I've never really compared gears to uncharted myself. uncharteds traversal is quite a bit more varied with jumping, vaulting, rolling, hanging, climbing, stealth, verticality, yanking guys off ledges etc etc. I think naturally Gears is going to feel a little more grounded and tight since the core gameplay is more focused.
Gears level design could not feel more banal. UC2 has so many amazing levels , the convoy, the train level, that combines verticality, platforming and shooting simultaneously. Gears on the other hand just feels like a standard stop and pop shooter in a genre that has worn out its welcome if the focus is solely on cover shooting.
No, thanks. They tried that in Uncharted 3 and I wasn't a big fan of it. It broke the pacing for me (UC2 has the best pacing IMHO).
Yeah. UC2's pacing is at RE4 tier of awesome. I would say it is infact slightly better in the pacing department. UC2, RE4., MGS3 etc.. are rare games that keep surprising you with its level design and pacing. UC2 is the only legitimately great game in the franchise.