I came into Gears 5 with no expectations and left having found my Game of the Year.

[Cats]

I thought it was boring, bland, and a bad "me too" copy of the open world trend.

For a majority of the game, you are just showered with guns and ammo, and nothing to use any of it on. Most encounters in the large open areas are but mere moments involving no thought or strategy as you fight 5-10 enemies, and then it's over. Between these tiny encounters are hugely long slogs of traveling, which adds nothing worthwhile or substantial to the game experience. Finding secrets and relics are pretty much near pointless and just feel like tacked on little things to fill huge empty spaces.

I loved Jack, his upgrading, and unique gameplay in coop. That was a great addition.

Otherwise, this is the closest game I'd say that got "walking simulatored" Me and my SO constantly commented at how empty the game was, how much constant talking there was, but no actual gameplay besides walk forwards/drive to a point.

It's not a bad game, but I thought it was a massive step down from gears 4, which was action packed and probably had more encounters in the first two hours than gears 5 did throughout the whole game.

 

[Deleted member 18951]

Top 3 easily for me this year and probably my favourite Gears game.

Cant wait to see what Rod and the team do next!

 

[Deleted member 41520]

I remember saying graphically this game didn't seem that impressive to me from what I'd seen in videos, but boy was I wrong. Once you start actually playing the game, seeing how reactive and varied the enviroments are and appreciating the strong art direction of the game, it paints a completely different picture than, well, seeing it in pictures or videos.

Click to shrink...

I wonder if people will ever stop judging games based on videos, trailers and streams. And posting about it well before ever trying the game.

Games are an INTERACTIVE medium. The narrative they tell is unique to every player, like how every book is unique to every reader. When the controller is in your hands, the experience becomes completely different (visually, in terms of fun, in terms of design quality, etc).

They probably won't though.

 

[GazRB]

Is it the only game you played this year?

 

[mescalineeyes]

Act 4 wasn't that hot, everything up to that boint definitely made me think GOTY.

Also some of the aggressively worst music in a video game. like I had to turn it off.

 

[sibarraz]

The open world is terrible.

Otherwise, is a good game

 

[Deleted member 57990]

My issue with the Gears games is that you know nothings going to happen that you can't solve by piling thousands of bullets into it from behind chest high walls.

Contrast that with, say, Uncharted Lost Legacy - the final level of that (spoilers ahead) takes place on a train. Except you go from riding the train to hanging off the side of the train, to being on top of the train, to being thrown off the train and having to catch up to it in a vehicle to finally ramping the vehicle into the train. It's so dynamic and constantly surprising, whereas Gears is so numbingly predictable.

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

Gears V reaffirms that I'm just not into Gears games anymore.

I thought Gears 4 was a boring slog through telegraphed firefights, but GV is even worse.
The entire game thus far has been forcing me to slowly walk around listening to characters I don't care about banter, with rinse and repeat firefights against characters I've fought in five games now.

Even the filler skiff parts where I make my way to a "side mission", winds up being go shoot some more of the same enemies.

I'm forcing myself to finish this since I'm on Game Pass, but I might have to uninstall it. Gears V would top my worst games of the year list, if I had one.

 

[Lant_War]

I wonder if people will ever stop judging games based on videos, trailers and streams. And posting about it well before ever trying the game.

Games are an INTERACTIVE medium. The narrative they tell is unique to every player, like how every book is unique to every reader. When the controller is in your hands, the experience becomes completely different (visually, in terms of fun, in terms of design quality, etc).

They probably won't though.

Click to shrink...

I mean, graphics are one of the things you can see about the game without playing it. If you look at a Red Dead Redemption 2 screenshot it's clearly a fantastic looking game, you don't need to play the game to know that.

Gears 5's thing is that it looks so much better in motion when you're the one in control.

 

[CaptNink]

My personal GOTY too, OP. The last Gears game I played was the first one, and the only reason I picked this up was because of GamePass, but holy shit, I'm glad I did.

I'm not a huge MP guy, but I love the Gears 5 MP. Horde is my favourite mode and Escape is awesome too! Definitely give those two modes some time, they are worth it!

 

[Splader]

Gears 5 was my goty the moment I finished the story. Goddamn that ending...
But then I went and played the crap out of TOW. So now that's my goty, but Gears 5 is a close second.
The campaign was definitely the best in the series barring 2.

 

[GymWolf86]

Same as you but i left bored to death at chapter 2 and never turned back.

 

[Splader]

Gears V reaffirms that I'm just not into Gears games anymore.

I thought Gears 4 was a boring slog through telegraphed firefights, but GV is even worse.
The entire game thus far has been forcing me to slowly walk around listening to characters I don't care about banter, with rinse and repeat firefights against characters I've fought in five games now.

Even the filler skiff parts where I make my way to a "side mission", winds up being go shoot some more of the same enemies.

I'm forcing myself to finish this since I'm on Game Pass, but I might have to uninstall it. Gears V would top my worst games of the year list, if I had one.

Click to shrink...

Quite a few of the enemies (most of them, actually) are only previously seen in gears 4 though

 

[SmittyWerbenManJensen]

Gears V reaffirms that I'm just not into Gears games anymore.

I thought Gears 4 was a boring slog through telegraphed firefights, but GV is even worse.
The entire game thus far has been forcing me to slowly walk around listening to characters I don't care about banter, with rinse and repeat firefights against characters I've fought in five games now.

Even the filler skiff parts where I make my way to a "side mission", winds up being go shoot some more of the same enemies.

I'm forcing myself to finish this since I'm on Game Pass, but I might have to uninstall it. Gears V would top my worst games of the year list, if I had one.

Click to shrink...

Same. Way too generic and uninspired for me. As I've said before, thank god for game pass, because I'd be pissed if I spent money on this game.

 

[Splader]

Same. Way too generic and uninspired for me. As I've said before, thank god for game pass, because I'd be pissed if I spent money on this game.

Click to shrink...

I imagine you just wouldn't have bought the game though, if not for gamepass?

 

[nerdv2]

The open world is kinda meh, but otherwise it's a solid Gears entry.

And I think it surpasses 4 in many ways.

 

[Herman The Tosser]

Gears V reaffirms that I'm just not into Gears games anymore.

I thought Gears 4 was a boring slog through telegraphed firefights, but GV is even worse.
The entire game thus far has been forcing me to slowly walk around listening to characters I don't care about banter, with rinse and repeat firefights against characters I've fought in five games now.

Even the filler skiff parts where I make my way to a "side mission", winds up being go shoot some more of the same enemies.

I'm forcing myself to finish this since I'm on Game Pass, but I might have to uninstall it. Gears V would top my worst games of the year list, if I had one.

Click to shrink...

Yeah this was my feeling, it's just so damn dated. The gameplay is stiff as a board.

 

[DarthWalden]

Yo me too

 

[Magoo]

I started it earlier. Enjoying my time with it but I'm still early on and haven't reached the open world bit a lot are saying is poorly done. I've had a rest for a bit now though. I can't do big sessions on Gears games before the repetition creeps in.

The game sure is a looker though. One of those times that let's me feel better spending a grand on a TV.

 

[Cranster]

It is definitely a fantastic game and it has the best combat of the entire series. It's obviously a GOTY contender.

 

[AM_LIGHT]

I just finished the game . Overall it's a good game but not GOTY material . Act 3 dragged a bit and the ending was very underwhelming .

 

[Thac]

I had a blast with it. I haven't played gears in a long time and when I saw it on game pass I installed. Maybe not GOTY but definitely very fun.

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

The game glitched during the second open world act. I had to restart earlier and all the side stuff I got reset.

Wasn't really having too much fun to begin with. Was basically like eh, fuck it. And dropped the game.

I can see why others would enjoy it though. But I also think the whole cover aspect seems dated.

 

[RespectThySole]

One of the least remarkable games I've played all year. Felt like just another Gears except with the jack abilities changing things up slightly. They've gotta switch up something mechanically to get me interested again

 

[X-Peaceman-X]

Quite a few of the enemies (most of them, actually) are only previously seen in gears 4 though

Click to shrink...

Not only are they one in G4 previously but the interactions with them in 5 are usually way different than 4. Especially if your using jack to his potential

 

[SmittyWerbenManJensen]

I imagine you just wouldn't have bought the game though, if not for gamepass?

Click to shrink...

Most likely, yes. It's complicated.

 

[Deleted member 41520]

I mean, graphics are one of the things you can see about the game without playing it. If you look at a Red Dead Redemption 2 screenshot it's clearly a fantastic looking game, you don't need to play the game to know that.

Gears 5's thing is that it looks so much better in motion when you're the one in control.

Click to shrink...

I still disagree, precisely because of your last sentence there.

Yes, you can get a solid gauge on a games budget/quality from it's graphics - but at the end of the day, games are interactive and thus subjective/experienced in unique ways.

A game often, even usually, has a "free" camera. As such, every single human who tries a game with a free camera will position it differently and move through the world differently. They will look at different things. They will focus on different parts of the environment or different effects.

To boot, the MEANING behind what you're seeing only matters when YOU are the one with the controller in your hand. Otherwise it's just superficial (i.e. when watching a video or stream). A streamer might linger on a vista because they're reading where puzzle or action elements are. But the viewer isn't reading that information - they're just looking at an aesthetic object; a form with no function.

it's entirely possible the videos you watched had players which looked at things differently to you (literally) and/or had a tone which made you read what was going on differently.

again, videos have nothing to do with played experience. No, not even for graphics. Although it is easier to get a broad read on that for sure.

 

[Lothars]

It's a good game one of the better gears one but it had some flaws that held it back.

 

[Firima]

With all the people complaining about Act 3 (and the open world stuff in general), you'd think those parts are poor, and they're really not. I, for one, greatly enjoyed the change of pace, including hunting down relic weapons, especially when you find that you've started Act 4 with everything you had equipped at the end of Act 3, like the wonderful Relic Gnasher.

 

[horkrux]

man, the way people talk about this game here, you wouldn't know it's at 84 on metacritic, rated higher than the likes of Death Stranding and Control that are on GOTY lists.

smallest flaws are magnified beyond belief. A game that runs at (faux) 4K 60fps while putting out top drawer visuals gets called our for being 'unpolished' because a few achievements didn't drop.

Click to shrink...

this is so dismissive of the real problems people had, like progression bugs or crashes
so glad I somehow managed to get through the game without issues, but I also played it a few days later than others.

 

[InsaneLuchador]

Glad you liked it, OP. I picked up the original Gears on launch and have been a fan ever since. Maybe Gears 5 wasn't the revolution that the series has been calling for, but at the same time, I had way more fun with it than I expected. Still the best third person shooting in the business.

 

[Emrober5]

Loved the game, a marked improvement over Gears 4.

That said, the open world wore out it's welcome in the desert area for me. Once things got back on a linear path in the final act I enjoyed it more.

I don't play horde but versus has been great as always.

 

[klier]

I am completely indifferent. Played a couple of matches on Horde, and it was just not much fun. Lame and few different enemies, weak maps, and over less good than older version. Visuals looked generic (Xbox One X) to me too, and the gameplay felt just old.

Shame, used to have great times with this.

Single player I just couldn't get myself to get through the fucking tutorial. You have to be fucking kidding me, a tutorial for a game that hasn't seen any controls changed in a decade or more.

 

[Cassius Bright]

This was my first Gears game and I didn't really know what to expect.

I really, really enjoyed it. Not sure if it's my GOTY, but a great experience nevertheless.

 

[Cliff Steele]

Love the Gears Series, didn't Like Gears 5 at all. For me personally I'd rate the campaign even lower than Judgement. Dropped the MP after a week.

 

[Goodacre0081]

Gears 5 has a campaign?

 

[Lant_War]

Gears 5 has a campaign?

Click to shrink...

Yes, it's the first option in the main menu

 

[RavFiveFour]

They're trying to open the series for the long run (open world) so they got that and are starting to feel confident, Cliffy is MIA, Xbox can't handle what Gears demands and all of a sudden you have a GOTY TPS contender. The enemy variety is where Gears bread of butter is, and you only need a few mins. into the game to recognize you're in for a treat.

 

[laxu]

Played through the campaign on my own. It's probably a lot more fun with friends. The last GoW I had played was 1 and I felt like barely anything but graphics had changed. It's still kind of clunky. The open world sections added absolutely nothing to the game.

 

[Lokimaster]

I felt the campaign was mid at best. The online is eh. Just wasnt there for it. Seems like a ghost town now as well.
Good 7.3 game for me. They should have just stopped at 3, and made a new ip. The series is getting stale.
When it didnt show up as a game of the year contender for the Game Awards, I wasnt even surprised. Just doesn't seem like a game that would be in that category to me.

 

[Certinfy]

Good game which seems even better than it actually was because 4 was so bad.

 

[leng jai]

Gears 5 was my goty the moment I finished the story. Goddamn that ending...
But then I went and played the crap out of TOW. So now that's my goty, but Gears 5 is a close second.
The campaign was definitely the best in the series barring 2.

Click to shrink...

The game hardly even had an ending.

 

[Lant_War]

Good game which seems even better than it actually was because 4 was so bad.

Click to shrink...

I haven't played Gears 4, so probably not?

 

[Waggles]

It's the weakest of the mainline series, imo.

Beating out only Judgement in a proper ranking

 

[Rumenapp]

I believe it can be the best Gears game but it's not for me. I played the first four games on day one but Gears 4 and now 5 are kinda irrelevant to me. Gameplay just feels dated to me and i don't have any interest in the story after Gears 3.

I guess i just burned out on this franchise.

 

[leng jai]

With all the people complaining about Act 3 (and the open world stuff in general), you'd think those parts are poor, and they're really not. I, for one, greatly enjoyed the change of pace, including hunting down relic weapons, especially when you find that you've started Act 4 with everything you had equipped at the end of Act 3, like the wonderful Relic Gnasher.

Click to shrink...

Saying Act 3 was a change of pace doesn't even make sense because it's the same structure as the second one. You had a linear opening act then back to back faux open world sections. People got tired of it in the third act because it's really nothing special or new.

Basically it was as cookie cutter and predictable as wide linear structure gets, they didn't even try to do anything special with it. The environmental art was also boring, who wants to run around in a barren desert for hours? The only saving grace were the dust storms which changed it up a bit. Not to mention the main missions there reused the same locations and there was a very common progression bug when you did the missions in the wrong order.

 

[Merv]

AI glitched on me a couple if times which made the experience worse and broke immersion hard. Great game otherwise

 

[Splader]

The game hardly even had an ending.

Click to shrink...

No, the game very much had an ending. Though I was talking more so about a moment a little before the ending. I was still affected by that when the game itself ended and it made the ending a very high for me.

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

Quite a few of the enemies (most of them, actually) are only previously seen in gears 4 though

Click to shrink...

I know the one monster that sticks people in it's belly is from Gears 4, and I forget about the swarm of leeches.
But I'm mostly just shooting Locust dudes.

Irregardless, my main issue is there's nothing to the game outside of shooting. The only time you aren't shooting is when you're slow walking, or riding a skiff to more shooting. That just doesn't entertain me anymore.

Controversial opinion, but I got way more enjoyment from Crackdown 3. The combat's so much better.

 

[BankeR]

Horde is fun