I dont want read the other posts in this thread til I finish. For "spoilers" I guess, not really story spoilers but like, game ones if that makes any sense. Reading negative impressions of games in reviews or message boards can really kill my internal hype. Which I guess is a bad commentary on me but whatever. And I dont want that to happen.
I honestly didn't know this really existed. I knew that name and all, but I guess I thought it was some weird low budget PC RTS if I thought about it at all. Then I saw a preview somewhere and realized what it actually is, is a Gears of War clone with quite excellent graphics. Like what? It was almost a sign me up right away. I wait years for new Gears and Halo games, of course I gotta get a game that looks just like Gears. I believe I skimmed the IGN review which was quite positive, 8/10 territory, so that pretty much sealed the purchase. That and the dev talking about how it was an old school throwback to simpler games etc.
Now granted I've only played maybe an hour, two half hour sessions, so there could be lots of problems to come, but so far I am absolutely loving it. This game just DRIPS with lore and atmosphere, even though I have never played any of these games. You can just tell when lore comes off REAL and authentic. you just can. It's so thick here.
And the graphics, JUST WOW. It might be the best looking game I've seen this gen. It's been a while since I fired up Gears 5, but I feel like it's AT LEAST on par, probably ahead. Which makes sense because I am playing on the default, which is 30 FPS quality mode (IIRC Gears is 60 with no 30 option). I play Destiny 2 at 60 all day and the game feels plenty smooth at 30 as far as I'm concerned. There is a 60 performance mode, which was recommended by youtube, but I guess I'm that minority according to Cerny at least, that defaults to quality mode (and again it's the games default as well).
I'm assuming this is UE5. It just looks SO GOOD. A testament to what you can do when you go open-linear or whatever they call it (linear but with some wide open battlefield spaces, like old school gears, so far anyway). I'm so impressed with the attention to detail. And I think it may be the first game that I've noticed seems to be using my Atmos soundbar well? I'm pretty sure thats broken in destiny 2. I dont know if I canh say it's the best looking current gen game, and I havent played the big PS graphical powerhouse exclusives in person this gen, but I cant say theres one thats clearly better IMO for sure for me that i've experienced or seen apparent video of. excepting maybe the gta trailer which i personally think is in game but i mean we have to see how that comes out. this feels like it's really using that current gen 12tf xsx gpu, finally, like so few games have this gen.
so far the gameplay, is very very gears-ish, and derivative of lots of sci fi movies. it seems quite a lot better than Gears tho, which is great because Gears controls feel so dated to me now, especially the grenade throws, something I really hate about Gears now. So this does seem to feel like Gears with modern controls which is a huge checkmark for me. Also, it seems to throw in a sword. And you use guns a lot but the gameplay forces you to use your sword too. Normally I hate sword/melee systems, but again in this game I'm going to make an effort and so far it seems to transcend my usual trepidation. And again so far, it doesnt borrow Gears now IMO anachronistic weapons system (Gears has tons of guns laying around, and forces them on you due to ammo constraints much like Halo, but they're mostly far more annoying than desirable IMO).
Just incredibly impressed so far, cant rave enough. Just hope it holds up, because again about an hour or something in. I noticed the game is the #1 paid game on Xbox (it's like 7 or 8 most played, but I think it's really hard to beat the GAAS on most played). So I think/hope the Xbox community has noticed how great this is and it seems they have.
