ikbalCO
Member
i hope i can describe how i feel about these games since english is not my native language.
so here i go.
i have been an avid gamer since i was very little, mainly focused on playstation. i have only owned an xbox console once. someone gifted me a vanilla xbox one back when it was first released, played and finished sunset and rise of tomb raider and sold it to my cousin.
i had a change of heart -and budget- at the start of the current generation. conviced by the value proposition of series console, i bought my self a series s two months ago and i am loving it so far.
so as you can imagine, having missed most of xbox console generations, i am having blast a going through gamepass.
Gears games were first on my radar. i played and finished ultimate edition through 5, and i am half way through in both judgement and hive busters.
and tbh microsoft is better off with dropping this franchise all together.
where can i start. i guess first i should start with characters and story.
these games have the most generic action story in any medium. you have your generic renegade main character that doesn't take bullshit from nobody. you have your generic emotional dude looking for his lost wife. you have the most stereotypically designed big loud black guy and whenever he talks i want to die. i am from turkey and i am away from all the systematic racism awfullnes but i have to say cole is so obnoxious that they like tone him down in the second game. only original character in the game is baird. being both scientiest and a tough soldier he is really fun. but ironically, every character in the game dislike baird and he is the butt of every joke.
story is such a cliché that i have to remind myself that the first three games were released between 2006-2011. but then again while gears was crazy popular, uncharted was defining story driven games. basically you are part of an elite soldier army, try to save the world from monster infestation. in contrast with your mission, you end up killing everone you save. all the time. this is not even a spoiler because Gears' idea of emotional impact is killing NPCs whom you already do not care. actually best part comes from this angle because every NPC you meet in the game rightfully hates you.
and the writing. oh the writing. put every steven segal movie in a blender, spread some alien invasion movie seasoning and you are done. there is this one part in the fifth game where young leads meet with paduk. Jd says something and paduk talk him down and kaith talk back to him. before Paduk answers i was like "i like this one" and suprise suprise he says "i like this one". unfortunately you can guess the writing all the time. because it is that unoriginal.
gameplay-vise, Gears of War games have one idea only which is walking some and killing some. literally this loop made me appreciate Uncharted's climbing sections eventhough i despise them because at least they offer a level design. in gears you walk through some corridors, push a button, turn a valve, push some switches, open a door, something goes wrong (as always) and the combat happens. you may think locust is the main enemy or in the fourth and fifth games the swarm but no. main antagonist is your luck. because nothing goes as it planed. all the time. for five games. there is always something wrong. in the fifth game there is this one part where you try to build a rocket ship (because why not). you pretty much kill an entire swarm army in the process. if you are playing experienced and upper you are already filling the grind since the game has been throwing enemies at you like a maniac. just when the rocket is ready, guess what happens. ding ding ding. you guessed it correctly. out of nowhere, in a facility that you just cleared a snacther jumps on to a moving rocket and ruins everything. i screamed FUCK YOU! at this. now imagine this, but for 5 x 10 hours.
sadly it is obvious that gears writers and developers are not risk takers. they don't renovate they don't reform and they don't improve. they are deeply obsessed with the idea of dont fix it if it ain't broken but it is broken.
i know this turned into a rant but i really believe microsoft need to kill this franchise. unlike mario, zelda, final fantasy etc. these games fail to offer anything exciting with new additions where other long going franchises constantly reinvent themselves. they are generic and unoriginal, gameplay is underwhelming and lackluster and controls are tank.
Kill it, before a snatcher jumps on to your rocket.
so here i go.
i have been an avid gamer since i was very little, mainly focused on playstation. i have only owned an xbox console once. someone gifted me a vanilla xbox one back when it was first released, played and finished sunset and rise of tomb raider and sold it to my cousin.
i had a change of heart -and budget- at the start of the current generation. conviced by the value proposition of series console, i bought my self a series s two months ago and i am loving it so far.
so as you can imagine, having missed most of xbox console generations, i am having blast a going through gamepass.
Gears games were first on my radar. i played and finished ultimate edition through 5, and i am half way through in both judgement and hive busters.
and tbh microsoft is better off with dropping this franchise all together.
where can i start. i guess first i should start with characters and story.
these games have the most generic action story in any medium. you have your generic renegade main character that doesn't take bullshit from nobody. you have your generic emotional dude looking for his lost wife. you have the most stereotypically designed big loud black guy and whenever he talks i want to die. i am from turkey and i am away from all the systematic racism awfullnes but i have to say cole is so obnoxious that they like tone him down in the second game. only original character in the game is baird. being both scientiest and a tough soldier he is really fun. but ironically, every character in the game dislike baird and he is the butt of every joke.
story is such a cliché that i have to remind myself that the first three games were released between 2006-2011. but then again while gears was crazy popular, uncharted was defining story driven games. basically you are part of an elite soldier army, try to save the world from monster infestation. in contrast with your mission, you end up killing everone you save. all the time. this is not even a spoiler because Gears' idea of emotional impact is killing NPCs whom you already do not care. actually best part comes from this angle because every NPC you meet in the game rightfully hates you.
and the writing. oh the writing. put every steven segal movie in a blender, spread some alien invasion movie seasoning and you are done. there is this one part in the fifth game where young leads meet with paduk. Jd says something and paduk talk him down and kaith talk back to him. before Paduk answers i was like "i like this one" and suprise suprise he says "i like this one". unfortunately you can guess the writing all the time. because it is that unoriginal.
gameplay-vise, Gears of War games have one idea only which is walking some and killing some. literally this loop made me appreciate Uncharted's climbing sections eventhough i despise them because at least they offer a level design. in gears you walk through some corridors, push a button, turn a valve, push some switches, open a door, something goes wrong (as always) and the combat happens. you may think locust is the main enemy or in the fourth and fifth games the swarm but no. main antagonist is your luck. because nothing goes as it planed. all the time. for five games. there is always something wrong. in the fifth game there is this one part where you try to build a rocket ship (because why not). you pretty much kill an entire swarm army in the process. if you are playing experienced and upper you are already filling the grind since the game has been throwing enemies at you like a maniac. just when the rocket is ready, guess what happens. ding ding ding. you guessed it correctly. out of nowhere, in a facility that you just cleared a snacther jumps on to a moving rocket and ruins everything. i screamed FUCK YOU! at this. now imagine this, but for 5 x 10 hours.
sadly it is obvious that gears writers and developers are not risk takers. they don't renovate they don't reform and they don't improve. they are deeply obsessed with the idea of dont fix it if it ain't broken but it is broken.
for example, not being able to take risks makes itself clear during the mid section of gears 5. game actually suprises you with a compelling explanation on why queen myrrah looked like human and gives Kaith a relatable background. at this point i was expecting the game to take a hard turn and make kaith the new queen. with the mix feeling of seeing someone we love go to the dark side, we would end up fighting her with del. but out of nowhere writers decided to make reyna, a character that died last game the new queen because nothing matters and all they want you to do is hide in covers and shoot.
this is a shit writing.
and the way they present an emotional conflict at the end is such a crap out. choosing between del and jd was no brainer for me. of course i saved JD because del was such a white women fantasy of hunk black friend that i couldn't stand the guy. he is almost like a messiah who always tells the right thing, does the right thing in a world where everything tires to kill you that at the end he ends up being a shell of a character, more like a moral compass. JD on the other hand was more relatabe. he has done some bad things and done some good things. he -unlike del- has a redemption arc that you can empathise. and he is the main character of the last two games. i mean, who saves the sidekick?
this is a shit writing.
and the way they present an emotional conflict at the end is such a crap out. choosing between del and jd was no brainer for me. of course i saved JD because del was such a white women fantasy of hunk black friend that i couldn't stand the guy. he is almost like a messiah who always tells the right thing, does the right thing in a world where everything tires to kill you that at the end he ends up being a shell of a character, more like a moral compass. JD on the other hand was more relatabe. he has done some bad things and done some good things. he -unlike del- has a redemption arc that you can empathise. and he is the main character of the last two games. i mean, who saves the sidekick?
i know this turned into a rant but i really believe microsoft need to kill this franchise. unlike mario, zelda, final fantasy etc. these games fail to offer anything exciting with new additions where other long going franchises constantly reinvent themselves. they are generic and unoriginal, gameplay is underwhelming and lackluster and controls are tank.
Kill it, before a snatcher jumps on to your rocket.
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doesn't mean they should be canceled because I don't like them
