Gears of War has always been a series about two things: action and survival. The entire series is centered around the innate human desire to live, and sometimes that means blowing up entire cities and heading underground to take on bloodthirsty aliens. Okay, writing this out makes it sound like a campy, very-aware-of-itself action movie turned video game. Under all the cheesy one-liners and very obviously cliche characters is a great sci-fi story. The story took a bit of a nosedive in Gears 4, but that came way of a transition away from the original trilogy. With time to marinate, the story now feels like it has its feet, and the gameplay in Gears 5 is better than ever. By dropping two thirds of its original title and reinventing the shooter experience, Gears 5 proves the series is still going strong.

It’s wild how simple the cover system is in Gears of War, and yet, it’s a total blast. Now with the option to upgrade your skills via a skill tree menu, you can really transform the way your characters fight. If you’re feeling like a true flank and fight experience is your favorite, upgrade stealth and close combat skills to really feel unstoppable. If you’re much more of a sit back and snipe kinda player, you can upgrade to make yourself a total deadeye. In theory, I don’t enjoy skill trees all that much. They never seem to add enough to my experience to make me care about strategically using them. That being said, you can feel the differences in how you upgrade characters in Gears 5. 

While the gunplay is still the same Gears experience we love, the maps and campaign feel a bit more exploratory. Things like side quests and more space in the game’s staple of linear main missions makes it feel more like you’re planted in this wasteland we’ve come to know over 6 games. It’s a welcome return to an experience that is fun enough to not tweak a ton, but the subtle changes to space and environment, as well as the practical skill tree, make me happy to return to this series.

Think back to 2006. It’s a time of gritty shooters, and you’ve just finished the Gears of War campaign upon the game’s release. The entire experience was an array of brown, dark brown, and light brown environments, enemies, and literally anything they could make a dark color. It’s a stylistic choice that leaned a bit brighter and more dynamic in the remastered version of the game. Now, we’re in 2019, and Gears 6 is thriving with a still gritty, yet wide variety of colors. It’s a subtle thing, and maybe not one that stands out for those who haven’t revisited the old games in awhile. Yet back when Epic Games still made Gears titles, everything was in Quake mode; dark as dark can be. Now, the game thrives on a more diverse color scheme that still upholds its tone.

Visuals in general are very strong with this game. Even on the Xbox One S, the game looks incredible, stays steady at 60 FPS, and had me stop a few times to just soak it all in. The Coalition put a lot of love into this game, and it’s evident.

The multiplayer experience of Gears of War has always been superior to its other shooter competitors. Horde mode is back with versus returning as well. The new mode Arcade actually stands out among its’ seasoned multiplayer modes. At the start of this mode, you choose a character which determines your weapons and loadout. As you play, you earn money to buy different weapons. If you die a few times in a row, you even get a bit of a bonus to help you turn the tides. That is, unless you’re just flat out terrible.

The mode features an AI bot mode, where you can get some practice before taking on the competition. It’s perfect if you’re not a seasoned veteran of the series. Seven maps in the horde and versus modes keep things interesting, although some feel much better in one mode than the other. Lastly, we also get Escape mode, an untimed Horde alternative that has you and three others fighting to escape a Swarm hive. It’s a nice change of pace after hours and hours of Horde, but the game’s signature multiplayer mode still takes the cake.

I was worried when Gears 5 launched that I’d face something I’m always afraid of when playing the latest game in a long-time favorite series. The potential feeling that a series needs to call it a day upsets me, especially with something I’ve loved for so long like Gears of War. I’m glad after spending lots of time with the game that the end doesn’t feel inevitable. In fact, after a Gears 4 I didn’t love, I feel more optimistic about the series than ever before.

With some fun events in multiplayer and lots to collect and replay in the campaign, Gears 5 does exactly what it needs to do to push the series forward while still sticking to what it does best.

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Gears 5

$59.99 USD

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Same great cover system
• Skills tree introduction doesn't feel forced
• Multiplayer is better than ever with returning favorites and new modes

Cons

• Some multiplayer maps don't work for every mode