Who here already has access to the game?
And if you do, can you tell me what you think of it, havent played a Gears game since the xbox360, but played all of them, loved the badassness (is that a word?) of the campaigns and Horde mode got a special place in my heart (was never one for the regular multiplayer though). Love the fact that unlike Halo its got couch co-op.
Read some reviews, but would rather hear from some likeminded individuals from the forums.
Donāt worry xD thanks for visiting my stream =)
I could stream because Iām not at home these days, the ping is similar to mine but the download/upload speed is seven times better here, I took advantage and played online n.n (even some KI, itās cool!)
About GoW4 I had a chance to play it. Still not finding myself with it. Itās not what I expected =\
Iāll be playing it more before I say anything else but so far GoW3 multiplayer was everything to me, GoW2 campaign was totally epic and GoW UE was incredible both for the original game and the new multiplayer and amazing graphics and feeling.
What did you want to expect from Gears 4, if you mind me asking?
Lots of people say the Campaign is āMehā, but the Multiplayer and Horde mode is where the game shines brighter than Sunny D & The Sun having a Brightness battle. XD
Meh, Iām sure Iāll have fun with the campaign, since Iāll be doing it with a friend couch co-op, some snacks and a coke, and the action and weather affects look brilliant. Iām ok with an OK story, Iām not expecting shakespeare or somethingā¦
Alright, buckle inā¦ because I have finally played enough of Gears of War to make a thoroughly informed opinion. Donāt worry, this is spoiler-free.
Campaign
The campaign as you would imagine takes a lot from its predecessors. It is action packed while having emotional roots to keep the player actively interested. As good as this is, it comes off as a negative in this story because they introduce the characters as if weāve known them for years opposed to literally barely hearing them for the first time. This makes the first few chapters lengthy and hard to get into. Once the interesting parts start to get going they almost seem over-the-top, like an action film with your average cheesy dialogue. Whether that is a good or bad thing is entirely up to you. The cinematics are absolutely beautiful, they truly highlight the reactions and atmosphere of the Gears of War universe, more than any other Gears ever could considering the capabilities of newer technology.
Overall the campaign is fun, it has action-packed and has a lot of unique perspectives into the universe. However, it ultimately doesnāt have that niche appeal that we expect from Gears. I mean, it is there but it isnāt fully fleshed out as it was in previous Gears. That could be because the shift in new teams or it could be because we just came to know these new characters and are still slowly filling them into our hearts like we did with the classic characters. I suppose time will tell.
Horde
Horde 3.0 is bigger and badder. This time around playing on a team is crucial, I have spent the most of my time with the Gears saga on horde because it appealed to me the most. This Horde was incredibly different for me because of the class-based system along with the card mechanics that shape your character. Did I mention that having a team is CRUCIAL? I donāt mean that you need five people to win, quite the contrary you actually need a competent team to succeed. Which means you canāt be a couch horde player like I was always used to. You need to actively be working with your team, communicate and fight the horde. Otherwise, you will lose over and over and overā¦ or you will just get kicked from your team because that is actually a thing.
While playing alone is still slightly possible, it is tough, even on the easiest difficulty. I have tried a few times to play alone and came to the conclusion that fabricator placement and knowledge of the map and enemies is critical. Either way, say goodbye to trying to relax in this mode on single-player.
Overall, I still enjoy this mode, I can still say it is my favorite, but it did lose some of what made it specialā¦ albeit, in doing so, there hardly is any repetition. I will say that the bosses are absolutely brilliant, well tougher. But, also the mechanics of this mode feel awesome! You donāt much feel locked into a class like you ever did in judgement as much as you feel like you provide a special role for the team. Horde 3.0 reached out far to change its direction while keeping the core intact and by doing so, they were able to achieve something totally different from any other game, including its own successor.
Multiplayer
Oh boy, where do I start? Multiplayer has been one of the biggest key modes in keeping Gears of War alive for so long. So does it succeed? Yesā¦ noā¦ maybe? Itās hard to say because there is a little of everything to find in multiplayer. You have different modes to choose from which are all classified as āRankedā. That means you will either get bodied or just struggle to keep up. There is a social mode but XP is minimal and it is only useful for players who are adjusting to the mechanics. There is also an extremely competitive mode like Execution, but if you arenāt already very good - steer clear. You find a ton of eSorts trainees here and the chances of you hating this game lie there. Which is a shame if you enjoyed Execution mode the most, sort of means you have to āgit gudā to enjoy it now. Lobbies are non-existent as you just search and join into a game with or without a party, similar to Overwatch and Call of Duty. It is basically what you may be used to by now and for good reason, you play more and get into games faster. Thatās good if you see it that way, but most Gears veterans will remember the old style lobbies and come to miss them.
Overall there are a lot of unique visual aesthetics to keep you intrigued and alongside that, you get some core implementations that give you data midgame. Like letās say I get bodied by someone, it will show that the player did 100% damage in 4 shots whereas I did 58% in 2 shots, thatās pretty cool because now I know for sure. The guns feel good, the shotgun is smooth and so is movement. But, where all this is great it feels slightly watered-down to compensate for the new era of gaming. It doesnāt feel like traditional Gears. That is either not a problem or if you are stuck in your old ways like me, it feels too different while still the same. Ultimately it leaves you unsatisfied but not disappointed. It is a very happy empty feeling, you get the point!
Key Mentions
Alright, so I broke down most recognized modes but now I want to go into some things I loved and hated of this new installment.
Loved:
-
Horde. It is different sure, but it changes its direction in a complex and unique way. Donāt get me wrong I loved the old horde but it really did get repetitive in the later rounds. Horde 3.0 changes that because of a classed based team and fortification system. I almost hated this mode because I attempted to play private but didnāt get any XP nor was I allowed to complete any bounties for some reason. I went back yesterday and noticed I ranked up the same, got good xp and completed my bounty while playing by myself. Maybe a slight hiccup the first time or some inconsistency, I will need to be absolutely sure, so I will dive back into it very soon on solo. If you can still do all of this in private including leveling up your class, I will have no problem with this mode. Any difference from what I just mentioned will immediately make this mode a turn-off considering that online teammates are not always aware of the new mechanics and will just kick you if they feel like it, even if you are on like wave 49, like they did to me.
-
Cards and customizations! Alright, Iāll admit, I love cardsā¦ cards are beautiful and allow me to relive my childhood collection of cards. Alongside there is a plethora of customization, you get to customized each of your weapons including your character, awesome.
Hated:
-
Characters. Wait, didnāt I just boast about this? Yeah, a double-edged sword if you will. Even though you have tons of customizations which also include characters, there is slightly too much character variants rather than actual characters. Not to mention that the only way to achieve them is to either craft their card or by unlocking them in a pack, Iāll get into that in a bit, though. Letās take JD as an example, cool I like JD who else do they have, though? Oh, they have Outsider JD, coolā¦ they also have Vintage, Zombie, Color Splash and Day of the Dead JD. Tell me why I need four-five variants of JD, Del, Kait, Reyna, Oscar, etc. instead of having that AND more characters like Alex, Tai, Classic Baird, Carmine, etc. It feels like needless filler when you donāt include the core characters also. I get this isnāt their time but still, I miss having Carmine and other characters that only made one or two appearances.
-
Microtransactionsā¦ ā ā ā ā THE MICROTRANSACTIONS IN THIS GAME! Why!? Okay, granted MOST of them are cosmetics only but some like Horde-based class specialties are too important to lock behind a tiresome credit system. So let me break it down for you. My level is currently 34, during so I have earned up to 4500 credits. Sounds good, right? It cost 4000 for an Elite pack, the best that you can acquire because you are guaranteed at least a rare. If you spend 1000, you are likely to get only commons which are okay but 1000 less from the 4000 required to get the best pack. But, okay letās argue that you have to grind like most games, its part of the game right!? No. Let me drop some math on you. The only reason I had 4000 was not because I played good or long, but because I already had 1000 for a promo. In reality, you only get up to 30 credits per game if you winā¦ 30/4000. You would need to win 133 games for ONE pack. One. Or you could just level up considering that ever increments of 5 you get 500 credits, pretty good! Yeah, no. You get 10,000 alone for making it level 100. Thatās two packs. Deuce. Thatās 25 packs in total once you max out your rank. After that, you grind for 30 credit wins for the rest of Gears, good luck, have fun ā ā ā ā ā ā . It couldāve easily been like Overwatch where you unlock a pack after ever level, even if it is a Versus Booster or even Operations after every fifth level on top of the credits. But, nope, this is just how it is. So why is it like this? Not enough credits so thatās done to make items rare? Possibly. But, Iād like to believe that they want you to spend $25 on 5 Elite packs because you just couldnāt put up with the grind. Essentially, enjoy being fucked by microtransactions because they are here to stay.
Grade
I love Gears, I played in 2007 when my brother first introduced me and I have followed them since and stuck around even with Judgement. Letās just say for 10 years of my life I have been a Gears veteran. Some things felt familiar and most things were enjoyable, but enough of the bad overshadowed the good because of how deliberately obvious they were. Iām not saying this game is bad by any means. It is actually very good and I am still having a blast with it and will be for the years to come. But, it isnāt what I hoped for and the absence of Cliff is abundantly clear.
C+
āPlaying with a crooked smileā.
Edit: IMPORTANT! Forgot to mention that another reason why this game recieved a C+ aside from the Microtransactions is that this Gears is ONLINE-ONLY! That means if you are by any chance disconnected or Xbox Live is not working, the only feature that will be available is campaign.
Looks like Iām not getting this game then. I only play B- or higher.
Kappa. Of course Iām still getting it
Lol itās still good dude
I graded it hard because of Microtransactions mainly. Itās honestly a B game though.
Iāll form my own opinion.
As should everyone.
If they have the same function as Halo and make sure we have more playable maps without having to pay for them, I dont really mind muchā¦
This game is super grindy. Like, I guesstimate itāll take about 50hrs of horde just to get one of the classes up to level 10. And if you want those horde insane achievements youāre going to have to get them all up to level 10 to even stand a chance.
Havenāt finished the campaign yet but so far Iām enjoying it. The first act and a half or so feel real weird, like that story starts in a really odd place, but once it gets going it gets pretty good. I just hope it has a satisfying ending.
Iām not familiar with the function that Halo has. There will certainly be maps though, I believe they said something along the lines of 24.
With halo 5 there arent anymore mappacks you have to buy that divide the community, they get their money from the microtransactions, but because of it the mappacks are free.
Gears has a model kindof like it.
Well, you donāt have to buy the maps to play on them, but you can buy them so you can technically own them. So if you join me, I can host any map that you can play.
Aside from that, everything is a grind. I almost wish there was even more unlockables and cards so that you didnāt have to grind as much.
What are the benefits of levelling your horde class?
You can apply more card abilities.
Example for Engineer:
20% Repair Efficiency AND 10% Increased Fabrication Health
When you collect duplicates of a Horde card you can level them up for increased benefits.
Thatās a bad news for me because Iām not that great with Gears. Even though I love it so much, I will never be able to rank up to level 100 just to get 2 elite packs from that game. I can see myself spending $25 to obtain 5 elite packs instead of grinding the whole time. I donāt have much time for that.
C+ thatās pretty sad. However, I will see it myself Tuesday. Iām totally into the story of the game so as long as the campaign is decent, it will get at least a B from me. I donāt play multiplayer, so the rest just up to horde, and how the micro transaction work though I already know the answer for the later one sigh.
Yeah, it is honestly a B to B+ game for most people. I am just so fed up with the transparency behind microtransactions and how they became the norm. Some microtransactions fit in seamlessly like GW2, whereas you get a good amount of coins without feeling like you are grinding to death. Gears makes the grind excruciating and that is infuriating because even if you are guaranteed a rare, chances are it can just be a bountyā¦ for 15c after a win and the rest are common. It happens, thatās how cards work.
It is just sad how broken this system has become over time. It really shouldnāt have been in Gears and when someone says Judgement had a better loot system than this new one, thatās just abysmal.
I ended up spending $19.99 on an Airdrop because I wanted to see if their value for people like you who donāt have the time to grind. Ultimately itās just like TF2. Do you really have $10 for a taunt, is it worth it? Problem is that you never know what card you will draw so you can either pull a Legendary or something of lesser value.
I still donāt understand how the Scrap system works 