Gears 5 Restores First-Party Order on Xbox

IGN: Our Xbox crew discusses the Gears 5 campaign now that the review embargo has lifted (don't worry, no spoilers!).

[Jin_Sakai]

Really enjoying the game so far. The visuals on top of being 4k/60fps make it one of the best looking and playing console games of this generation.

Excited to see the Digital Foundry analysis tomorrow.

[Vasto]

Gears 5 is the best technical visual showcase on console this gen. To be native 4K / 60 FPS and be this beautiful is an amazing achievement.

[SierraGuy]

Ah ...it's a dynamic 4k.

[The Wood]

You try too hard. . . A for effort though.

The visuals are looking well nice but to call it the best visual showcase on consoles this gen is a tad reachy. I get it. . . .

[VenomUK]

'Restores first party order'?
This is Ryan McCaffrey claiming that Xbox is king of the exclusives! Gears of War 5 looks lovely but one high quality game is not enough to make the Xbox top for exclusives.

[azizlksa]

You must be blind

[Vasto]

To make a game Native 4K / 60FPS on a console and still look amazing is True Skill. Games that run at 30FPS are easy to make look good. How has The Coalition done this?

Gears 5 has set the benchmark on console and pc.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Donnie81]

It is easily the best looking game on consoles this generation. So anyone doubting it is either a fanboy or in need of glasses

[VenomUK]

@azizlksa To restore first-party order you need to have a consistent body of exclusives. Gears 5 is strong (it's downloading now on my X) but Crackdown 3 is not of the same high standard.

For 2019 I'd say the Switch will win the first-party exclusives with Pokemon Sword & Shield, Animal Crossing, Luigi and more.

[umair_s51]

Great title for Xbox... congrats to MS. I'll get it for my future PC and play on max settings

[Profchaos]

I think it looks awesome but the best looking game well probably not I still think that rdr2 still looks better and I'm playing gears on my 2070.

[kayoss]

"...the best looking and playing console games of this generation." It only seems that way because its been so long since Xbox owner seen a first party game. You guys just forgot what good looking games look like on your xbox.

The game looks great, no denying that at all. But the best looking console game this generation is a stretch.

[UnHoly_One]

Right, because people only play exclusive games and don't own other consoles or anything.

We just sit and stare at our Xbox the whole year waiting for a new game.

Why play a beautiful and awesome game like Remedy's Control when it's not exclusive?? That would just be stupid.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Oddly, enough the last Xbox first party title I bought (ignoring a used copy of Quantum Break in 2018), was Gears 4. Looking at general reviews, and the review from ACG, it seems the Gears 5 has broken the Xbox first party slump of mixed to mediocre titles. (ignoring the Forza Horizon series). Gears 5, I will be getting a physical copy of Gears 5, once my work “dies” down.

[Mr Pumblechook]

I'm happy that the response to this has been positive. But Xbox Unlocked saying it 'restores first-party order.' I would say 'one swallow does not a summer make.'

[WickedLester]

Yeah it is a bit hyperbolic but guys like Ryan McCaffrey and Destin LeGary wear their Xbox fandom on their sleeve. I think "step in the right direction" is a more accurate description.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Your point makes sense. We still have to see commercial and critical reception for Ori 2, Bleeding Edge, Battletoads, Gears Tactics, Halo Infinite, “and Forza 2020” from 2019 to 2020.

[Donnie81]

Dustin is far from an Xbox fanboy. You must have never watched ign

[WickedLester]

@Donnie81

I only see him on Unlocked. He seems pretty sheepish towards Xbox to me. What is he then? A PC guy? He certainly has no love for PlayStation, I can tell you that.

[Donnie81]

Wickedlester go watch some older shows and you will see he’s way more a PlayStation guy. Ryan is trash too

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I am very impressed with this title so far.

[Bigman4k]

Me too

[DaDrunkenJester]

Still in Act 1 but holy moly so far it is leaps and bounds better than 4.

[neutralgamer1992]

But gears 4 was the an okay game at best so that's not saying much but your point is spot on this is return to gears original trilogy level quality

[DaDrunkenJester]

Hence why I said leaps and bounds, and not just "yeah it's kinda better than 4"

[PyroMessiah86]

Totally is, maybe my fave Gears game. The amount of content is also staggering. Plus free updates.They did a great job.

[Bigman4k]

Wow your comment smh

[Profchaos]

Gears 4 started off well but fell apart around 3 hours in after kaits village was totalled from that point on the story felt like it was directed by a Disney exec

[AngelicIceDiamond]

There was an interview back at E3 and one of the questions they asked Rod Ferguesson was Gears 4 was more of the same and uninspiring. He admits he was the one who played it safe because he talked about new talent joining the Coalition and they had all these ideas to make the games new but still Gears. He thought it was a good idea to stick with the same Gears template because fear of community backlash of being too different. But obviously the reaction was the opposite. Glad to see Rod is taking cues from its new talent and evolving with the industry and innovating with Gears 5, here's hoping Halo's the same way.

[DaDrunkenJester]

Yeah that was their main thing with 4. The studio only had like 5 people total who even played Gears, so it was important for them to show they understand the fundamentals. But Gears 5 they were able to flex a bit more on their creativity and changes and it seems to have paid off.

[1-pwnsause-1]

It didn’t restore first party order, but it’s a good start.

[rainslacker]

I'm glad they produced a quality AAA game, because that's what I think they've been lacking. But their 1st party order this gen has been one good AAA game a year...most years. So, I'd say that this game does restore their 1st party order.

[gamer7804]

I disagree a little, they need to make a new franchise thats AAA that performs as well as Gears Forza and Halo. Those are all top of the line games but we need more than just 3 of the expected. (I am glad that all three of those have great coop, we need more of that)

[rainslacker]

I think their main franchises are always pretty good or great games. For the most part, I dont think MS makes bad games, it's just the frequency of releases is too far spaced out in the AAA department. The mid tier or filler stuff can go either way on quality, but it's the big name stuff that most people refer to when they speak of a consoles available library.

So, for the way that MS has been performing this gen, I think gow5 is just the same order they've been doing for years now.

It's kind of sad when the fan boys have to treat the mid tier games as if they're the high profile games that people really care about. Those can all be good games, but they arent lighting the charts on fire, and people arent buying the system for them.

As of now, this will probably be the last big release for the console before scarlett comes out, with any big game next year being cross gen. Most of their bigger games their new studios are working on are still multiplat, and published by a 3rd party, so giving MS credit for those is not really appropriate.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

I agree with you its not completely restored. MS still has lots of work to do. MS getting its 1st party back on track is more realistic, not restored.

@Gamer is absolutely correct. When MS loves certain games they write infinite checks for those games. Halo, Gears, Forza. If MS wants to prove that they're back, make AAA games with the same lvl and care as the trifecta franchises. Once MS does that then they're back on track full on no question about it.

[NeoGamer232]

For sure, MS has to keep showing that it is serious about allowing these studios to be creative and giving them the time to build games that ship on day one with really good quality.

They seem to have a lot of good stuff in the pipe so we will see how it goes!

[sprinterboy]

1 game doesn't restore order, but congrats to gears 5 non the less.

[neutralgamer1992]

It doesn't no matter how anyone spins it. It's a good start and hopefully this means more quality games from Xbox 1st party studios on consistent bases

[Raiden]

I'm currently in act one, loving the game, if this is what it takes for developers to produce a kick ass game of this quality and as the new studios have been saying MS is using the hands off effect letting devs create and taking there time then this could possible be the avalanche that cascades across all first parties to create top quality IP's new and old. This game is fantastic and I'm only in act 1, well towards the end of act 1, sadly i had to stop because i work, but this weekend my holiday destination is GEARS 5, peace out happy weekend and game ON

[trooper_]

Yes, a good start but it didn't restore squat.

[neutralgamer1992]

it's a good start and we as gamers hope that xbox division joins sony/nintendo in making quality exclusives on consistent bases. That's when gaming will be at it's best. Competition is great for us gamers as all companies will be trying their hardest for out attention/money

so gears 5 is a very good start and more needs to be done from here to repair the image of xbox game studios

[crimsonfox]

I'm watching the cut scenes on YouTube because I don't have an Xbox and just had a kid so I ain't getting one anytime soon either. I really like what I've seen so far though. But alot more has to be done for this headline to be true. The Xbox services they're offering now are fantastic, but first party exclusives are a whole other story.

[PyroMessiah86]

Gears being back on top....sortly Halo also doing the same, plus all the new studio acquisitions and new ip. Xbox is back.

[crimsonfox]

I hope so, Halo 2 is the best multiplayer fun I ever had! High School years were the best man haha
Hopefully all the acquisitions pay off, good competition only benefits gamers.

[Raiden]

But MS, has to watch that over confidence and so should the fans, let the studios do there thing and allow the product to speak for itself, a Recore 2 given more time would be a much better game, I'm trying to control yourself because now I'm wondering all about Rare new game the new Fable, AAAHH AAAHH, i must stop thinking of what's coming next, like must people who were worried about Gear 5 not seeing any clips at E3 only build more hype, negative and positive, more negative , press is press

[timotim]

Cant have your party restored off one game...just not the way it works. I dont think even Phil Spencer would suggest that after this one game. Microsoft has to begin to change perception, and hopefully this game is the start of that (along with Playground's Forza Horizon 4) from first party.

[The Wood]

Agreed. Levity is good but so is hope.

[Inzo]

Congrats to the Xbox gamers, sincerely. You have been waiting a long time for this.

[ufo8mycat]

I’m really enjoying the game so far, but to say it has restored 1st Party Order is silly. First great XB1 game since erm, I can’t even remember. Last time I turned on my XB1 was QB, great game, so that’s 3 years, since a great game on XB1. Yeah long way to go folks.

[Platformgamer]

well, that's sad... because gears 5 is just good, nothing special.

[WelkinCole]

Its pretty good. Giving it a 9/10 so far

[DiRtY]

Just like last gen, it is really hard to crown a game as the best looking game for a generation.
It is really hard to compare Forza Horizon to Uncharted or Gears 5 to Red Dead Redemption 2.

But I think we can agree that Gears 5 on Xbox One X is one of the best looking games that ever released on a console.

[Emme]

I am Xbox only this gen, big fan, and will start Gears5 tonight, but even I wouldnt dare to say that Gears5 has any chance to top Uncharted 4 or Horizon Zero Down. Not in complexity, character, graphics or gameplay. Unless I find out tonight it has puzzles, a huge, lively open world etc. I do wonder though: why are the skies so 90s ? Those clouds are terribly static,and I bet there are no day/night cycles, so these things disqualify for "best looking game".

[Pickledpepper]

Horizon zero dawn was a good game but I don't think it was great, graphics are good but not to the extreme you brag about.
And the game itself was just a clone:
Kill animals for carrying capacity upgrades=far cry 3. Climb towers to open map=far cry 3. Harvest plants for heath and weapon ammo=far cry 3. Rare collectables and audio messages=far cry 3. Helping strangers for random kill or collect missions=far cry 3. Hitting enemies in weak spots=far cry 3. Taking enemie bases undetected and disabling the alarms=far cry 3
All sounds very familiar to horizon zero dawn does it not? Apart from robots and third person.
Yes I own a ps4 and Xbox x.
Gears 5 is much better looking and more fun, I just found horizon a bit tedious.
Now let all the Sony fanboys in an Xbox article down vote lol

[TheHan]

Game is beautiful.

[KickSpinFilter]

Absolutely...just sad it took almost all gen for that to happen.

[RedDevils]

Best to play this on PC then I suppose.

[zodiac909]

1 game restores order?? Lol

[Bennibop]

Its a good start that it

[DefaultComment]

I'm so glad this game is doing great. Microsoft needed this type. Of success I their games... I'm sure their next games will be great as well.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I think their are 2 main things Gears 5 accomplishes for Xbox: 1) Most obviously is it is a well received 1st party game with a SP campaign done exceptionally well which they have lacked. 2) It quiets the narrative that MS was just going to pump out shovelware into Xbox Game Pass and all 1st party games would lack quality.

Personally really enjoyed what i have played so far. I think they finally nailed the pacing of cut scenes within the campaign and matched that with well done writing, voice acting and mocap. This is the best gears from a production standpoint hands down imo.

[Father__Merrin]

What about xbox one and one s? I guess they don't matter anymore.

[Twinblade]

I still gotta play Gears of War 4.

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

Don't.

[Twinblade]

why?

[Specter229]

Its ok.

[THRASHMOUTH]

Glad to hear the Xbox community has a title that makes them happy! Congrats to the devs as well!

[kingcorey]

So iv been playing for a few hours on the s. So im not playing it in 4k 60. But.... From what im seeing i would straight up say its not as good looking as god of war, horizon, uncharted, or even days gone... Im not being bias it just my honest opinion. If it was on the x maybe id change my mind.. Idk. Walking through vegitation the voice acting water animations... I feel like iv seen better in assassins creed honestly.. Im not saying its bad. The hdr and the lighting is very beautiful but its juat not the best of this gen.. If you only play xbox maybe but even then.. There are some 3rd party games that do alot better. Its a solid 8 for me

[NeoGamer232]

I am not sure anyone is comparing it to God of War, Horizon, Uncharted, and Days Gone. Quite frankly:

1) It is not in the same genre as any of those games
2) You are talking about 3 GotY games. Almost all games will be less then them. It is like saying the Golden State Warriors weren't as good as the Toronto Raptor this past NBA season.... Duh.... Raptors won the championship. That doesn't mean there isn't a ton of golden state fans.

[kingcorey]

Im seeing alot of people say its the best looking game this gen. All i was saying is imo there are plenty games that surpass this game visually. I cant say any of thos games are better as a whole because i have only played a few hours of gears. Were just talking graphics.

[rainslacker]

Some articles, and posters, are saying it's the best looking. Gamingbolt kind of started it with their comparison article, even though their comparisons typically are crap and no one takes them seriously...especially for multiplat titles.

Anyhow, saying it's the best of the gen pretty much opens up the comparison to any game released this gen, because any game listed could be said to look better. People are just picking some of the better looking games this gen, which sony does have their fair share of.

Got to see gow5 today on the X1X, and a high end PC that is specced higher than what's available to the consumer right now, and it does look really good on both. I think the art style kind of makes it a subjective matter though, as bias can be introduced if one prefers softer tones over the darker gritty future look that gears offers. On a technical level, using objective measures, I can see where it did some things better than other games, but I can also notice where they sacrificed other aspects of the graphics to achieve that.

The PC version looked better, but was almost too sharp in the graphics, which made it feel a bit off in some places. That may have been a driver issue with our workstations driver software though.

I don't think the game looks bad, nor would I say it looks better than other games this gen. It has an more than acceptable quality, and if someone wants to say it doesn't look good enough, they're either nitpicking, or have ridiculous standards

[Soybetaboy]

Best exclusive this generation

Thank you to the entire Gears team!

[NeoGamer232]

I don't know if that is true. And if you want to be technical... First, it is not a pure XB exclusive as it is on PC too.

Second, there are games like Bloodborne, Witcher 3, Horizon Zero Dawn, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Forza Hoizon 4, Uncharted 4, etc. Lot's of great games this generation. Best exclusive is a perception not a fact.

[LordJamar]

Dat salt

[ARESWARLORD]

Loving this game so far can't believe how much better it is than the last one

[SyntheticForm]

It's only truly restored if they can keep it up. It's an excellent start, no doubt, but it's just one game. Right now PlayStation still has Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima, and The Last of Us 2 to deliver.

Microsoft needs to follow Sony's model of CONSISTENTLY and CONTINUOUSLY releasing quality games at a steady pace. Consistency, continuity, and most importantly quality.

This may be the beginning of just that, or it may not be. Time will tell, however in the meantime, I'll be enjoying the hell out of Gears 5.

[Bigman4k]

I been playing gears5 since yesterday and I gotta say I like it way better then gears of war 4 the graphics are more detail this time around

[Moe-Gunz]

Played it this morning. It’s just okay. Starting to think people been waiting so long for a good game from MS that this is being overrated out the gate.

[brich233]

whens the next good exclusive? in 2 years?

[NarutoFox]

I don't know. I was wondering the same thing years ago. It is what it is. Looking forward to Ori though. I think Rare needs to step up a little. Hopefully the studios they purchase helps them out

[AsunaYuukiTheFlash]

Im playing the game on my PC right now. It started off strong , but after 4 hrs if playtime , I'm srarting to get annoyed with all the cookie cutter characrers in this game.

[LucidIllusion]

Depressing

[InUrFoxHole]

Great xbox live has been down since at least 1pm

[Sophisticated_Chap]

I havent been excited for many games in the last few years, including Gears 5, but I might just pick it up tonight, after all of the praise it has been getting. I really didn't think it would be this well received.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

The Order 2019

[u-bEttA-rUn]

Does it restore order on the Xbox One or on the Xbox x? I'm sorry but they had like 6 upgrades this gen lol I mean I'll give them props for having a great game but it took you how long? And how many systems later?

[Minute Man 721]

The PS fanboys are crying I see. Be a multiconsole owner

[NarutoFox]

One good game in years doesn’t restore order

[timotim]

Forza Horizon 4 came out just last year and is one of the best games of the generation. Dont know where this "one good game in years" bit comes from.

[NarutoFox]

Let me rephrase that. 2 or 3 exclusives that's old franchises doesn't restore order. It's 2019 and Microsoft should have way more great and diverse first party exclusives by now.

[timotim]

Where do you get the idea that the age of the franchise matters? If I asked you to name important franchises for the PS ecosystem, you will bring up games like Uncharted, Gran Turismo, God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Last of Us among others. A good game is a good game, no?

[timotim]

"New IP's and old IPs so balance together. Don't forget to add Horizon Zero Dawn, Jrpgs, Death Stranding, Ghost of Tuishima, Dreams, Concrete Genie on the list. So Diverse with games. They don't have to rely on Uncharted, Gran Turismo, God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Last of Us anymore. Every publisher don't like to take risk or chances though. I completely understand."

Yes, but you aren't dismissing the older franchises in favor of the newer ones on your list. You are grouping them all together to make up one list to make a point. So the question still stands...why are you bringing up age of the franchise if the question is the games being good or not? A good game is a good game, no? Does FH4 not count because of its age of franchise?