No one can deny the impact “Gears of War” had on the video game industry – a game that popularized the third-person shooting genre on consoles and had so many other developers trying to capitalize on its popularity. Sequels would come & go with certain games in the “Gears” franchise being praised for excellent gameplay both offline & online, redundant gameplay that hadn’t progressed since the second entry with a rather lacking story & characters, or just a poorly thought-out experience in general with a spin-off. Like anything that comes with success it seems like the “Gears” franchise & its sequels were resting on its laurels; refusing to really push forward in delivering a must-play game. “Gears 5” looked to change that perception by opening up the world during its extensive campaign, offering rewards for those dedicated to login and play a little bit, and multiplayer options aplenty that would have any “Gears” player both new and old (yours truly falling in the latter category) excited to see just how well everything comes together before a chainsaw connects with someone’s chest.
Did I Complete “Gears 5”?
Unequivocally no – something that has become commonplace for my “Gears” experiences mostly due to the high level of ability not only needed by me, but also from others especially when playing through the campaign on “Insane” difficulty. Then there’s the multiplayer grind to rank up, as well as situational achievements based on precise criteria. My goals were simple: Finish the campaign on “Intermediate” (“Normal”/“Medium”) difficulty and play every multiplayer mode. With a shorter story than “Gears 4’s” and generally being able to play a great amount of multiplayer be it PVP or PVAI, experiencing almost everything “Gears 5” had to offer took me around twenty-five hours with a little over ten of those hours being solely connected to the campaign mode.
Did “Gears 5” Live Up to the Hype?
Very few game franchises can say they created a gameplay foundation so good that it didn’t need much work to improve upon it like the “Gears” games. Jumping into “Gears 5” having played the previous entries is the video game equivalent of riding a bicycle with the returning of tight, cover-based shooting mechanics featuring players sticking to the sides of walls & barricades at the touch of a button before popping up to shoot a far away enemy or even toss a frag grenade. The fundamentals of “Gears” gameplay is as strong as ever be it online or offline resulting in wild firefights, clutch victories and players refusing to use anything but a shotgun when the action is between people playing via the internet. “Gears 5’s” story picks up following the events of “Gears 4” with some historical videos available in the main menu to watch for those who haven’t kept up with all things “Gears”. For the next ten-fifteen hours players will spend a majority of their time going through corridors or close quarter environments shooting mostly strategic enemies that do turn dumb similar to the companion AI. If there’s a major issue with the game’s campaign it’s the same one from previous “Gears” games in that the ally AI can be utterly useless; running into dangerous situations without warning and getting shot down or refusing to advance upon command. But there is an exception to the pathetic companion AI problem with the hovering robot Jack. Jack sports a plethora of abilities to assist the player including zapping enemies, laying down shock mines, picking up weapons on the ground, and even taking control of an enemy for a short period of time. Jack’s abilities both passive & aggressive can be upgraded by collecting “components” alongside the other plethora of collectibles scattered around the game’s campaign world.
Some boss fights later in the game definitely penalize single playing gamers, though it’s not impossible on “Intermediate” level. Boss battles also don’t have the same level of “wow” factor as some of its predecessors, but ones such as The Matriarch battle definitely did the series justice. This is a “Gears” campaign through & through from a presentation standpoint with better characterization, memorable set pieces, and some remarkable voice acting; though the ending leaves something to be desired by being undeniable sequel baiting. The only real difference in campaign is the semi-open environments the player is taken to after the first Act. Side missions become available thanks to a mixture of NPCs providing information and simply exploring the world via a sled that can also hold extra weapons when the player is running short on ammo. These side quests aren’t very memorable by rarely being anything other than going to certain sections to kill multiple enemies, but can provide some special items and world building depending on the mission.
The multiplayer options are, similar to the campaign, per the norm with a few additions that really stand out in the best way possible. Players can team up in completing the campaign both online & locally including having a three-way split-screen experience. “Horde Mode” returns so people can come together and take on a copious amount of enemies in waves. The new PVAI “Escape” mode allows for up to three players to journey through a poisoned spacecraft; picking up dropped weapons from downed, tougher-than-normal adversaries while trying to get the best time possible. “Escape” mode comes with a map creator featuring enemy placement and weapon drops options. PVP action is just as good as ever with returning modes like Team Deathmatch and King of the Hill being spread across “Ranked” and “Arcade” mode respectively. A new multiplayer experience in “Guardian” mode definitely impresses with players having to ensure the one character assigned leader per team doesn’t die or that team can no longer respawn non-leader characters when a player meets an untimely fate. “Guardian” mode completely changes the dynamic of “Gears’” multiplayer modes and became a personal favorite.
Players can also customize every character in multiplayer, though it comes at a real price with microtransactions. While it doesn’t change the gameplay it would’ve been nice to see one major game being released just using in-game currency to reward players with the option of changing how their characters look or boosting experience points. A more profound issue is connectivity problems. While a majority of the time playing a PVP game is smooth, getting into one can become tiresome & lengthy with repeated failures in loading one of the somewhat mundane maps or a player dropping out & causing the match to desynchronize. Problems with staying connected during a campaign run is a lot more bothersome due to checkpoint placement potentially causing people to lose progression and even save file corruption.
Easily the weakest points of “Gears 5” are few & far between with the best parts usually seeing “Gears 5” being the epitome of a fantastic “Gears of War” experience with a strong campaign, impressive multiplayer options, and gameplay that feels as good as ever.
Should You Play “Gears 5”?
The term “system seller” gets thrown around a lot when it comes to exclusive AAA games, but a good amount of them either have shortcomings that remove them from the conversation of classic video games of that generation or just aren’t able to reach a true status of greatness. “Gears 5” proves to be everything that’s wonderful about the series with some flaws that should be fixed as the months progress. For those on the fence about playing what is essentially the most premium version of a game crafted over a decade ago “Gears 5” is actually a part of Xbox Game Pass. And while that is nothing short of a steal, dedicated “Gears of War” players won’t be disappointed with paying full price for a copy. And how many other games can say they have a moment when a Train drives a motorcycle into the mouth of a behemoth?
