Gears of War: Reloaded Review

Pigs can fly, hell hath frozen over, and Gears of War is now available on PlayStation consoles. If people were asked to pick a franchise and character that epitomises the Xbox brand, I think the majority would choose Master Chief and the Halo franchise. But I believe many would consider Marcus Fenix and the Gears of War series to be a pivotal cog (pun intended) in the Xbox library, and if you’re like me, might even consider Gears of War to be the superior franchise (sorry, not sorry, Halo fans). So, seeing Gears of War available on the PlayStation Store is a groundbreaking, earth-shattering, and mind-boggling moment in the history of the video game industry.

Gears of War: Reloaded remasters the Gears of War Ultimate Edition, which launched in 2015. The Ultimate Edition itself was a remaster of the original 2006 Xbox 360 release, a game that laid the foundation for the long-running Gears of War franchise, a series that has continued for almost 20 years.

The original Gears of War is a fantastic introduction to the franchise. It helps establish the disastrous state of planet Sera following Emergence Day, the day the underground-dwelling Locust Horde rose up and viciously declared war upon humanity. In hindsight, the original Gears of War narrative holds many of its cards close to its chest. While it establishes Delta Squad and the Locust threat, many of the memorable and important plot points that occur in future entries are only briefly hinted at during this 10-hour campaign. This instalment does deliver a constant action-movie-like thrill ride, but it spends most of the narrative establishing many threads that will pay off down the line. If you appreciate this action-focused story, this entry offers a terrific and memorable adventure, but personally, I think it delivers one of the weaker stories in the franchise, especially when compared to the series as a whole.

The most compelling part of the original Gears of War story was the relationship that begins to form between the members of Delta Squad. Marcus Fenix quickly becomes the gruff leader of the group, trying to keep the young and brash former Thrashball player, Augustus Cole, in line. We also begin to appreciate the bond between Marcus and his fellow COG soldier, Dominic Santiago, which becomes one of the most important pillars of the original trilogy. We also see tension between Marcus and his fellow squadmate Damon Baird, a man who would be considered the brains of the group, but initially doesn’t take kindly to being given orders by a former prisoner in Marcus Fenix. Across the campaign, we see each character’s personality begin to form, thanks to expertly crafted dialogue, funny quips, and significant moments, as these four meaty men begin to form a powerful relationship, one that helped establish this series as one of the best and most iconic video game franchises the industry has ever known.

Gears of War: Reloaded delivers the entire original campaign without a single load screen, as well as offering both split-screen and online cooperative gameplay across the campaign, with each player able to choose their own difficulty setting. Visually, it’s worth noting that when playing the campaign in cooperative split screen, the display area shrinks to ensure the aspect ratio is preserved, which mitigates distortion and stretching. But there is no better way to enjoy this cinematic adventure than playing with a friend in local couch co-op. Reloaded also includes cross-progression and cross-play across all platforms, making it easier than ever to enjoy the campaign with a friend.

I loved revisiting the campaign that started the franchise, but there are still some issues to contend with. The Junker level is still incredibly average, and probably the worst mission in the franchise. Not only is this level annoying to control (only being able to shoot while standing still was a bad choice), but the NPC calling out which direction your enemies are coming from is wrong 90% of the time, as well as the fact I had to restart this mission twice, after my Junker got stuck on the environment. The other issue involves the AI-controlled teammates, who have a bad and consistent habit to run in front of your weapon after lining up a perfect shot. Fortunately, there is no friendly fire, but it’s obviously annoying when Marcus himself is yelling at his teammates to get out of the way.

When it comes to PlayStation DualSense specific features, Gears of War Reloaded utilises haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, the in-built speaker, and controller light. The use of the adaptive triggers was a personal highlight, as it helped add weight and power to each weapon. Gears of War: Reloaded also delivers 60 FPS across the campaign and up to 120 FPS across multiplayer gameplay.

Gears of War gameplay is unique, especially when compared to other twitch-based or run-and-gun shooters. Gears of War is methodical, strategic, and deliberate. The original Gears of War helped revolutionise cover-based shooters, with the ability to stick to the environment and strategically consider your next maneuver. PlayStation players expecting Gears of War to play like your typical Call of Duty release will take a while to adapt their gameplay style. But once they begin Roadie Running across the battlefield, satisfyingly slamming into cover, and then pulling off blood-splattering headshots, they will begin to fall in love with the Gears gameplay formula. Moment-to-moment gunplay is intense due to the multitude of enemy variants. Typical Locust enemies will shower you in bullets from afar, and some will flank you with shotguns. Then sprinkle in annoying wretches that overwhelm you at close range with sheer numbers, as well as gigantic Boomers firing rockets in your general vicinity, and you’re in for a chaotic and intense encounter.

Gears of War: Reloaded boasts Dolby Atmos and 7.1 3D Spatial Audio to help intensify the sounds of battle. Whether it’s your chainsaw revving up for a vicious fatality or a Boomer entering the fight with their iconic “BOOM” motto, Gears of War firefights have never sounded this good. Even the iconic Gears of War soundtrack sounds better than ever thanks to these improvements. The audio enhancements also heighten the tension during the horror-like levels featured across the campaign, with the spatial audio delivering every piece of the environmental soundscape with crisp fidelity.

Gears of War: Reloaded looks phenomenal. Again, because it’s worth repeating, this game originally launched in 2006, and despite that, Reloaded makes this adventure rival the visual benchmark set by Gears 5. Seran architecture looks stunning, thanks to 4K assets and remastered textures. The original release was no slouch in the visual department and was one of the best-looking Xbox 360 games when it launched, but the 4K remastered visuals allow you to truly appreciate the intricate interior and exterior architecture of planet Sera, the way the original development team had envisioned. The surrounding environment has been annihilated by the Locust horde, and that horrific decimation is on display in the most picturesque way possible.

I played Reloaded on a standard PlayStation 5, and it was a gorgeous experience, but PlayStation Pro owners will also enjoy additional visual enhancements, such as improved shadows, reflections, lighting and more. The improved smoke and shadow effects help enhance the ominous vibes of the horror-esque chapters from the campaign, while the lighting improvements enhance the entire experience. Though some of the fire effects seem to be inconsistent, the overall lighting improvements across Gears of War: Reloaded must be commended, as they are truly stunning.

At the time of this review, the online multiplayer servers were unavailable. However, you can hear my thoughts on the Gears of War: Reloaded multiplayer beta on the NextPlay Podcast.