We have had nearly two years with the Playstation 4 and Xbox One and I am hard pressed to come up with a title that I’d declare a system seller. And, based on the sales charts, others feel the same way. The majority of games that populate the top of the lists for both consoles are games released for both this console generation and the last. And we’ve yet to have that singular title that signaled: this is what you want a new console for. Last generation, that game for me was Gears of War.
Nearly a decade since its release, some of the shine has worn off. In fact it is easy, and somewhat en vogue, to be dismissive of Microsoft’s second big shooter franchise. After all, it was in many ways patient zero for what many came to think of as what was wrong with game development during the last generation. Dull color palette? Check. Big, bruising meathead soldiers? Check. Clearly-staged cover-based shooting arenas? Check. It’s all there and, while not the originator of any of those features, Gears of War was the most high profile and successful game to utilize them all so liberally. But dismissing Gears of War is ignoring the fact that it was massively popular, spawned three sequels, and inspired countless copycats of varying quality. Critically acclaimed titles like Uncharted, Spec Ops: The Line, and even Mass Effect 2 owe much to Gears of War’s design. Gears laid a groundwork that defined a generation, even if some its influence came to be despised by the end. And. besides all that, Gears of War was actually a really good game. That really good game returns in the form of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, a remade version of the first Gears of War, for Xbox One.
Much like it is easy to be dismissive of Gears of War, so is it easy to be dismissive of this Ultimate Edition. In a generation that, so far, has been dominated by remakes/remasters of old games and new games that can also be played on older consoles, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is another re-make. Worse, coming on the heels of Halo’s The Master Chief Collection, this Ultimate Edition doesn’t look so ultimate. This is a remake of just the original Gears of War, not the entire series, and as such, looks like a lesser value next to Halo’s far beefier collection. However there is a silver lining, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition does come in at a reduced price tag and. for adopters in the launch window, the entire Gears series will be made available to them digitally via backward compatibility. Oh, and unlike the aforementioned Master Chief Collection, and Gears works out of the box.
Those of us that played Gears of War when it came out remember it being a visual masterpiece, but time has not been kind to Marcus Fenix’s first adventure. Thankfully, the Ultimate Edition overhauls the visuals of Gears to make them look on par with today’s games. Developer The Coalition has reworked every art asset for the game and the results look quite good. There is more detail to everything and the world feels more lived in. It also helps to recreate the picture I’ve built in my head of what Gears looked like when I played it so long ago.
The visuals are the only thing that has changed from the original campaign, though, and that is both good and bad. It’s good because Gears plays exactly as I remembered it. But it is also bad because of exactly that same reason.
Everything good about the original game translates here. The mechanics are still spot on and shooting things is still super satisfying. Most of the encounters are excellently designed and they still play out just as expected. And cooperative play is still the best way to play the game. However the same deficiencies from the original arise as well. The enemy AI is at best spotty, sometimes making illogical decisions, like an individual enemy rushing into an encounter with four Gears all laying fire on him. And if the enemy AI is spotty, the co-op squadmates are borderline braindead, often running ahead like enemies to get downed or even worse, jumping into my line of sight as I take a shot, extremely infuriating when utilizing heavy weapons like the Boomshot.
This was all there in the original release and it’s all there in this Ultimate Edition, which means that it’s a true original Gears of War experience for both better and worse. I tend to side with better but, then again, I really enjoyed the original.
The big issue with Gears of War: Ultimate Edition being a true and honest remake is that as a franchise it got progressively better over time (sans Judgment, but that is a conversation for another day). Gears of War 2 was a dramatic evolution over 1 and introduced Horde mode. And Gears of War 3 was another dramatic evolution over 2, refining everything to be the most robust, and arguably best, Gears game.
The lack of Horde and Beast mode, Four player co-op, grenade tagging, mantle kicking, a bigger enemy variety, and a more focused and character driven narrative, all make Gears of War: Ultimate Edition feel a bit simple. That’s not entirely a bad thing and I enjoyed replaying the campaign. But going back nearly a decade later left me wanting for all of the refinements the sequels introduced. Gears, as a series, became better for it.
The Ultimate Edition does provide console players with a little bit of a new experience at least. PC players will remember getting additional missions between Act IV and where Act V starts on the original game. Those missions, which involve running from and ultimately fighting a Brumak, a giant lizard tank creature, are here in this version. These aren’t the best missions in the game, and it is easy to see why they were cut from the original, but they do help to tie some things together narratively. And extra play is still extra play. Add in a couple other extras like comic books being unlocked by collecting COG tags, the Gears equivalent of dog tags, and some concept art and that fleshes out the bonuses for campaign players.
Where the Ultimate Edition looks to earn its name is in the multiplayer experience. Multiplayer in Gears Ultimate runs at 60 fps on dedicated servers and involves some of the upgrades and modes from the sequels. Notably, Team Deathmatch is included here as are some of the improved controls. The game also includes all the original maps, including DLC and a rudimentary leveling system with character skin unlocks at certain levels.
It should be noted though that, like the original game, Gears Ultimate’s multiplayer has a steep learning curve and battles often and quickly become Gnasher shotgun shootouts. Getting on a team with a couple good players can be a highly satisfying experience (not going 0-6 generally is). But if the team is mostly made up of players with my skill level matches are short and ego-deflating. My experience has been more the latter and much like the original game, I probably won’t stick with it as much as I’d like to. Those that are into Gears multiplayer, and there are many, will find this to be a wonderful update and a nice holdover until Gears 4 releases sometime next year.
Developer The Coalition decided that the best way to get ready to do Gears 4 right would be to return to the roots of the original. I can’t blame them because even after nine years and all the faults that are more evident now, I still think Gears of War is a really good game. And this Ultimate Edition is also a really good game, but just not the ultimate version of what Gears can be. That honor still sits with Gears of War 3, at least until Gears 4 comes out next year.
This review was written with material provided by the publisher on the Xbox One console. For more on our review process, please read here.
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