Gears 5 [XO, XBSX|S, PC, XGP]

When they provide the same as the earlier games everyone says "it's just more of the old shit", and when they try something new everyone says "it's not like the old shit". They simply can't win.

The game looks amazing on the One X.
To be fair the only complaint I have for Gears 4 is the forced Horde mode levels in the campaign, those sections dragged on like a grandma finishing her shopping. Other than that I really liked the campaign structure after Act II. Of course it's too early for me to judge the whole game for Gears 5 but man do I wish Act II wraps up soon.
 
Says something as Insomniac are the masters of graphics, or one of them atleast.

It was a congratulations to Gears 5 in a tweet. Don't remember the exact content but saying something like what is the black magic of coalition to do this graphics quality at 60 fps and this is not like Insomniac games don't know how to produce great graphics...
 
My only real complaint is the upgrades for the robot. The upgrade points are hidden, so you have to spend time searching for them, which I really don't want to do. It slows down the action needlessly. I would have rather just have them awarded at fixed points, instead of hidden like collectibles. I skip the collectibles for the same pacing reasons. Skipping upgrades seems like a bad idea.

Agreed. It was a neat idea, but implementation seemed forced. You're scrounging around through 100 year old ruins and random encampments looking for a magically compatible piece of tech that Baird couldn't just produce in the lab over the course of the game (which he does anyway). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I would have preferred something along the lines of customizing the Nomad in Andromeda, although maybe that's getting too RPG for them (i.e. if there are purchased upgrades, how does currency work, how does resource gathering make sense etc.).

Finding blueprints for upgrading various subsystems might have made more sense as an upgrade mechanic while you're checking out old secret military bases and the like. *cough* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Say... the old blueprints just help speed up the upgrade process but otherwise have Jack be upgraded linearly so people not looking around aren't screwed over later in the game. It'd just be a way to get certain upgrades earlier.

Anyways, overthinking the design again.

-----

Random: Sure, Jack can go invisible, technically, but it still seems a little hand-wavey that it didn't get a paint job between the more extreme climates.

-----

Some of the collectibles are fairly interesting from a lore standpoint.
 
Last edited:
What a weird discussion.

This is my fault I read Insomniac is not master of graphics, next time I will wait before posting something at job fast on my phone to be sure to read something correctly because I need to work...

After I don't know between fanboys of all side, I heard someone said this Xbox 360 HD, For fuck sake... :LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
Last edited:
Agreed. It was a neat idea, but implementation seemed forced. You're scrounging around through 100 year old ruins and random encampments looking for a magically compatible piece of tech that Baird couldn't just produce in the lab over the course of the game (which he does anyway). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I would have preferred something along the lines of customizing the Nomad in Andromeda, although maybe that's getting too RPG for them (i.e. if there are purchased upgrades, how does currency work, how does resource gathering make sense etc.).

Finding blueprints for upgrading various subsystems might have made more sense as an upgrade mechanic while you're checking out old secret military bases and the like. *cough* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Say... the old blueprints just help speed up the upgrade process but otherwise have Jack be upgraded linearly so people not looking around aren't screwed over later in the game. It'd just be a way to get certain upgrades earlier.

Anyways, overthinking the design again.

-----

Random: Sure, Jack can go invisible, technically, but it still seems a little hand-wavey that it didn't get a paint job between the more extreme climates.

-----

Some of the collectibles are fairly interesting from a lore standpoint.

Yeah. I found the bit about scavenging parts for new abilities to make sense. You can't miss those. And at least the ultimate upgrades are just given to you if you do the side missions. Those bits I think are handled well and fit the lore of the world.

Finding those upgrade points, however, just takes me out of the flow of the game that I like so much in Gears. I find myself looking in every nook and cranny.

And it's not like the lore collectables. In the past what I've done is done cursory quick looksies in the first playthrough as I mostly focus on the missions and main story. Then after I'm finished I'll go back and get the collectables. The upgrade points for Jack just feels "needed" even if you can likely make it through the game with minimal upgrade points.

I wouldn't mind upgrades for everyone if it didn't interrupt the flow of the game. Perhaps a research and upgrade system back at base using requisition points based on how well you do in a mission? That combined with "scrounged" tech. found in the field during a mission that isn't too horribly well hidden. Or if it is well hidden, perhaps have Jack's ping ability be able to also highlight scavangeable tech.

Basically just something where you don't feel like you have to search every nook and cranny during your first playthrough.

Other than that, the game is fantastic. Personally I like how they handled the "open world" sections. The skiff feels good to pilot around and looks gorgeous while doing it. Having enemies all over the place like a typical open world game would have felt incredibly out of place in the setting that they have established. After all the horde are a subterranean species that mainly occupy outposts of significance on the surface.

Regards,
SB
 
Last edited:
This is my fault I read Insomniac is not master of graphics, next time I will wait before posting something at job fast on my phone to be sure to read something correctly because I need to work...

Fair enough!

After I don't know between fanboys of all side, I heard someone said this Xbox 360 HD, For fuck sake... :LOL::LOL::LOL:

At least on the One S, there are some very questionable assets here and there... I'd love to cherry-pick (*cough* @Graham ), but it's a little jarring once you see some things in the larger areas. For the most part, the actual levels are well made, but I can't help but wonder if it was worth the engineering resources (skiff, large areas) versus a quick-travel hub since at least when I take a step back and look at the game design flow, it's a bunch of sub-levels duct taped to the larger area. I'd be curious to see what the implications are for Gears 6 development.
 
It does look beautiful on the One X and plays really well. It really is buggy though. So far I've experienced... one loss of progression, 3-4 hard locks, several mission bugs where it fails to complete, which means I have to restart at the last checkpoint, and one monumental cock-up where the game forced me to go back to the cosmonaut training facility even though I'd already completed that section. That last bug meant it locked me in the building with no way of progressing so I had to restart the game from the previous chapter. Alas that's really buggy as well and I had to cover my tracks again and redo stuff that should have already been completed at that point.

At least I've moved on to Act IV now, so hopefully my pain is behind me.
 
This is my fault I read Insomniac is not master of graphics, next time I will wait before posting something at job fast on my phone to be sure to read something correctly because I need to work...

After I don't know between fanboys of all side, I heard someone said this Xbox 360 HD, For fuck sake... :LOL::LOL::LOL:

I own a PS4 and a gaming PC, i personally see that as a great combo, PS4 for exclusives pc for everything else :)
 
Just got the skiff. Act 1 was fantastic. Act 2 has started strong. Story-wise they've done some interesting things. I'd actually say the story is worth paying attention to, which is new to the series for me. Lol.
 
Just got the skiff. Act 1 was fantastic. Act 2 has started strong. Story-wise they've done some interesting things. I'd actually say the story is worth paying attention to, which is new to the series for me. Lol.
Definitely worth going through Gears 2 again. Just a shame they haven't done a PC port of the rest of the original games... If the stars had aligned, I'd have wanted Splash Damage to do the Ultimate rendition of Gears 2 for 2018 (4 years since Gears UE) ported/updated to UE4.
 
A remaster for NextGen Console and PC for Gears 2, 3, and Judgement should produce quite the upgrade, easily 4K 60Hz with no loading screens.
 
Act 2 chapter 4. I'm not minding exploring with the skiff at all. It's searching for the upgrades in every corner that slows things down. Some tough fights. Guns feel really good. Like the variety in weapons. With Control and now this, I'm having a nice stretch of good gameplay.
 
Just got the skiff. Act 1 was fantastic. Act 2 has started strong. Story-wise they've done some interesting things. I'd actually say the story is worth paying attention to, which is new to the series for me. Lol.

Something else that was cool that I noticed when I first got access to the skiff. The tracks from the skiff stay around for a LONG time. I sailed quite a ways doing loops and everything just because it was fun. Then I backtracked all the way to the start again and the trail from the skiff was still there. Hugely impressed.

However, the fact that those trails as well as character footsteps persist for an incredibly long amount of time makes for some amusing little side effects.

If you travel a certain amount of distance away from Del, he'll teleport to you. This makes for sometimes odd looking tracks in the snow if you bother to go back to look at them. :D You'll sometimes see single tracks (just yours) and then double tracks (yours and Dels) when he teleports to you.

Also, another interesting thing. On the first "mission" after you get the skiff. There was an action segment when tons of those little buggers swarmed over the roof of a building to get at you through the snow. After the battle was over, I was impressed to see how the snow had been disturbed by the passing of all those little runts. Every single step of every single runt during that action sequence was preserved. None of it faded away as usually happens with games that have terrain deformation like this.

Regards,
SB
 
I'm almost at the end of act 2. Is this the best Gears? I have pretty good memories of clearing the palace at the end of Gears 3, but so far I think this one is on track to be the best of the series. Gears 4 was a solid game, but I wouldn't have put it ahead of the originals. This one is surprising me.
 
Back
Top