Gears of War: E-Day
For context, I loved the first Gears of War back in the day. I played it co-op multiple times. For its time, it was something pretty special. I haven't really stuck with the series, in large part because every time I try one, I just leave it thinking, "It's okay I guess."
Ultimately it's a mildly entertaining campaign despite its flaws, but it's also the type of experience where I didn't care if my brother wanted to just walk away from it. It LOOKS really good. And the story is decent, though to be honest, I've never given a shit about the lore of these games.
Before I continue, I understand that this is a faithful Gears game. But just because I enjoyed it back in the day doesn't mean I do now. This series did not age well with me at all. It's sad. I WANTED to love it, and at first I dug this. But then as it went on I just got more and more annoyed.
None of the guns are any fun. The shotgun especially sucks. But none of them are satisfying to use and that's a big problem for a SHOOTER. Having to switch to the grenade to awkwardly throw was never cool and it's especially bad now. And though chainsawing enemies looks good, a criticism I've always had with the series is they make using it awkward and annoying. And in this game, even when you try to use the melee with another gun, if you don't hit it completely perfect the dude just sidesteps the enemy.
Very clunky. And not clunky in a "we are big men with big suits" way, though they actually handle that aspect pretty well. Still feels cool to jump through things as these hulking warriors.
But enemies take too long to kill. It's more like Reload Simulator as you empty your ammo, do the reload mini-game and then repeat. It's a shooter so the formula is always shoot->reload, but I never felt like I could do enough before I reload, and then trying to get the reload just right just added another step to get back to where I wanted to be, because it incentivizes you to do it.
And the open sections are just boring, empty and meaningless. Why they put those in here I'll never understand. Actually I do know why: some developers think that just adding this shit in somehow makes the experience better (or they just want to pad). It would have been more fun as a strictly linear game. It's funny that two of Xbox's big franchises fell victim to this, because Halo: Infinite did as well... though admittedly worse than Gears did.
So in closing, if you like Gears then my review will probably sound like the game you want. I got some enjoyment out of it but it just became abundantly clear this time around that I'm no longer into this series and I won't even bother trying future entries.
Ultimately it's a mildly entertaining campaign despite its flaws, but it's also the type of experience where I didn't care if my brother wanted to just walk away from it. It LOOKS really good. And the story is decent, though to be honest, I've never given a shit about the lore of these games.
Before I continue, I understand that this is a faithful Gears game. But just because I enjoyed it back in the day doesn't mean I do now. This series did not age well with me at all. It's sad. I WANTED to love it, and at first I dug this. But then as it went on I just got more and more annoyed.
None of the guns are any fun. The shotgun especially sucks. But none of them are satisfying to use and that's a big problem for a SHOOTER. Having to switch to the grenade to awkwardly throw was never cool and it's especially bad now. And though chainsawing enemies looks good, a criticism I've always had with the series is they make using it awkward and annoying. And in this game, even when you try to use the melee with another gun, if you don't hit it completely perfect the dude just sidesteps the enemy.
Very clunky. And not clunky in a "we are big men with big suits" way, though they actually handle that aspect pretty well. Still feels cool to jump through things as these hulking warriors.
But enemies take too long to kill. It's more like Reload Simulator as you empty your ammo, do the reload mini-game and then repeat. It's a shooter so the formula is always shoot->reload, but I never felt like I could do enough before I reload, and then trying to get the reload just right just added another step to get back to where I wanted to be, because it incentivizes you to do it.
And the open sections are just boring, empty and meaningless. Why they put those in here I'll never understand. Actually I do know why: some developers think that just adding this shit in somehow makes the experience better (or they just want to pad). It would have been more fun as a strictly linear game. It's funny that two of Xbox's big franchises fell victim to this, because Halo: Infinite did as well... though admittedly worse than Gears did.
So in closing, if you like Gears then my review will probably sound like the game you want. I got some enjoyment out of it but it just became abundantly clear this time around that I'm no longer into this series and I won't even bother trying future entries.
Mini Review: Gears isn't for me anymore. For those who like Gears, I imagine this gives what they want. It started off well, and I was somewhat invested in the story. That's not really my issue. I just no longer like how these games feel and play. I know the controls are faithful but they suck nowadays. Guns feel crappy. Even the chainsaw is not that much fun. It's an okay shooter when it's linear but then they throw in more open, meaningless zones. MP isn't for me either.
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