Has The Time Come to Reboot Gears of War?

When it first launched almost 15 years ago, the original Gears of War set the tone not just for the Xbox 360, but also for the generation to come. Flash forward to today, however, and the franchise in terms of reception and audience engagement seems to have taken a bit of a decline. The way I see it, it boils down to two questions: "Does Gears of War need a reboot?" and "Would Gears of War benefit from a reboot?".

[BigTrain]

No, the time has come to create an original IP.

[Minute Man 721]

Agreed

[TallDarknWavy]

They tried the female main character in a male centric audience and it failed. They already tried to reinvent. Go woke, go broke.

[wukalawifo]

I too agree that gears should stay where it is. and a new IP should be considered.
and I'm also expecting any new IPs from them to also have lots of gears inspiration.
which if you enjoyed any of the gears titles then their next IPs should also be as anticipated.

[BLizardXD]

you can definitely expect the gears formula will return on a new ip.

[BlackIceJoe]

I agree completely with your statement. I feel like The Coalition has shown they are talented developers and it is about time Microsoft lets them try something else.

I also feel like Microsoft should invest more into that company, so they can have another team, working on games, under The Coalition studio. This way they always are working on two games at a time.

[Atom666]

This is the best option in my opinion. The rumor is still out there that Coalition is doing the Perfect Dark MP, though. So that might be where their studio expansion is focused.

They remain one of the best at truly pushing Unreal Engine. I'd like them to try their chops at a horror game myself.

[BehindTheRows]

That or give it a much needed break.

[NeoGamer232]

To me new IPs are not a requirement. There is no guarantee that creating a new IP will result in anything positive.

I feel both God of War and Gears reinvented themselves well last generation. After God of War Ascension and Gears Judgement I felt both series were dead for ideas. Gears 4 was more of the same, but I really enjoyed Gears 5 and the holiday Hivebusters DLC. The last God of War was nothing short of perfect!

[BigTrain]

"There is no guarantee that creating a new IP will result in anything positive."

True, but guess what, you won't find that out unless you create a new IP.

[NeoGamer232]

@BigTrain
Microsoft first party studios has a few new IPs scheduled....

Grounded will exit preview this year, Avowed, Everwild, Project Mara, rumour has it Compulsion has a new IP, and rumour has it inXile has a new IP.

And once MS has ZeniMax they will own Deathloop and Ghostwire both new IPs (Although it is ironic that MS will own two games that were PS [probably timed] exclusives).

[Skyfly47]

One more entry into this particular saga should be made to cap of Kaits story then they should move on to a new IP i reckon.

[Dragonscale]

Sounds like a plan lol.

[Vits]

I don't think it need a reboot per say. As expressed by the article the game itself was a major success. That said we are already on Gears 5 and as the story of all the games is conected they are going to have issues in gathering new fans the more games they launch.

So eventually it will either need a reboot. Or to be put to rest.

[DJStotty]

No, Gears has had a great run, create a new IP.

[lellkay]

It's just time to retire it. The trilogy was bloody great, but the whole format of the game is just tired now, it feels like a relic that can't be saved by adding bigger guns and better graphics. Add in the fact the newer characters just lack the chemistry of the original ones and it just feels like the franchise is done now.

[BigTrain]

Exactly. Let it go and go find someone creative and make something new. There are no mores holes left to plug up with grenades, it's official.

[SyntheticForm]

Either reboot it or just plain boot it.

[Lexreborn2]

I would play a gears franchise that takes an over the top action approach. In the style of DMC but more visceral in its finishing combos. I would love to see their spin on the genre, maybe itagaki x gears

[Obelisk92]

Gears belongs to the past, and it was a great past. Let it go.

[azizlksa0]

The game needs to return to what made it great. Gears 1 was very dark i almost thought it was a horror game when i first played it. Soldiers had weight to them and the gameplay was slower and more visceral. Also the attention to detail in the earlier games was far superior than what you see in gears 5, just compare Execution animation in gears 5 to the animation in gears 3. This game once competed with the likes of uncharted and god of war, now its just an average game, even fans of the series ditched it first month of gears 5 release.

[spicelicka]

People need to understand that it is not just a single player franchise, the multiplayer component is arguably even bigger and is still the king of competitive TPS multiplayer gameplay. When you have a component that people play regularly and the community is adverse to the smallest changes you can't just reboot an entire franchise. Single player only franchises can easily afford to do this. They tried something different with Judgment and it was destroyed by the community. I think Gears 6 should just split the campaign and multiplayer and sell them separately. This way the campaign can be rebooted and they can do many new things with it. The multiplayer can have classic modes with traditional gameplay, and new modes that are more in tune with the "reboot"'. If they are developed and sold separately, a lot more resources can be invested in each.

[DiRtY]

I am currently playing Gears 5 and I still like the gameplay.

On the one hand I want them to create a new IP, on the other und I want Gears 6. I guess it is fine for me whatever they do.

[neutralgamer1992]

Give it a break for this generation than have a new game with a soft reboot for next generation at launch. Sometimes resting the Ip's will build more interest when they return. I think now that ms own so many studios and IP's it wouldn't surprise me if they started to go away from some of their most used IP's

[RgR]

I honestly thought that Gears 4 was going to be that "Reboot"

It looked much darker and had a horror vibe the first time it was shown. Unfortunately it was just more of the same.

[moriarty1889]

should have been when they did part 4.

[waverider]

Make new ip. Thats what they should do. Story wise is dead a long time ago.

[FloydianAndroid]

To be clear, I’m an xbox fan, but yes they’re they need new ips. Which is why I was a little let down by the reveal of perfect dark.

They need a 3rd person narrative heavy adventure game. They need to show they can make a really strong single player exclusive

[SirBruce]

I'd be a good idea to close The Collective and use a different boss for all those external studios and partners that really worked on Gears 4 and 5. That... or change studio, because The Collective seems to be only able to hire external studios for making their work... and doing it "cheap in the exterior, expensive inside".

[Profchaos]

Gears 4 was a soft reboot of sorts there's still plenty of stories that can be told but I certainly don't find this new timeline as interesting as the original 3

[Knightofelemia]

Personally I would want a franchise I love Gears but I have slowly lost interest in it since Judgement came out Gears 2 will always be my favorite in the franchise. If they did a prequel it might peak my interest these studios should be working on new franchises and not locked down only to a certain franchise.

[BandarHub]

Actually Gears 5 was really good so I don't see a need for a reboot. It a pretty good story and added in new gameplay mechanics that really worked well to spice up the gameplay.
but I do agree that Gears needs a break. Coalition are far too talented to be working on Gears only. A new IP in between games will ease series fatigue and also simulate the developers to try something new.

[CaptainHenry916]

Feels like the same game since the first Xbox. Let the past go and create something new Microsoft

[shinrock]

A great question to ask PlayStation fans🤔