Just over nine years ago Gears of War revolutionised the 3rdperson shooter genre with it's intuitive one button cover system thathas since been used in pretty much every single action game since.Gears wasn't the first to use this kind of system but it was thefirst to perfect it and the gaming world has not been the same since.
It was also one of the big system sellers early in the Xbox 360'slife cycle and went on to spawn one of the systems most iconic andbeloved franchises for it's blockbuster action movie style plot andit's tightly balanced, unforgiving gameplay.
With Gears of War 4 on the horizon for the Xbox One, new developerThe Coalition has taken it upon themselves to ground up remaster theoriginal game, including adding in the previously PC exclusivechapters as well as bringing major updates to Gears 1's multiplayerto help give it a new lease of life.
The story of Gears of War is pretty simple, especially for the firstgame which is the least story intensive in the franchise. You play asMarcus Fenix, sergeant of Delta squad in the midst of a war betweenhumans and a hostile race of creatures known as the Locust Horde onthe planet Sera. The war has already been raging for 14 years whenyou are busted out of prison by your buddy Dominic Santiago in a lastditch effort to strike the Locust where they live and eradicate themonce and for all.
That's really all you need to know, unfortunately the finer plotdetails such as why Marcus was in prison, why his father is soimportant, where the Locust came from and pretty much any backstorywhatsoever are completely absent from the game. These things areexplored in the sequel and prequel games, however the first game'splot is very fast moving and chooses to focus on the matters at handrather that dwelling on the past; for better or for worse.
Gameplay in Ultimate Edition has been left relatively untouched. Thatleaves Gears of war feeling exactly like it did nine years ago, takethat as you will but any Gears of War fans will know what I mean whenI say it feels very Gears of One-y. Your movement is kind of stiffand you can quite easily get stuck on cover you didn't want to gointo, but these are problems which after just a couple of hoursplaying you will learn to work around and after several hours inmultiplayer will even learn to exploit to your advantage usingmethods such as the infamous wall bouncing.
Gears of war is a game that you need to practice at to play well,even it's campaign on Normal can have it's challenging sections, it'sa brutal and unforgiving game that will regularly chew you up andspit you out just to make you try a little harder.
Obviously being the first Gear game means that the arsenal issomewhat limited compared to later titles. Hammerburst, Snub, Boltok,Longshot, Torque Bow and Boomshot is your pretty small extendedarsenal beyond your trusty Gnasher shotgun and Lancer assault rifewith chainsaw bayonet. No Sawn-off's, no Pendulum Lancers and nogrenade variants beyond Frags. It's a barebones kind of game thatuses it's limited armoury well by having balance rather than hugevariety. It's fast paced, it's bloody and it's old school Gears likeyou remember it.
Ultimate Edition is a fine looking game. Not only have the graphicsbeen touched up to make it look like a current gen game, but theengine has been upgraded, the lighting has been massively revampedand character models have been completely reworked to fit in linewith the sequels.
Cutscenes are mocapped, extended and re-directed now with a much morecinematic focus. Though no new dialogue has been included, the newdirection illustrates a much better picture of war and terror thanthe original game managed to do and that's mostly thanks to themotion capture and new lighting effects.
The sound design is meaty, guns sound raw and heavy and voices aregruff and smokey. It isn't the prettiest sounding game around, butit's audio work is still rather slick.
So is Gears of war Ultimate Edition worth picking up? Absolutely!It's one of gaming's modern classics, if you haven't played it beforethen you now have the best way to play it readily available on yourXbox One. If you have played it before, you now have the best versionavailable to replay it with, complete with all the benefits of theold PC version and a graphical upgrade.
With the revamped multiplayer it gives you a good reason to stickaround too, with ranked matches and a levelling system, it's a muchmore robust and worthy multiplayer mode than the original Gears everhad.
However if you never were a fan of Gears of war, this will do nothingto win you over. This is a game for the fans, by the fans. Now excuseme whilst I go gib some noobs with my Gnasher.
Gearsof War Ultimate Edition – 8/10
+Satisfying,Bloody Gameplay
+HilariouslyFunny
+SeraLooks Gorgeous
+RevampedMultiplayer
-Story'sA Little Thin
-OccasionallyBuggy
