Topic: Gears Official Thread

Are you a Gears fan and what do you like the most and least about this franchise?

I am new to the series. I have played 1, 2, 3, Judgement, 4 and just finished act 3 of Gears 5. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are all awesome, I mean, really awesome, but I liked 4 the most. It has it all, the script, story, scenes, characters, gameplay and looks and runs as very few games do on Series X. What I like the most about the series is the balanced gameplay, the good vibes, the script, characters and that it's, well, fun. Judgement is very plain, like a Resident Evil The Mercenaries mini game without the good Gears script but that was made by People Can Fly. The Coalition has a few talents from Epic so I guess this is why 4 is so fine.

Now I'll talk about 5. Gears 5 is the one that is the most different and it does some things right. Well, two things. Firstly, it introduces open areas but only do them right from chapter 3 on. Secondly, it introduces a bit of exploration which is related to the former but is a bit shallow eventually. Now let's admit what 5 does wrong, that is, everything else. It destroys what made me fall in love with Gears: the fun, the good vibes, the funny script, the innocent naughtiness and friendship. It has just a few jokes that are immediately ruined by Kait. Kait was fine is Gears of War 4 and the ending was interesting but in 5, JD barely dares to talk because of her and everyone is justifying their existence and begging forgiveness while Kait is the spoiled contradictory and self-entitled star/pain in the arse/ass and the one thing that has corrupted Gears and turned into a PlayStation drama. All I can do is hope that she dies by the end of the game and that 6 goes back to what makes Gears of War so special and enjoyable.

Thanks for reading.

EDIT:

In regard to 5, I forgot to mention the stupid AI of enemies that get stuck behind open doors and you have to find them to accomplish the objective and also the stupid AI of the team mates. For instance, when fighting the Kraken, all of them get trapped in the tongues while you must fight for your life and save them all with no safe distance to shoot from. Another example, when you try to sneak kill the Swarm where the drill is located, one team mate goes ahead and try to cut a Swarm alerting the whole group. At least, Jack is great and helpful.

I like the Gears titles, but I wouldn't say I'm a fan of them. They're enjoyable games but they don't do anything special in my eyes. My favourite is probably Gears 5 because it added more depth to the gameplay system with different abilities, resources, upgrades and so on. Not to mention more open worlds to explore as well as side quests. It didn't overdo things, it was just the right amount and I liked that.

If I were to rank the games, it'd have to be like this:

1) Gears 5
2) Gears of War 3
3) Gears of War 2
4) Gears of War 4
5) Gears of War 1
6) Gears of War: Judgement

Gears of War is easily my favorite Xbox series, and possibly my favorite series of all time (either that or Uncharted). It's one of the few series they have that can go toe to toe with Sony's, especially on the technical side as Gears 5 (and especially Hivebusters) is absolutely stunning on the Series X.

As for ranking them, it's been so long since I've played anything from the old trilogy that I can't really rank them. I never bothered playing Judgement. I am happy that they were able to have the new trilogy (once 6 comes out) be on a similar level as the originals.

Before reaching the Tomb of the Unknowns in 5, I encountered a glitch that prevented me from progressing. I found one of those bookracks that you can knock over so I did it because it was the only interaction left. Jack was hit by the shelves and died so I had to restart from the last checkpoint.

Whoa, just my two cents on the subject, since I'm discovering Gears 5 for the first time at the very moment. I'm playing on Series X, and for now, it's just my favorite episode of the saga.

Describing as beautifull would be an euphemism. It's just... it's beyond that. And i'm not even at the point of the Hivebusters expansion - which I've read is especially designed with the Series console in mind.

I'm finishing the second act right now, and the mid-open world structure just baffles me. It just works, it works beyond what I've could imagined. It even reminds me, in some way, of the Ocarina of Time structure. But in way better, off course.

Yeah, definitely a very big fan of this game !

@Bobobiwan Hivebusters is even better. The main campaign has frame rate hiccups on Series X but Hivebusters runs smoothly from start to end and it's even more beautiful than the main game. It has some exploration and basic but interesting gameplay mechanics and I liked the story a bit more, too.