The ongoing Gears of War saga returns with its fourth sequential instalment (Judgement was a prequel). I’m disappointed to see it’s not called Gears of Four. This may be a massive marketing oversight but does it affect the game as well? It’s doubtful as that would be daft. But join me to find out how it all plays out…
Gears of War has always been a big dumb game about big dumb guys killing big dumb monsters. It’s as American as apple pie if we look at America as a stereotypical 1980’s action film: loud, full of violence and even though they might not have the most engrossing stories, I’ll be damned if they’re not exciting as anything.
One of the things that always made Gears exciting for me is the ability to play local co-op and be able to sit next to the person helping you decimate hordes of enemies. Luckily for me this feature is still there and still amazing to play. Nothing makes roadie running and hiding behind everything in sight, while trying to flank enemies and not get your head blown off quite as good as when you’re trying to synchronise with a partner. They can also save you when you accidentally stick a frag grenade to a wall you were standing behind.
Gameplay wise, it’s the same old hat, not that that’s a bad thing. It places you in the middle of a conflict where you need to take cover and work your way through waves of enemies. The cover-based mechanics are as perfect as ever, and a few tweaks & a couple of new moves make it slightly more responsive then previous iterations. It shows that Gears is still the top cog in the genre they pioneered. The flow of the game does seem to have taken a slightly less intense approach than before, and even though I did have a blast playing through the game I didn’t have the same sense of awe or fear that I remember from earlier titles.
One of the things holding me back was the plot. The series isn’t known for Lovecraftian levels of narrative, but the initial hours of the game pit you in a fight against continuously spawning robotic hordes, taking away the visceral carnage that the game should be and replacing it with cold hard no blood. Weirdly as I played the first few hours of the game I found myself comparing it to Binary Domain, a game that itself was a Gears of War-influenced affair that featured you fighting hordes of robots. I get that they had to go this way so they could build to the new enemy organically, but mowing down robots gets pretty dull pretty fast. Luckily after a few hours everything changes and you get back to fighting a much more blood and bone filled enemy.
Of course, the portions of the game that should be taking up most of your time is the multiplayer mode. Multiplayer has definitely had more thought put into it and although it isn’t the fast and frantic kind of play style like Overwatch or Call Of Duty, the slow and almost tactical way you can approach the enemy is an interesting departure if you’re not used to it. For me Horde mode (this time in its third incarnation) is the big thing I’ll be spending time with, as building tactical fortifications and trying to keep myself alive is always the most interesting part of the series.
All in all Gears of War 4 is a fun game, but I’m just not convinced it has the same sort of affect on me as the older versions. Even though I’m pretty sure I’ll continue playing it for a while, I definitely don’t feel the addictive urge in the same way I did with Gears of War 2 or 3.
Author: Hal, Plymouth store
