Sometimes, enforced breaks come at the best possible time.
I finished the Gears campaign last week but having pre-planned to visit my parents on the weekend to help care for them, I didn’t have any spare time to explore the multiplayer modes. That was a good bit of luck in hindsight, meaning I missed some of the nightmarish Xbox Live issues that stopped players from joining lobbies, preventing progress, and just generally making the game a tad unplayable.
I’d have been rightly pissed if that happened to me while I was working through the campaign. Fortunately, it didn’t. But that still left plenty of time to go over the Gears story.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/09/gears-5-campaign-the-kotaku-review/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/uploadwzettm5uxmjopaxrg80b.jpg” title=”Gears 5 Campaign: The Kotaku Review” excerpt=”Gears 5 has the longest and most ambitious campaign that Gears of War has ever done and, for the most part, that ambition pays off. In a series first, the story focuses on a female character, putting the player in a woman’s shoes for the majority of the game. Gears 5 heroine Kait Diaz’s journey of self-discovery introduces new complexities, both tactical and emotional, to the wider world of Gears.”]
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/09/gears-5-xbox-pc-open-world-doesnt-do-enough/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/gears-5-6-410×231.jpg” title=”Gears 5 Doesn’t Do Enough With Its Open World” excerpt=”Gears made its reputation as a macho, linear run-and-gun shooter. Gears 5 dabbles with that reputation in the second and third acts of the game, but its failure to actually do anything substantial with the space created is one of the game’s bigger failings.”]
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/09/hot-damn-gears-5-is-well-optimised/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/gears-5-fps-test-410×231.gif” title=”Hot Damn Gears 5 Is Well Optimised” excerpt=”Gears 5 launched earlier last week, but from tomorrow it’ll be available on Steam and to everyone who wasn’t a Game Pass subscriber. And if you’re looking at the PC version in particular, good news: it runs super well.”]
I haven’t had a chance to mess around with Horde mode or anything that requires the bizarrely complicated in-game currencies, and I’m curious to know what the experience has been like for those playing on consoles. I saw mention in other threads about some crashes and progression issues, although those two things might not be related. And if you have spent time with the multiplayer so far, or played through the campaign on co-op, how’s the experience been?
For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the campaign — and it’s a stunning looking game, minus some hilariously broken pop-in issues I had during the second act. Don’t know that I’d say it was a standout console exclusive for Xbox or anything, but Gears fans will undoubtedly appreciate the change in tack from Gears 4.
What’s your experience with Gears been like to date?
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