Gears of War

I've never understood the appeal of this game, this is mainly due to the control scheme as its always annoyed me every time I play this game as I've always found it clunky particularly for a shooter. I know I'm in the minority, but I can't enjoy a game if I struggle to control it as much as I do with this title.

I wish the control scheme didn't suck so much here as I really do enjoy what this game has to offer otherwise, we have an interesting story that I won't go into here but suffice to say utilises the dynamic between the two playable characters really well. Marcus is a good lead for this game and Dom makes for a good sidekick especially in the co-op mode where the second player takes control of him in the campaign. I also like how the krill work even if this game is far from the first to have an instant kill mechanic by wandering in a dark area that can only be avoided by shedding lightness in said area. I like the creativity of the bosses even if the clunky controls prevent me from enjoying them during gameplay, this is especially a pain on multiplayer where yes, I've infuriated my teammate due to my inability to assist them due to me finding the controls too clunky.

Maybe it's a me problem (and by maybe, I mean definitely) but I just can't get into the game despite it having so much to offer as a third person shooter. The graphics and presentation are really good as is the story and characters which saves it from being one of the worst games I've ever played.

eh, it was good when it came out

Somewhat revolutionary when it comes to it's duck/cover-system and also it's gruesome scripted fight mechanics. Very exciting for young people at the time but I always felt like they were compensating for something.

It's been a long time since I played it but I believe I thought the story was just a boring copy of Halo.

And when it comes to the multiplayer, as a "rusher"-kind of FPS-gamer I found the huge, clumsy and slow-moving characters insanely annoying to play with. And all you have to do is duck, shoot, duck shoot or run up to someone and press a button. Not my cup of tea.

This was my first Xbox 360 game and actually the reason I bought the gaming system. It served me well and I'm still thankful even though I was pissed at the time.

The greatest TPS i have had the pleasure to play.
Gameplay-wise there isn't too much here,
But the atmosphere is unmatched, and it's very engaging, the teammates have great chemistry and it never feels like there's a dull moment.
The gunplay is fun, there are some mechanics thrown in on different levels and the enemy variety keeps it interesting.
The story isn't very deep and the characters are fun and lovable but not too deep either.
Generally it's a simple yet mindbogglingly good game, I haven't had an experience like this in a pure shooter since, and it's even better in Co-op.
Definitely recommended to anyone who likes Third person shooters.

This is the game that started a generation pretty much. the mechanics involved have been influencial to all shooter games after it's release. In Gears of War you have the first of its kind to have a unique cover system and control scheme.

The game largely revolves around tapping 'A' to snap into the nearest cover object, and then hitting 'up' to poke out of cover and pick off enemies. you can tap a button to snap to nearby cover effortlessly as well. This control scheme was innovative at the time and I think it still stands up. The combat is unique and fluid where all the weapons although seem convential (shotgun, assault rifle, rocket launcher) have unique characteristics in how they perform and basically every gun has viability and a use case.

I played the game on the hardest difficulty 'Insane' and on co-op online as well. The difficulty was just right. It was very challenging at times, but not really to the point where the game stopped being fun or felt bullshit. It has a lot to do with learning the mechanics and enemies.

The game has regenerating health and you can revive your co-op partner if he doesn't get permanently killed. It becomes a fun gameplay cycle of learning how much damage you can take, when to change cover (or else the enemies AI rushes up to you) when to melee, when to use each weapon etc.
So the core gameplay cycle is fun and engaging with a lot of eventful and memorable stuff happening.
There is an addictiing mechanic where you can press a button to reload your gun just at the right time which speeds up reloading, and gives a damage boost, as well as your character saying some enthusiastic remark about it (usually; "Shit Yeah!") this mechanic becomes pretty addictive and enjoyable of its own and becomes almost a little minigame to time it right.

While at times the cover mechanics can feel a bit unrefined such as when you're trying to run away from an enemy by pressing 'A' but your character instead snaps into the nearest cover right next to the enemy., thus getting you killed. This is a small gripe but could be just me needing to get more comfortable with the control. Overall the controls are fluid and unique. The way your character moves and especially the sprint mechanic, the dodge mechanic, how the weapons have a really floaty physical feel to them, and the extremely loud and satisfying headshot sound that sounds like someone smashing a watermelon.

So that's the core gameplay mechanic. Well thankfully everything else is solid as well. The tone, character design, and enviorments are appealing and memorale as well. You'll never be in the same enviorment for too long.
You go through apartment buildings, city streets, Underground beneath the earth caverns, a train, industrial complex, late at night garbage city where the darkness gets you killed, grandly designed royal archetecture places full of huge statues and memorials etc... a lot of variety in the enviorments keeps the pacing feel eventful with some new encounter you'll find yourself in, such as some boss type events here and there.

All the while the game keeps introducing new enemy types. The enemies are really cool alien monster horror types. They mumble and grumble under their breath to eachother saying 'Human.." and they sound pretty menacing. The AI is decent and they flank you and if you just sit in cover they run up on you and fuck you up.

The writing is enjoyable too. gritty but mature and serious dialogue, full of funny jokes, good characters, while they are pretty cookie cutter they serve the purpose well and are likeable. When you pickup your co op partner sometimes he says "Walk it off pussy!" which I thought was pretty funny.

I played the PC release which in 2007 added 5 new chapters to the final act. Well I can say that some of these added chapters are a bit awkward because on some of these chapters the difficulty has a huge unforgiving spike. Such as the chapter with the theater stage where you get seperated from your co op partner. That alone took us an hour to complete after much trial and error. And then after that event it goes back to being easy again.


However, I will say that the PC re-release by 'The Coalition' is really bad. The performance is totally broken and its glitchy as hell. I can't comment on the graphics because I have not played the original game for over a decade. I suspect that they have kind of ruined the color palette similar to how they did the color palette in Gears of War 4 as well. So I don't know if this is the best version of the game to play, probably not. Maybe the original xbox 360 version is the best?

Overall it is a game that changed the action genre with its unique and innovative mechanics and the first entry in the series is probably the best. A memorable and fun game especially if you play co op as there is much team work to be had.

8/10

For as many elements of the first Gears are laughable today, whether it be the OTT violence that struck at the height of the transitional phase gaming made from being nerdy and low-key to mainstream and hyper-violent, or the story that has a basic concept but starts in the middle and alludes to concepts while refusing to explain them, or even the general gameplay flow which started a dire trend of stop and pop, there is a grace and variety to the level design that would never be topped. As it is with so many shooter franchises, here is where the deviations best suited the base gameplay style, deconstructing and most understanding the cover shooter aesthetic, as well as featuring some pretty decent AI for the time. The grind of the Gears trek still hurts it a lot, but it remains worthwhile.

EDIT: Okay I don't know if Ultimate Edition made these issues worse or if I was just misrembering at the time I posted my original review, but although my score remains the same, good lord this game has aged much worse over time. The AI had too many pants moments to count, and while most of the active setpieces are great and the level design itself feels cool, the act of playing through the campaign is very laborious; I wouldn't call the game hard, but the combat gets its value from how deadly every enemy is, not necessarily how varied it is, so any roadblock within the campaign feels cheap. Add to that the aforementioned story problems, which would only be resolved through the sequels, and you have a campaign that's a pain, even moreso with the underwhelming PC exclusive levels. Great soundtrack and visuals, though!