Hello and welcome to Camp Xbox. At the start of the Xbox 360 in 2005, the Xbox had plenty of notable franchises like Halo and Fable. Yet, one of the biggest franchises for the company wouldn't start till a year later.
That would be the third person shooter, Gears of War. Known for its brutally dark tone, hyperviolence, and coverbased shooting, Gears of War is now a game synonymous with Xbox. With a new Gears remake coming out, I thought it would be a perfect time to take a look at all of the games in the franchise today.
So, let me go through them all in release order. All footage was captured from Xbox consoles, and I want to thank my YouTube channel members for their support. But, let's go ahead and hop into this one.
So, Gears of War goes all the way back almost 20 years ago, releasing on November 7th, 2006 in North America. I remember the buildup to this game being huge. Of course, Xbox gamers had Halo 3 and other games to look forward to, but it was time for the 360 to get its own franchise.
Gears of War looked dark, gritty, and violent, something that hit very well in the mid2000s. That grittiness spoke through with that trailer featuring the cover of Madworld. It was a trailer everyone was talking about.
It was dark and depressing, and it showed that this shooter had more depth to it than you'd expect. Once the game was out, it sold extremely well, selling 5 million copies, putting it into the top 20 bestselling 360 games of all time, and it became one of Xbox's most notable franchises. In this entry, you play as Marcus Phoenix, who has been imprisoned after deserting his military post.
It' been 14 years since Eay, when the Locusts came out and destroyed everything. You have been broken out to go after a device that can map the Locust tunnels. This game follows a chapter-based format as you save people and mainly kill off locusts as they emerge from the ground.
It's in this entry that we are introduced to notable cast members like Dom, Coal Train, and Baird, some of the central characters of the Cogs. When I last replayed this, I had remembered it being a heavy sci-fi themed game with robots and destroyed futuristic settings. Yet, going back, it's heavily based in horror.
There are specific levels set at night and they have a sense of dread to them. Enemies will pop out at you and it will feel like a relentless struggle at times. Yet, at its core, you have these characters you connect to, and it makes it a convincing plot.
Of course, what helps it the most is the excellent gameplay. It's a third-person shooter that's coverbased. It's all about strategically moving around and taking out enemies while covering.
I see a lot of people now look back on this with disdain, but in 2006, this was clean and it was awesome action design. I still find it extremely fun, and it's one of the most fluid action games of its time. Full of great action set pieces.
The game feels expensive and gigantic with some awesome and memorable levels. Just great controls and gameplay all around. Throw in that it capitalized on Xbox Live and took this game online.
I remember thinking this gameplay would be odd to play online, but it's actually quite well done and it has some tense fights. People are great at this game online, and as the series continues, they continue to impress me with their skills. I mean, this game took over Halo 2 as the most popular Xbox Live game and stayed that way till Halo 3 released.
On top of that, this game was visually astounding for the time, and the fidelity on display here was great. The violence, animations, and world, even if it's dark and gray, looked awesome and showed off the power of the 360. It managed to capture a lot and do so much well.
And that means it had to get a sequel. 2 years later, on November 7th, 2008, we got Gears of War 2. With the major success of the first game, it felt like Epic Games had to prove itself in making another great game to make sure this stayed a franchise.
Well, it worked because it also sold 5 million copies just like the first one. Actually, this is where I was introduced to the series and I played this one and then the original. So, Gears 2 is the one that I'm the most fond of.
Taking the great gameplay of the first, adding a highly important online mode and giving it a more personal story. Gears of War II is an excellent follow-up to the original. In this one, it takes place shortly after the first game, and many of the remaining cities are beginning the fall.
There is one last city named Justinto, and the Cogs take the fight to the locust to stop them. Yet, in the middle of all this is a personal story of Dom and his hunt for his wife, who's gone missing. This is an emotional note that I still never expected this series to take.
Here you get great world building too, and it's more depressing than ever, which is perfect for a game about the end of the world and what feels like a losing war. I love the story here with my only issue being a weaker final boss than I would want, but overall, it's quite a ride. The gameplay is much of the same here.
It's going by the motto of if it's not broke, don't fix it. You shoot from behind cover and move all around, and it's just as smooth as ever. There are some excellently designed levels here, and the set pieces are just as gigantic as ever.
This entry proves that Gears is all about the gigantic moments and showing off just how much they could pull off on the console. The look of this game is incredible, and it still impresses me to this day. It's once again a showcase for the Xbox 360, and a reason why this series would supplant itself as an important one for Xbox.
Yet, one major addition to this game that would change so much would be Horde Mode. On top of the continued great online multiplayer, this game would get a co-op defense mode where you and a team would defend against groups of locusts coming at you. It may seem simple now, but in 2008, this hit perfectly.
Xbox Live parties were built for games like this, and I had my fair share of late nights defending against waves. This in the zombies mode in Call of Duty proved that people were looking to play more cooperative style games online together. Horror mode would continue to be an important piece of Gears and would be copied by so many other games.
Gears 2 was just as notable as the first and was a major hit, especially the year after Halo 3, making the 360 such an important platform to play games on in the late 2000s. It kept the right tone, kept the same great gameplay, and added some important things to make it something truly memorable. It was one of the best follow-ups you could ask for.
The next entry would come out 3 years later on September 20th, 2011. Gears of War II would be ending its proposed trilogy much the same way as Halo, promoting that this would be the end. But as we all know with any successful franchise, it can't just end.
But this was the end for me. This was the last entry I played in the series for a long time before I went back and played through them again. Gears of War II would go on to be reviewed especially well at the time of release.
This was still a dominant franchise, and I know many people were ecstatic about this game. This is the big finale of the franchise, so they had to end it huge. Marcus' father, who many thought were dead, is now reaching out to Marcus.
He has a way to take out all of the invaders and hopefully save a scattered humanity. This entry chooses to follow each character on their journey to finally end it all. But like how Don's plot was a major part of the original.
Everyone here gets a more emotional turn. Marcus, who is a big, brooding guy, has an exploration into what he's lost and all of his nightmares. It had been 5 years since the franchise kicked off, and it was nice to feel like everyone had a strong arc in these three games.
Once again, if it's not broken, don't fix it. And Gears 3 is more of the same great gameplay. Though I say I enjoy it now and don't mind it, it sticks to great stuff.
2011 Mei though was burned out a little bit. There is not a lot of innovation on display here. You get behind cover and you shoot.
Though I think that's a bit dismissive since now locusts have changed a whole bunch and now they're really disgusting and the cover system feels better in terms of level design. I feel like the way the cover pops up in the levels and the way you move between them feels more natural than ever. Throw in that the horde mode gets a nice update where it's about building up defenses and it feels even more substantial than before.
It's got an awesome online still and still it solidifies itself as a must own franchise for anyone who was into the Xbox at that time. This is one of those blockbuster games that just felt gigantic upon release and it was crazy to think that they were done with the stories of these characters which were welldeveloped in each game. Not only that, but it continued to push the 360 graphically and would continue to feel giant in scope.
Gears 3 was another awesome entry for the franchise, continuing something solid. I think back in 2011, I felt like I had played a lot of games like this, and it was tiring in a way to play this game over and over. Yet, looking at it now, I do think it's a great refinement of what made the series work and was a great game in its own right, but the franchise would keep on chugging.
you [ __ ] Come on, stop them before they get below deck. Only 2 years later, on March 19th, 2013, we would get Gears of War Judgment, the first non-numbered entry in the franchise and the last one on the Xbox 360. Unlike the last three entries in the franchise, Judgment tries to change up the formula a bit, giving a new place in the timeline and different mission setups.
I didn't play this when it was new. I think I was just focused on other things. Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider took over a lot of 2013 and this fell to the wayside.
I have since played it and I don't think I like it as much as I do the original trilogy, but it's definitely something interesting for the franchise. For one, People Can Fly, the people who made Bullet Storm and ported the First Gears to PC, are the main developers here. This game serves as a prequel to the original trilogy and is closer to Emergence Day.
You play Baird, Cole, and a few new team members. You see all of their specific accounts of what they went through as they're being court marshaled. I think the plot here is really interesting and a fun way to set up the plot of a game.
It's all told in flashback and court accounts, giving the chapters and missions in the game an interesting narrative. I like that some things have been redacted, but they can be brought back by you playing certain challenges. That's how you get closer to the truth.
It's a fun, playful way to have the plot work with gameplay. The game itself plays similarly, sticking to normal thirdp person shooting action, which continues to be fun, but the mission structure is updated. Here it goes for a star system, which was a big deal in a lot of games at the time.
I feel like a lot of mobile games used this, but it's not shallow. You just get more points for better kills and performing better in missions. It makes the game feel more like an arcadey experience than ever, giving you shorter, smaller missions with the same action of the games, and I can appreciate its attempts to spice up the established formula.
The smaller scale shows through, too, with less of an emphasis on giant set pieces. Maps feel a lot smaller and tighter knit with some tough waves of enemies coming at you. Difficulty is interesting because the challenges actively make the game harder, but more rewarding.
I don't think the game hits the highs of the original games, but I don't think it's trying to. It's wanting to be a fun experience, especially in its multiplayer, and I do think it succeeds with that. It still has a great look and music to go along with it.
Unfortunately, though, this was a bit of a downturn for sales, and it was not as commercially successful as the rest of the franchise. It critically did well, but was not the runaway success that they wanted. I think it was just an odd note for Gears of War, which is interesting in hindsight.
I feel like there were complaints that the third entry was a lot of the same, then this one changed a lot, and then there was reluctance to it. Personally, it's newness does make it stand out in the rest of the franchise. Two years later, we would get Gears of War Ultimate Edition, releasing on August 25th, 2015 for the Xbox One.
This is a remaster of the first Gears of War with modernized graphics. It was the first Gears project from The Coalition, which will make the rest of the games we're talking about today. Microsoft ended up getting the rights to Gears of War in 2014, so this was a big deal to see what was next for the series.
But this is just a remaster released 9 years after the original game. There is not much to say about this one as a whole. A lot hasn't changed outside of looks.
I personally feel this is more of a proving ground for the coalition to get their feet wet with the property as they were working on the fourth entry. I did play this one back when it came out. Admittedly, I think it's a great remaster.
It made it easier to play. It looks great. It's cleaned up and the frame rate boost is always appreciated.
It's a great way to play a classic if you've never played it before. And as of right now, it is probably the best way to play it. But I always like the charm of the original release.
We'll get into it later, but soon this probably won't be the premier way to play this game anymore, but we will see about that. Luckily, the online for this game is still intact, and it's just as fun as ever. I've played this story and game countless times, and somehow I never get tired of it.
So, that's definitely a testament to the quality of this franchise. Just a year later, on October 11th, 2016, we got Gears of War 4, The Coalition's first original game in the franchise. This came out on both PC and Xbox One.
This is another one I skipped out on. This is the one that I have the least amount of experience with. Nothing about this game struck me as a mustplay back in the day.
And going back to it, I do think I missed out on something fun, but nothing quite substantial. This entry is far removed from the original trilogy, taking place over 20 years later. This game has a whole new set of characters, though one is the son of Marcus Phoenix, and Marcus does pop up.
They live with a group of outsiders outside the jurisdiction of the Cogs. They get into a conflict with the Cogs, all while fighting new mutated locusts called the Swarm. And through the plot, we find a much deeper conspiracy underneath it all.
I was a bit worried going into this that the change of cast and time would make it feel weak, but honestly, it's not a bad plot. I like the sudden turn to full-on sci-fi, and it feels like a different take for the franchise. Now, I do think it is the weakest game on today's list other than the mobile game.
That's not a bad thing, though, because I don't think there's any bad game here today. The combat feels smoother than ever, and it's very clean. It's still the same coverbased shooter, and it does feel a bit more modern.
It's sleeker, and the destructible environments are awesome. Gears 4 looks excellent on the Xbox One, and the environments you cover around in are well done. It's meant to go along with the weather system in this game, which is this entry's major hook.
There's giant windstorms that overtake the map, and it moves your cover all around, and everything feels dynamic mixed with some excellent sound design. And this game really pops when you have a nice set of headphones on while playing. This one also included multiplayer that I wasn't there for in its prime, but usually these games pulled off multiplayer well.
And if you played this online, let me know in the comments. I'd like to hear your experiences with this one. I feel like with this entry, The Coalition proves that they're up for the task on this new spin for the franchise.
Now, I don't think the plot is reaching the highs of the original, but they managed to pull out some great new characters here. All in all, it's a fun action game and a little bit brighter of a world. I enjoyed this game going back to it.
So, 3 years later, we got two Gears entries, and I'm going to briefly touch on this one, which is Gears Pop. This came out on August 22nd, 2019, and unfortunately, I have no footage other than trailers for this one. It's completely shut down and I could not find a way to play it since it was completely online.
I did download and play this back in the day, but I played the tutorial and I uninstalled it. It just wasn't for me. I don't play a lot of mobile games.
I've heard this is like Clash Royale, which I have never played that either. It was a strategy game where you played as pop versions of Gears characters. You fought for control of two sides of a board and you used coverbased shooting.
I'm going to have to ask you guys to put in the comments how you felt about this one because I wasn't into it back in the day and now I can't try to see how I feel about it now 6 years later. It got okay reviews and did have a lot of players and I know this one got shut down pretty short into its lifespan. I do think the idea of a game mixing gears and pop figures is a bit weird, but Pop figures have their hands in everything is an oddity on today's list for sure.
On September 10th, 2019, we got our last numbered entry as of now with Gears 5, and that's not shortening it. It's officially called Gears 5. They took of War out of the title.
It did come out on the Xbox One, but they did put it on the series consoles as well in 2020. I did play this one when it was new, so this was me coming back to the series when it released. This time, I do think they attempt to change a lot of elements for this entry to freshen it up even more.
Some of it is good, but there's some stuff that I don't love. Though, overall, I think this is a fun entry for the franchise. This one only takes place a few months after Gears 4, and the main character is now Kate Diaz, who is a cog.
Now, this entry takes a psychological turn where you get visions of the Locust, and your goal is to hunt down why you're having these visions. Actually, a really cool element is that when you play co-op and you get visions, no one else can see them except for you. This game ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but this entry feels huge here.
They attempted to go for a semiopen world. Still keeping a chapter-based format, but you will also do a lot of exploring. Personally, I like chapter-based games with tight levels.
Nothing against the open design, but these moments are not my favorite here. Yet, I will say that I do like that they're trying something new here, and this is a more modern design. The biggest takeaway for me from this entry is how excellent it looks.
It's a clean looking game with some awesome apocalyptic environments. The world is ruined and you'll go from snow to forest areas and all of them have excellent colors. The environments used for combat are well- handled and the combat is just as smooth as ever.
Once again, not really innovating anything, but why should you when the core of Gears of War works so well, and it's been consistently fun and entertaining the entire run of this franchise. The multiplayer though, I played a lot of it and I enjoyed it. Once again, people are nuts at these games online, but it leads to some tense battles.
The cover-based shooting lends itself well to feeling action-packed, but also strategic. I got to play this whole thing in co-op, and I really got into the multiplayer, and it reignited my interest in the Gears franchise. It's sad that we haven't seen an actual shooter entry from this series in a while because I've been anticipating another one.
Sure, I don't love its push to go outside the normal chapter-based formula, but the world here is welldetailed. Unlike other series that change developers, which ends up changing a lot of the soul of the franchise, The Coalition has done a good job of keeping the games entertaining. Unfortunately, this is the last Gear shooter we have gotten.
It's sad because I really want something new. Yet, this is not the last released Gears game today. On April 28th, 2020, we got Gears Tactics, which was first a PCON game, but eventually came to the Xbox One and series consoles on November 10th, 2020.
This one was developed by Splash Damage with The Coalition. These were the people who worked on Brink, but also the multiplayer modes in the last Gears games. Though, funny enough, this does not have multiplayer.
This is a turnbased tactics game, similar to Mario Rabids and XCOM. The more I write about it, the more I realize it's more of an inspired idea than I thought. Gears can be a bit slow and is about working your way through cover.
I think it works here, and I really enjoy this entry. It helps that I already just enjoy tactics games like this. In this entry, you play as Gabe Diaz.
You have to take on a big bad Locust enemy and you gather up people on your journey to take them on. You go through these giant missions with a mix of enemies and each of your people has different weapons and powers. You must use these strategically to survive and reach the level's goal.
It's a simple tactical game, but it works extremely well. There's a lot of thought put into all of the design and mechanics of this game, and it kept me glued to it whenever it first came out. It's not going to appeal to everyone, but for the audience of this genre, it's effective.
It's nice to see a fun spin-off like this for the franchise to spice it up. It reminds me of the side stories we got with Halo Wars. There's a bunch of difficulties and modifiers to spice up the experience, and there's a ton of content within the game to keep you engaged.
It would have been cool to see multiplayer get worked into this somehow. The game also looks excellent on the series console. It's a clean looking game, and the cutscenes are great.
This was a series console launch title and I know I downloaded it on my new console just to play something that was enhanced for the series consoles and it looked fantastic. I think this is a good entry for the franchise but unfortunately this is the last one we've gotten until now running dry coming. So, as of recording, this game is not out yet, but when I upload this, Gears of War Reloaded will be very close to getting released.
This is the second time the first Gears of War will be remastered, so I have nothing new to add. I do wish we got a Gears 2 remaster instead, but this is getting a PS5 release as well, and I think they're trying to get PlayStation gamers who may have never played the franchise prime for the plot of the series. I wish it were maybe one and two or maybe the whole trilogy remastered, but they decided to clean up the first game again.
Trust me, I'll be playing it and I'm sure the enhanced frame rate and look will be nice, but as someone who played the first remaster, I'm just not as excited. I am excited for Gears of War Eday, though. This is looking like a 2026 release.
Fortunately, this one has not seen a cancellation yet, and I'm crossing my fingers we'll get some gameplay soon, so I can hold out hope that we can actually play it. This one is a prequel to the series, showing young versions of the characters we know back during Emergence Day. A prequel game that's actually a shooter sounds awesome, and I'm sure the Coalition and People Can Fly will pull off something cool here.
That is it though for Gears of War. I think overall there isn't a bad entry, barring Gears Pop. I think they have consistently stuck with a formula that works and it's led to a game series that's consistently fun.
And let's hope that sticks around. Let me know in the comments what you think about these games. Everybody's opinion is important.
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