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

I was a bit meh about the backtracking on the 2nd skiff section but it was ok. I liked the first skiff part but didn't need it twice.

I don't everything to be open world. Keep it tight and action packed.

 

Turns out I only had a few mins left to go! Finished it last night. The final set pieces were enjoyable. Light on gameplay but really more of a collection of set pieces. Enjoyed the full ride a lot. Now I can make space for CoD or try to get into Metro: Exodus.

Spoiler

Ending was way too short and from a story standpoint quite abrupt. A bit more story wrap up, some detail Kait's mom and her control of the horde, etc would have been nice. That was weakest part for me. So the big monster dies and it's insta peace? I saved Del because why not? Jack doing a sac fly in the end was cool. Was thinking it'd be Fahz maybe. Wish we got to use the rail gun in battle, not just as a set piece.

 

Spoiler

I'm trying to decide if the Warden mini-boss is a caricature of Halo 5's, and then they sort of do the same with the giant worm.

Towards the end of Act 3, it really did seem a bit odd that suddenly Fahz was getting to be buddies with Del, but I suppose they felt they needed a reason for the scene later on if you chose JD instead. *ahem*

"They're gonna burn this city and then glass the whole planet! Those COG-bastards. It's just like Reach all over again!" (and then the rail gun). ahem.

Just seemed weird that they have Cole tease the player with a mecha section ala Gears 4, and then there's nothing really bombastic.

The truck section seemed like a really pale imitation of Gears 3, which had the ludicrous mini-gun amongst other over-the-top bits.

 

Spoiler

ending bit felt like it was outsourced to Micheal Bay productions. Here's explosions and yelling with no consequences. You're spot on about the Halo comparison. It kept running through my head that there is a lot of Halo esque elements here form how the combat scenarios were laid out, warden, the shield boost guys, the deformed robot thing, etc. It's not a bad thing but there's no way they didn't take inspiration from Halo for some of the decisions. Worked out well in the end is what matters.

 

Spoiler

Well, this is only the 2nd part in a trilogy, so it's not "really" the ending. That said, the end definitely feels like they ran out of time or something. I would have preferred a more free form boss battle rather than the set piece boss we get at the end. The boss was certainly impressive in terms of scale, but fighting it felt stilted and robotic.

Regards,
SB

 

Finally finished it. It's a hard one to rate. There are some parts that are probably the best in the series and some parts that are not great. If I could play the game with act 3 removed, I'd probably give it a 9/10. With Act 3, I don't know how to judge, but I'd say Act 3 is a 6/10.

 

The weapon system needs an entire revamp. It's obtuse trash at this point, especially compared to the sublime Destiny.

Active reloads for example, in 2006 they were cool, in 2019 they're just stupid and supremely annoying, because hey wait 8 minutes for your gun to jam because you forgot this is the only game on planet earth that has active reloads, over and over. It's like they just TRIED to make that mechanic more annoying.

Why can I get my shotgun (or anything) on either side of the weapon cross and why is it always annoying?

Why do all other types of weapons exist when I can easily get through the whole game with my lancer or equivalent that's kinda different but not really? And not even really feel disadvantaged?

Why are grenades still a chore? And I get a choice of grenades, every 5 seconds, except please, get out of my face game, i dont care. I DONT CARE. I have no idea what grenade the game "wants" me to use, except of course when it shoves it in my face.

Why are there 90% of the weapons I groan at and actively dont care about or not want to pick up?

Why must I choose to give up a special (sniper, shotgun) for a couple shots of a so called "power" weapon that's most likely complete trash?

Why do I have some other kind of heavy that again, I despise picking up because I walk 1 mile per hour?

 

I would say active reloads is one of the nicest mechanics in gears. If they get rid of the game, it'll be a shame. I doubt they would get rid of it.

For the guns, there's a bunch I don't care much for, but I do like the variety. I pretty much used a mix of the guns to beat the game just because they're fun. The boltok is probably the best gun in the whole game, but most of the other guns are enjoyable.

 

can i change the active reload UI back to near the character model like old gears of wars?

 

I don't know.

 

Yeah, I love the active reload, but I just wish it wasn't up in the corner of the screen.

Would be awesome if they did something like Warframe (Warframe power ready/not ready indicators below the aiming reticle) and have it above or below the aiming reticle.

I used to do the same thing in FFXIV with the customizable interface. Put time sensitive important information near the center of the screen. Very useful in stressful situations like Raids.

Regards,
SB

 

Yah, having it near your character somehow would be better, but I'm assuming they're trying not minimize the impact on the visual presentation.

 

Even then, since active reload is just a bar that fills, it could just as easily be part of the aiming reticle. Just instead of a flat bar, it's a half circle or something. In that way it could also be different for each weapon that uses a different aiming reticle.

Alternatively some kind of sound cue might work. But that seems a little clunkier.

Regards,
SB

 

Yah, there are definitely a lot of options in terms of how they could re-draw the interface to put the active reload in a more useful location.

 

Since I'm bored at home I decided to rev this one up again just for the heck of it, and I definitely feel the open world segments of the game kind of put me off from starting any level. I just don't like how it feels like I'm the one having to find the enemy rather than them finding me.

While I have my gripes with how Doom Eternal plays - I do love the fact that the game keeps you on your toes and makes it feel like the walls are closing in on you. Gears 1 played like this and that's one of the reasons I go back to it every now and then even though it plays a lot clunkier compared to newer Gears. Gears 1 still has me going "oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck" after all these years. I never felt that playing Gears 5.

 

The sandbox levels of this game absolutely failed hard in my opinion. It's boring, too bloated, barren landscape, graphics took a huge hit, breaks the the pacing and adds absolutely nothing to the story. I'd replay it 3-4 times just like I did with Gears 4 if the game didn't come with those levels.

 

The Coalition are talented developers. They definitely know how to get the most out of Unreal Engine. Off the top of my head, Gears 5 and Doom Eternal are probably one of the best looking 60FPS console titles out right now. With Gears 5 and Days Gone being at the top visually for the engine.

Excited to see how they utilize UE5 for Gears 6 on next-gen.

 

I like the way MS is enhancing current gen titles with improvements like these instead of just a bork standard resolution or fps upgrade with some higher AF. I do certainly prefer more visual effects, higher fidelity assets and better lighting than a 120fps mode.

 

Well, you get to have both with this.