Almost five years after Gears 5 released, developer’s The Coalition revealed Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel which is being described as this series’ Halo: Reach or Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. We’ve yet to learn about the new sci-fi third-person shooter’s release window, so now it’s the perfect time to either replay or experience the entire Gears of War story for the first time.
The franchise is about to blow up in a big way with Netflix’s movie adaptation too, especially if they time the movie and game releases to coincide. This project has been floating around Hollywood ever since the original Gears of War trilogy became hugely popular, so it’s about time some truly serious effort was put into it.
Though the Gears of War games may look like you’re saving futuristic Earth from evil aliens, the series actually takes place in an alternate universe on the planet Sera, which is Earth-like but has a few distinct qualities. After the 79-year-long Pendulum Wars between the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) and Union of Independent Republics (UIR) human factions, which were fought over the control of Imulsion (a very valuable resource for energy and tech advancements), the Locust Horde emerged from Sera’s underground and wiped out one quarter of the planet’s human population. The games tell the story of what happened after Emergence Day.
If you’re looking to jump into more legendary sci-fi FPS video game franchises, you shouldn’t skip our ranked lists of the Borderlands, Halo, and Half-Life games. We’ve also put together a list of the best space settlement games available today in case you just want to relax with something far more peaceful (but still otherworldly).
7. Gears of War: Judgment
- Platforms: Xbox 360
- Developer: People Can Fly, Epic Games
Gears of War: Judgment was the series’ first-ever spinoff, taking place six weeks after E-Day. It followed Damon Baird and Augustus Cole, two of the most beloved secondary characters in the Gears series, as they’re put on trial for disobeying orders. This was an exciting pitch for a prequel that retained Gears’ core strengths, yet it was met with lower-than-ideal reviews due to the thinner-than-usual package and it mostly being a retread without some of the trilogy’s biggest charms.
Regardless, almost everyone agrees that Gears of War: Judgment isn’t a bad game. It just isn’t too exciting and anyone can skip it and not miss a single story beat or payoff. People Can Fly (Bulletstorm) took over development duties from Epic Games, and the studio certainly had the juice to handle the bloody and relentless action these games are known for. The problem is that no one really asked for this specific story, and not much was added to the gameplay side of things either.
6. Gears of War 4
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One
- Developer: The Coalition
Gears of War 4 is basically this series’ The Force Awakens, and that’s not a bad thing by any means (in fact, it’s a pretty solid game), but it also means things were played way too safe to truly impress long-time fans and players looking for a more ambitious refresh of the franchise.
The story takes place 25 years after the events of Gears of War 3, and while the world of Sera has changed quite a bit, the new menace and overall flow of missions hasn’t. It also doesn’t help that J.D. Fenix (Marcus’ son), Del, and Kait weren’t very compelling characters the first time around. Despite a strong start full of neat new ideas and a killer final stretch, the fourth Gears of War feels like a warm-up of sorts overall, and that also applies to its multiplayer offering.
5. Gears Tactics
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One/Series X/S
- Developer: Splash Damage, The Coalition
While all the other Gears games are third-person shooters, Splash Damage’s Gears Tactics was a turn-based tactics game. This turned some Gears fans off, but there was a lot to like here and it proved the Gears IP was able to branch out into new genres to keep things fresh. It’s also a far more interesting prequel than Gears of War: Judgment.
For the most part, Gears Tactics feels like ‘Gears does X-COM‘ in the best possible way. However, that also means having to endure a fair amount of filler missions and some potentially annoying enemy encounters with tricky win or defeat conditions. If you don’t mind a couple of small misfires on that front and enjoy tactical strategy games, Gears Tactics should be on your radar as you traverse the series.
4. Gears of War
- Platforms: PC, Xbox 360/One
- Developer: Epic Games, The Coalition
You can’t go wrong with the original Gears of War, especially when the nifty Ultimate Edition (a remastered version released in 2015) turned out so good. It remains one of the seminal modern co-op video games, and with good reason: The plot is engaging while moving at a breakneck pace; the characters are good; and both the visuals and shooting mechanics still hold up (and we think the same of the OG 360 release).
Even if you solo through Gears of War and the rest of the original trilogy, Marcus Fenix and his allies’ adventures and struggles will leave a mark on you, and there are some truly spectacular set pieces along the way. Whether you’re looking to replay the entire Gears series or are coming in fresh, you must go through the original installment.
3. Gears 5
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One/Series X/S
- Developer: The Coalition
Gears 5 gets a lot of flak to this day from the most diehard Gears of War fans, as the shifted focus to the younger cast of characters (after their introduction in 4) and some open-world sections supposedly ‘went against’ the tried-and-tested Gears formula. If you’re the type of gamer who wants long-running series to evolve, however, you’re very likely to really enjoy Gears 5 and everything it has to offer across single-player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer.
After a shocking reveal at the end of Gears of War 4, Gears 5’s narrative shifts focus to Kait Diaz. This was a good call, as she had far more going on than J.D. Fenix did in its predecessor (though J.D. also receives a lot more depth in this entry too).
This time around, the story also struck a better balance between letting the ‘rookies’ shine and giving the veterans plenty of space to kick ass without things feeling too nostalgic. At least until E-Day launches, Gears 5 is the go-to modern Gears of War experience for multiplayer too, and you shouldn’t overlook the strong Hivebusters story expansion either.
2. Gears of War 3
- Platforms: Xbox 360
- Developer: Epic Games
As a trilogy capper, Gears of War 3 nailed almost everything it set out to do: emotional narrative, impactful voice acting, flashier visuals, more refined gameplay, a best-in-the-business MP offering, and a fittingly epic soundtrack. The only reason it’s sitting in second place on our list was the lack of innovation and some safe, predictable story beats. Most long-time fans are constantly debating over which one of the two takes the crown though, and with good reason.
Gears of War 3 also marked Epic Games’ farewell to the series they created as lead devs and shepherds of the franchise, and they left it on an extremely high note, almost raising the bar too high for The Coalition’s early efforts as new overseer of the IP. In a console generation full of wins for Microsoft and the Xbox team, this threequel stood tall alongside Halo 3 and Call of Duty at its peak of popularity.
1. Gears of War 2
- Platforms: Xbox 360
- Developer: Epic Games
Both Gears of War 2 and 3 represent the series at its best, but we’re personally going with the second entry for the top spot because… well it just feels like the perfect ‘middle chapter’ entry in a thoroughly badass and epic trilogy. The stakes were raised; the UE3-powered visuals stunned at the time (and still hold up), and all the core elements and mechanics were leveled up to make this one a dream sequel.
Moreover, Gears of War 2 introduced the industry-shaking ‘Horde’ mode. Right after the series was done reinventing co-op and narrative-heavy single player only two years before, here they came with another revolution. When coupled with everything that worked in the original games and the aforementioned advancements, Gears of War 2 became an all-timer of blockbuster video games. Even if the third one is more refined, this sequel’s impact and huge replay value were just undeniable.
Source link
