Gears of War 4 Review

Back in 2006, Gears of War launched to critical acclaim, followed by two more titles, each surpassing the previous installment. Now, Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski has left the franchise, and a new studio has taken responsibility for the latest installment, Gears of War 4. Starring a brand new protagonist, Gears of War 4 is everything a Gears fan could want from a sequel, but those uninterested in the franchise since it launched won't find anything here to pull them in.

Gears of War 4, 25 years after the events of the first game. Imulsion, the parasitic fuel source responsible for turning Locust and humans into the Lambent, has been completely exterminated along with the Locust on Sera thanks to Marcus's father, Adam Fenix. Humanity is dangerously underpopulated, and powerful storms known as "Windflares" are devastating everything in their path.

The Coalition of Order Government, or COG, has declared martial law and enclosed the few thousand humans still alive within walled settlements to protect people from the storms while trying to repopulate. Those refusing to join the COG's cities live outside the walls as "Outsiders", similar to the "Stranded" in the original trilogy, and raid COG bases in search of supplies.

You take control of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud, JD Fenix, and travel along with his friend Delmont "Del" Walker, and girlfriend Kait Diaz as they attempt to stop a new threat to humanity. These creatures, known as The Swarm, are kidnapping people, and it's up to JD and his friends to find out why. 

The story does have a strong start, with a powerful mystery revolving around the Swarm. As the game progresses, issues start to arise. Unlike the first Gears of War, I never felt a strong sense of camaraderie between these characters. JD mostly stole the show thanks to his relationship with Marcus, who easily overshadows everyone else. Kait never manifested into anything meaningful, and Del felt more like a space occupier.

Unlike Cole Train's charismatic attitude or Damon Baird's cocky banter, Kait and Del seem more revolting bots. I almost forgot they were even there until one of them spoke. Speaking of voice acting in Gears of War 4, it's on point, with each actor bringing each character to life; it's unfortunate that the characters themselves aren't very interesting.

Gears veterans will be able to play Gears of War 4 without issue. Much of the control scheme has remained the same. You'll aim with the left trigger, shoot with the right, use cover to block enemy fire, and perform brutal executions if the enemy is down and you get close enough.

Most of the executions are the same as those from Gears of War 3 and Judgment, with the exceptions being the new weapons introduced in Gears of War 4. New weapons like the Buzzkill, which shoots saw blades, the Dropshot, which fires explosive drills, and a rocket launcher that shoots multiple times without having to be reloaded. 

New is the ability to pull enemies to you. Like the mantle kick, which stuns enemies if they happen to be on the opposite side of a piece of cover and you mantle over it, you can grab enemies in cover and pull them to you. Performing either the mantle kick or the grab will allow you a few seconds to perform an instant knife kill. If timed correctly, you can grab an enemy attempting to mantle kick you, adding a new threat to those who run-and-gun with the gnasher. 

Graphically, Gears of War 4 looks fantastic. Character models are wonderfully detailed, especially the Swarm. "Windflare" segments and high-action sequences demonstrate the considerable time and effort invested in crafting these environments. 

Perhaps the best improvement is the soundtrack. The new melancholy tone creates a distinctly different atmosphere from past games. The title theme alone was significantly more welcoming and calming compared to the other games, setting the tone for the new game.

The campaign supports two players in cooperative mode, either via split-screen or online play. You cannot split the difficulty like in Gears of War 3, but it's a welcome addition, and the campaign is much more entertaining with a friend.

Horde mode has been completely refined. Included are new classes such as the engineer, heavy, scout, sniper, and soldier. Each one has specific talents that are critical in surviving the onslaught.

Each class has its own leveling tree, encouraging you to try each class. Player models are not set for specific classes, allowing you to swap to whatever character you want. Most are variants of existing characters, such as Del, Cole, JD, and other noteworthy characters. 

Horde still has you fending off waves of enemies, with each 10th wave being a boss fight and the 11th boosting the enemies' health, accuracy, or damage. Players now gather resources and feed them to the fabricator, a machine capable of generating barriers, decoys, and turrets.

Since resources are pooled into the fabricator, one bad ally can waste your resources on selfish upgrades to boost their kill count, making effective communication paramount to success. 

Beast mode has not returned to Gears of War 4 which is unfortunate, the chance to play as the Swarm was one of my desires for this game. Multiplayer is mostly the same, with 10 maps and seven modes. Classics such as Team Deathmatch, Execution, and King of the Hill are available.

Other modes include Dodgeball, where an allied player gets revived for killing an enemy player, and Arms Race, where your weapons change every three kills. Deathmatch has not returned.

Completing missions in the campaign, competitive matches, or horde mode waves nets you experience to boost your overall level and points. Points can be used to purchase packs that give you cars, including bounties, class skills, customization, consumables, and horde cards. These can be purchased for real-world currency if you choose.

Customizing isn't limited to your appearance. This includes weapons of all types and emblems for each of the multiplayer modes. Bounties grant you extra experience or CR for completing specific objectives; the harder the tasks, the more you gain. If you choose to destroy a card, you'll get scrap. This scrap can be used to unlock new characters. Gears of War 4 has a lot of reasons to keep coming back, encouraging you, whether you lose or win, that you'll always be thriving with new loot to unlock.

I've said a lot of positives about Gears of War 4, but what about the negatives? The issue was that I'm already a season Gears of War player, and this played just like past games. This isn't bad, but it also means that those who've had no interest in the franchise or this genre won't find anything worth investing in. It's Gears of War. If you're a fan of the franchise, you'll likely enjoy this game. 

Is Gears of War 4 the best Gears game ever, no; that belongs to Gears of War 3. However, don't dismiss Gears of War 4; it's an amazing third-person shooter that does the franchise justice and has the potential to evolve into something great. Gears of War 4 ends with a lot of questions going unanswered, but that's the point; it's the start of a new journey, and I cannot wait to see what the next game has in store for us.

You can keep busy on the large multiplayer content available, but for those tired of the franchise or were never interested in the first place, Gears of War 4 won't change your mind. For everyone who's a fan of Gears of War and this genre, this is more of what you love, with a new beginning.