometimes is goes forward. Right, it is fun when it works. Shouldn't it work all the time?