Reviewing Gears of War is a lose-lose situation for video game fans. If you say it's one of the greatest games ever made you'll be labelled a fanboy who has fallen for the hype, but say it's just a good action game and you'll be called clueless and an obvious Microsoft hater. I might as well stick my fanboy hat on then, as Gears of War is everything Microsoft wanted it to be. Contrary to some opinions, the next generation of gaming clearly starts when Epic says so. Game of the year? Quite possibly.
There's a war going on and the planet is in desperate need of soldiers to fight the Locust (a lizard-like alien species) army that has risen. The humans are completely outnumbered, but you work with an ever-changing squad of men that are more than up to the task of kicking Locust butt. These aren't any ordinary men; they're almost caricatures of beefed up soldiers, with biceps the size of trucks and necks that are ten-feet wide. The story is a simple one, but it's as dramatic as they come, with some stunning cutscenes and plenty of banter between squad mates giving you little glimpses into the back-story.
Despite Epic Games' pedigree in first-person shooters, Gears of War is a third-person shooter with a strong emphasis on cover. As the brute-like Marcus Fenix, a tougher than tough soldier, you must utilise the environment (and many conveniently placed concrete barricades) to stay alive. The 'A' button is the key to this, throwing Marcus into a wall if he's close enough, popping him out to new cover or for making him roadie run (a crouched run). It takes time to get the hang of, but after an hour or so you'll be throwing Marcus around with a swiftness that defies his immense size.
When in cover you have a number of options. If you're taking heavy fire from nearby enemies you can blind-fire, causing them to retreat to a more manageable distance, but the most effective technique is to peek out and take aim. This obviously puts you in danger, but Marcus is a strong guy and as long as you don't take sustained fire, and duck back behind cover after each spent clip, picking off distant enemies isn't too tricky. An excellent sniper rifle makes the job even simpler, and numerous other excellent weapons all have their uses, including a helping hand from up above and an under-gun chainsaw.
Slight problems with the checkpoint system when playing alone aside, it's hard to see how another game could come along and better what Gears of War does. Played with a friend, on Hardcore, Gears of War is simply an astounding game. Yes, it has the best visuals ever to grace a video game, but it's how these are used to create an intense shooter that make it so good. Add in the best competitive online experience on the Xbox 360, and there's little doubt that Gears will be remembered as a true classic. And true classics only deserve one thing.
Huzaifah from eXputer "With a new Gears of War game possible, I'll go ahead and say that the original trilogy was the peak of the series and should get remastered."
1-3 are incredible with each one being bigger and better than the last. I don’t know what it is, but 4 was super underwhelming to me and 5 was slightly better than 4, but I didn’t feel the same epic feeling I had when going through 1-3. I hope 6 brings that epicness back, but yea like a full remake of 1-3 with current-gen visuals would be *chef’s kiss*.
I was actually devastated with Gears 1 Remaster on Xbox and PC. From when the OG released in 2006 right up until Gears 2 released a few years later. Me and a small group of friends would play it almost daily.
When the remaster arrived. It was annoying that they changed the way you could find a create games. The PC version was dead on arrival as it didn't release on steam just the crappy windows store so about 7 people (including me) bought it. I think I managed to find about 5 games in the first week of release. After that it was just a ghost town.
Not sure about Xbox version. Didn't actually try it until I got a series s in late 2022. It was completely dead online.
A new game would be best. I don't understand why gamers want to rebuy old games over something new.
The Xbox 360 was a fantastic console in its day with some truly classic titles, but what are the seven best games for the console?
I'll go with,
Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Culdcept Saga, Shadow Complex, Ace Combat 6 with the flight stick,A Kingdom for Keflings, A World of Keflings.
Bonus Kinect Games: Happy Action Theater and Sesame Street.
*Skyrim was so bad on PS3 that it almost deserves to be #1*
Was this made by a.i.? No human being would put Shadowrun, Fable III, and Splinter Cell: Conviction into a list of the 7 best Xbox 360 games.
Would love to play Ace Combat6 on PlayStation, but Xbox decided to buy exclusivity and keep it off a competing platform.
The only mainline game I never played except for one level at a friends place. Game sold less than any other in the series if I remember correctly.
When the current gen XBOX offering is so lacking people need to refer to games released two generations back....
Shaz from GL writes: “In an interview, Cliff Bleszinski says that he’d be interested in helping develop a Gears of War reboot akin to God of War. Unnecessary? I think so.”
A reimagining that continues the lore, and story of established characters is absolutely a great way to continue a series that needs a refresh. I agree that any long standing franchise that has run it's course definitely needs a "God of War" style reboot, because GOW did it right. I might have my issues with the last two games but they did right by the series regardless.
There's no helping Gears of Woke. Microsoft killed this franchise when they forced the woke culture into the story.
I thought they were doing a soft reboot with gears4 but then it turned out to be the exact same as all the others.
A more horror oriented and tight corridor renewal would work for that franchise....also...why they got guns? They're alien like...they should have other types of weapons entirely.
Wow, so the game is a 10? I think it's odd that you point out different flaws in the game (check point system, campaign is too short and close combat awkwardness) but still give the game a 10. I think the score is way too high and it definitely does not deserve a perfect but you are entitled to your opinion. Well written review, nice job.
well i give it an 8/10 it was good but there are parts i couldn't stand
Maybe i got too excited giving 10 all round but i couldn't help myself it is a great game maybe 9.6 was about right