GoW is Better than GoW

Two of videogaming’s biggest powerhouses, the Xbox 360 exclusive Gears of War and PlayStation exclusive God of War, continue to redefine their respective genres with every successive release. But as the years progress and their innovations become more fractured, ‘borrowed’ or reworked by numerous other videogame releases, can they really be considered the defining franchises of their respective systems?

[trounbyfire]

gears is GeOW
god of war is GOW

[LunaticBrandon]

Gears is Gears not GeOW. What the fuck is GeOW?

[StoneyYoshi]

GeOW is that little green hatchback that runs on 3 cylinders.

[Megaton]

Gears is Gears.
God of War is GoW.

[darthv72]

Gears = Gears of war. Gears 1, Gears 2, Gears 3

GoW = god of war. GoW1, GoW2, GoW3.

Is it really that hard to comprehend?

[Parapraxis]

Megaton wins ;)

[ShinMaster]

GOW has the story and gameplay.
Gears has the cover gameplay ...which was already bested by Uncharted anyways.

Oh well :)

[Shepherd 214]

Wanna play that game?

Ninja Gaiden bested God of War's hack n' slash gameplay years ago.

Oh well =).

[ShinMaster]

NG and GOW play very differently.

GOW actually makes it fun to hack and slash without being blindsided all the time like in NG.

[FinalSpartan]

what?

God Of War Vs God Of War?

both two different and great games for different platforms.

Gears Of War = Epic
God Of War = Epic

[zeddy]

both games usually set the standard for graphics and since god of war 3 is the best looking game on consoles and possibly the pc gears 3 has got some work to do.

[AWBrawler]

Umm no sir. PC has plenty of games that beat GOW graphics, and its not even the best looking console game, not with Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots on the same system. why do so many PS3 owners forget about that one?
You guys got the single greatest game this gen, and don't even give it the respect it deserves.. that's just sad.

[Laeto256]

no lol, uncharted 2 beat mgs4, GoW 3 beat all of those

[AWBrawler]

uncharted looks good too, I'll give you that, but God of war is not on par with MGS4 graphics. It still looks cartoonish in some areas. look at the blood, and look at kratos. He doesn't look nearly as real as Nathan Drake or Solid Snake

[Perkel]

@ AW Brawler

MGS4 look good but after uncharted gow 3 and killzone is outdated:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[ExplosionSauce]

But this battle always looks great to me
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[N311V]

GOWIII is the current king of the graphics castle. I agree with most people here, Uncharted knocked off MGS4 which was superseded by GOWIII.

[IHateYouFanboys]

@trounbyfire: "gears is GeOW
god of war is GOW"

epic lolz.

Gears of War can be called "gears", "GOW", "GeOW", or even "that game with the chainsaw guns" if you want - there is no right and wrong for nicknames/abbreviations for the names of games lol.

the fact that PS3 fanboys get so upset about someone calling Gears of War "GOW" says all that needs to be said about their intelligence.

[Bebedora]

I cant say how I am in the scale of intelligence, but having the same nickname for two different games is confusing. On the borderline of being stupid.

[fullmetal297]

I dunno. Try google searching "GoW" and see the results. And also this

[Aloren]

Yeah, but that would be a logical and smart thing to do, not very popular here, it's just so much better to have endless and pointless debate for things as stupid as the "legitimacy to claim an acronym"

[StoneyYoshi]

everyone saying google GoW and see what the results are. you all do know google gives you the most searched sites out of what your keyword is. so trying to figure out wich game deseres GoW is completely illogical in that way. IMO i think it should go to the game that was called my it first. i dunno maybe it should go to the game that has been around years before Gears was ever a thought in someones head.

[Aloren]

which game "deserves" gow ? It's just a shorter way to say it for god's sake, why do you care that some people use it for Gears of war and some others for god of war ? And why is it that the fact that millions of people use gow for both games is illogical while your opinion is ?

And no offense but god of war was released only one year before gears of war... Actually, when gears of war was revealed at E3 2005, God of war wasn't even released in Japan and Europe. So it hasn't "been around years before gears was ever a thought in someone's head".

[socomnick]

God of war has been non exitant this gen, it came it went and nobody cared.

Gears of war is now GOW it earned the acronym.

[CernaML]

Keep dreaming.

[goflyakite]

How can God of War be better than God of War?

[Kurt Russell]

Gears of War over God of War - Not into hack and slashes one bit. Both phenomenal looking games however. And Google suggests GoW is more recognised for Gears than God, that's going to put the wind up a few nerds sails... Personally I just call it Gears.

[Forbidden_Darkness]

If you want that to stand, you should go through every single page on google and make a checklist for god of war and gears of war, because looking at the first page or a couple pages proves nothing...

[Kurt Russell]

Maybe so, but I couldn't really be arsed with it all in all honesty. I retract the part about Gears being more recognisable in the acronym. But leave the underlying point which is: Why do any of you care?

[dabri5]

I own all the games for both series. Does that make me an extra winner?

[the_best_player]

GoW any day it's just that EPIC!

[LORD-PHOENIX]

it was abbreviated like this while gears of war was just a twinkle in cliffs eye years before gears hit retail shelves

show respect both great great games but GOW is god of war,GeOW is gears of war

sony should have copyrighted the abbreviation

[trounbyfire]

don't they just call it gears anyway, now it GOW
give me a break

[Parapraxis]

Gears sounds better anyways LOL.
And I never say "GOW" always God of War, as is the case with most acronyms.

God of War came first, it is GoW. It's not up for debate lol.

[Shanks]

When a Gears of War game comes to the PS3/PS4 (and it will, Epic owns the publishing rights), im gonna laugh so hard.

[giovonni]

I could careless if it did come to the ps3/ps4. As long as its a dope game. To be honest, both games shouldn't even be compared to each other. One is based on co-op the other is based on single play. Who cares how it's abbreviated its pretty petty to even debate about it. Let the marketing teams deal with it, they actually get paid for things like this.

[joel_c17]

Ehem... You couldn't care less...

[giovonni]

My, bad I meant Couldn't

[Cajun Chicken]

The PS3 isn't missing out on much, really.

[Roozium]

GoW1,2 and 3 will never come to the PS3. Microsoft owns the publishing rights, just like they do with Mass Effect 1. So please stfu

[Kon]

Wait,this is a comparison between two completely different games? I'm going to report this crap right now

[Hozi89]

Why do people even waste time comparing to different style games. If it was Castlevania:LOS vs God of War or Quantum Theory vs Gears of War then that all good. How exactly do people compare 2 totally diff. genres?

I like God of War better though. lol.

[BLACKBOIJONES]

Who the "F" approved this article...They are 2 different games!!! Is like N4G dose not have any new 2day.

How the hell do u compare a hack and slash game to a third persion shooter... N4G needs new mods and a new system on how articles get approved.

[StarScream4Ever]

Oh plz we all know what GOW stands for.

[BLACKBOIJONES]

LOL.... :p

I luv both games but that was funny, did u photo shop that ur self or u got it from google xD

[StarScream4Ever]

Its actually old someone else done it.

[Focker420]

Thats exactly how it would go down.

[xbladereaperx]

I love gears of war and god of war. But to tell you the truth. god of war is an better. If you have played gear of war 2 multiplayer then you'll understand the BS(lag, host n broken shotgun). I personally enjoyed god of war 1 n 2 better then 3 but i still god of war 3. hopefully gears of war 3 can prove to be a great game.

[Coheno]

I read this as God of War is better than God of War!

[Parapraxis]

As did I haha.

[Raven_Nomad]

They are both good games, but for me I prefer games with online modes. God Of War is a bit short and their is no replay value. There has also only been two Gears games, with the third due later this year.

I mean why argue which is better just because they both spell out GOW? It's a dumb reason for an article.

[Mr Tretton]

Those that make these stupid articles, kill yourselves.

Those that approve these stupid articles, kill yourselves.

Those that want some hot man on man action, call 1-800-N4G-GAYS

[clarkdef]

Whats your extension number xD

[xino]

that number must be what a wii friends code looks like.

anyway GOW refers to God of War! The game came out first, Xbox fanboy just tried to steal the abbreviated word GOW for their Gears of War.

Gears of War should be referred to Gears
God of War should be referred to GoW or GOW!

-Ninja Gaiden 3-is sick!:)

[ceedubya9]

They are both so different. They are only similar in that they are both good franchises and have sold a lot of games.

[Darkfiber]

And using the same acronym for two different things in a related field makes you a lazy idiot.

[Denethor_II]

Gow3 is just one of PlayStations many exclusive franchises. Geow is MS's one franchise, not to mention one is a shooter and one is a slasher.

[Der_Kommandant]

Next time...

Mortal Kombat vs Ace Combat

[xstation79]

I'll take gears of war over god of war anyday. It has awesome co op for both campaign and horde. It also has some pretty cool multiplayer as well. I beat god of war in 8 hours and then theres nothing else to do with it.

[Ratchet510]

God of war has always been better than gear of war since ps2, it has better characters, graphics, gameplay, blockbuster epic fights and boss battles and sales do not matter because as long as you get that gameplay you always wanted then the game is good in your opinion. gears is better than Cod and halo thats for sure.

[GamerPS360]

why?
Is it necessary?

[Cajun Chicken]

God of War III's script was apparently 120 pages long. That's without counting the story in the previous installments of an indepth storyline of torment and revenge based on classic greek mythology.

The entirety of Gears of War franchises script is; "Emergence, grunt, kick, hole, cover, grenade, blood, bzzz, darkness, hell, yeah, crap, shit, train, resonator, cry, nooooo, worm, Maria, sink"

It's like comparing 'Of Mice and Men' to 'Dick and Jane'.

[Roozium]

Still, the story sucks ass in God of War. Kratos is probably the biggest retard in gaming hiistory. Kill that, get pissed off that, f**k that. I've played all 5 God of war games and all I have to say that its fun once or twice, then it gets boring. Easy bossfights and shit ending (in gow3)

[Aloren]

Alright, gears' storyline is nothing special... but neither is god of war's. It's more like comparing a buffy book to an halo book than comparing of mice and men to dick and jane.

[blackburn5]

Yeah lets just take two random games and compare them to each other. Tetris is better then Halo, Kid Icuras is better then DK3 and Double Dragon is better then Barbie Horse adventure. GOW was a single player game. It was meant to be played and enjoyed. I am tired of people ragging on SP games because they don't add some stupid mindless MP to sometimes an equally mindless game. I would rather play GOW a thousand times over then listen to another group of meatheads talk about football, their privates and weapons while running in a straight line pretending that they have emotions while playing some mindless, broken multiplayer. I swear when I played GoeW 2 I felt like throwing a brick at the screen during cutscenes to make them stop talking

[Relientk77]

I always hated that Gears of War and God of War had the same initials. So when people say GoW I'm like ok so which one is it

[sashimi]

for me when people say GoW, my first and only thought is God of War.

[InTheLab]

Winback (1999) for the N64 and Killswitch did everything Gears does before there was a Gears. Gears is not groundbreaking nor is it genre defining.

It's a good franchise, but it's given way too much credit.

On the other hand, there is nothing like God of War...It's the top dog for Hack n Slash. There's been a new GoW clone popping up annually since the first and the only game to halfway challenge it is a clone of DMC. I've only seen one Gears clone and that happened last year.

[Figboy]

The God of War series handily handed other action/adventure game series their asses with it's compelling protagonist, polished, rock solid battle system, and level of scale that other action/adventure games STILL have yet to reach. Seriously, they are ankle high to the Colossus of Rhodes, while Kratos is toppling CRONOS.

Devil May Cry set the bar at what a 3D action game could be. God of War 1 came along and added a story that WASN'T laughably bad (anyone arguing that the DMC narrative is anything but anime schlock is, well grasping REALLY HARD; for the record, I enjoy anime schlock, but GoW's narrative has depth, and the strength of Greek Mythology behind it), and incredible polish and visceral combat that really made you feel like you were this unstoppable, rage filled warrior on a quest for revenge.

As for Gears of War, I'm not even going to get into a discussion about it. It's a great 3rd person shooter franchise. It deserves a lot of the praise it gets (though I don't approve of reviewers overlooking major things like online issues at launch that take months to fix). Epic very rarely disappoints with their games, and they also know how to make a visceral game in terms of combat. Just look at Unreal Tournament.

GoW3 took the action/adventure genre to school last year. What I'm hoping for is that the next batch of action/adventure games take a long hard look at GoW3, and take notes on what it did well, and what it didn't do so well (only a fool would say the game was flawless, but it's flaws were so minor in the face of all it did oh so flawlessly), and up their game.

I'm sure Santa Monica Studio is doing just that, and their next title (if it is once again an action/adventure game, or even a new God of War) will be even grander than GoW3, and not just on a technical level.

[Hudahudahuda]

I'm just gonna put this out there.

Kratos has much more realistic proportions compared to anything in gears. And the kicker is, he is strong enough to splatter all of them combined with one good punch.

[kewlkat007]

It's simple, I'll beat God of War and sell it...while returning to Gears of War over time, after the single player campaign.

So in the end. Gears of War for me has more Value in the long run for the money.

2 Different Genres so no reason to compare game attributes.

[Figboy]

I agree, and I feel the exact opposite as you.

I have no desire to play much multi-player in gaming, so I personally value a strong single player campaign.

I've replayed games like Uncharted 1 and 2, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank Future, etc, etc, 4, 5, 6 times. I can go back and replay their single player campaigns because I find them incredibly enjoyable, much like going back and rewatching my favorite movie (I can't tell you how many times I rewatched The Matrix, or Clue, or The Princess Bride over the years).

Different strokes for different folks.

But I clicked agree because I totally understand where you're coming from. It's all about what we individually find value in.

Personally, some games just aren't ever leaving my gaming library. I'm not a fan of Gears of War in general, but if I was, I certainly wouldn't trade it in. God of War 1-3 is never leaving my gaming library also. Same with the Uncharteds and Ratchets, and Heavenly Swords, etc.

[lightningsax]

The article has this covered, by the way:

"Arguing over which game is better is an act of futility, as different games will ultimately mean very different things to different people. What should be acknowledged however, is that all these games mean something to someone, with that someone being a much larger variety of people that it ever has been before."

It's a pretty nice conclusion. I like God of War for completely different reasons than why I like Gears, but both have their place - when I'm hanging out with other people, co-op Gears 2 is an awesome thing to do. When it's just me, God of War tells the more detailed, harrowing story, and I'd prefer it there. It all depends on what you like!

[Blacklash93]

I never really felt the combat system for the GoW series. It's too stiff for me. You can never roll out of a combo, quickly switch weapon combos on the fly, or cover ground quickly. Perhaps I was too spoiled by DMC and Bayonetta at that point.

With that said, GoW1 was undeniably innovative. It mixed action and adventure in a way never seen before at the time. The story was excellent and the visuals were absolutely stunning back then. It stopped innovating there, though. All they did was keep pushing the bar from then on. I don't think any of the sequels ever quite lived up to what the original accomplished.

Gears only really innovated by perfecting the cover system. Other than that, it was just a very well made 3rd-person shooter.

[kewlkat007]

"Perhaps I was too spoiled by DMC and Bayonetta at that point. "
I cannot compare them 2 games to God of War based on the Fighting...cause they murder God of War on the quick dodging/reflexing type combo chains, while God of War is a little more simplified with the added cinematography and quick time events added.

God of War falls along the latest Castlevania/Dante's Inferno/Prince of Persia type combat.

[LoneWanderer09]

I like God of War better

[ATiElite]

IMO I always felt Gears of War a.k.a Gears, always represented the 360. Sure Halo was the xbox1 flagship but to me Gears seems to be the true heart and soul of the 360 while Halo 3 and Reach were just carry overs from xbox1. i'm not dissing Halo 3 or Reach but Gears just seems to bring a different attitude to the 360 that no one can take lightly. Gears of War is the great 360 enforcer.

On the PS side; The PS3 is all about Uncharted hands down kinda. Uncharted is the quarterback of the PS3, rightfully so getting all the glory and cheers but Killzone 2 is that feared middle linebacker that no matter how much the offense struggled Killzone 2 kept the PS3 in the game buy doing all the dirty work and silenced the nay sayers upon it's release.

GOW3 although an excellent game was the curtain call of the Ps2 era, a Hall of Fame send off. Say Microsoft and your next though is either Windows or Halo as they go hand in hand by defining their company. I don't think 1 game can define Sony but if I had to choose it would be Grand Turismo. It's the game that has been on all Sony platforms and it is always bigger and more ambitious than the system it's own like Sony always makes products more ambitious than whats out now.

[rlm41]

Sony hasn't trademarked "GoW" neither has Microsoft, stfu and stop argueing which one is which, in a topic where they both come up i will just say Gears and God of War.. it it that hard to spell them out

[Folezicle]

The winner is going to be the video game who has the most console fan boys voting, even if they played neither

Anyway the two games are completely different.. Next time why dont you compare sims 3 with gran turismo 5

[FacelessGod]

[img] http://i1010.photobucket.co...

[kevco33]

While I'm sure this comment will largely be ignored, I'd like to ask if anybody read the article at all? All the comments and reports are addressed as saying the argument is irrelevant, and that the suggestion of the comparison is ridiculous. However, if you read the article, you'll see that that's the exact point that it's making.

This isn't a comparison piece, it's a piece about how such comparisons are ridiculous. But of course, I'm sure you all read the article and understood that before commenting...

[Masterchef2007]

GOW is done with. 3 epic great games for the PS2 and PS3. Now lets see what Santa Monica is going to do? I have a feeling we might hear something at E3. Maybe heavenly sword 2 developed by Santa Monica (Instead of Ninja Weenies)

[Jehovah]

@Ubiquitious

Sales do not equal quality ... just look at black ops..

[MeNoRasta]

Black ops is pretty decent imo ... i know ppl think its cool to diss call of duty but come on its really getting old like the rrod thing.

[hassi94]

I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate for this, but I dislike both of them.

God of War seems derivative and too brainless for my tastes. And Gears of War's story seems retarded, the shooting seems clunky and overall uninteresting.

I do like other 'mindless' games though, I'm not up my own arse or anything, just these 2 don't seem to hook me at all.

[Inzo]

"But as the years progress and their innovations become more fractured, ‘borrowed’ or reworked by numerous other videogame releases"

The big difference here is that not only do allot of games borrow game play from God of War they actually borrow the god of war.

[gypsygib]

I'm not that excited about the Gears series anymore, the gameplay has been done better by so many games now. I can normally go back an play a games SP 4-5 times over but every time I think about playing Gears 2, I think the shooting gameplay is pretty boring.

Aside from the originally broken MP, I think Vanquish and Uncharted killed Gears gameplay for me - even Uncharted ads a dynamic vertical and jumping around, sneak, upclose combat element to it - it's just more exciting.

For most of Gears (and I've beaten both on the hardest mode) your just in one or 2 covers holding down the trigger - aims not even really a factor.

[prettyboy1]

im pretty sure when people think gow they r referring to god of war not gears srry try again

[ger101]

But...if GoW is better than GoW, that means SH is better than SH and DS is better than DS...

[TheCryptKeeper]

the GOW tittle belongs to God Of War, for one it was out before Gears.