Gears of War: I'm Not Buying It

[Ian Dorsch]

I think you guys are making a mistake in assuming that this is any kind of serious tactical shooter, at least in the conventional Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon/Swat 4 kind of way. If anything, it owes more to a game like Resident Evil 4: it's a survival horror shooter with tactical elements. It doesn't nail that Rainbow Six gameplay because it's not trying to.

In fact, this is the big risk that MS is taking with billing Gears as a killer app: the game doesn't really fit cleanly into any established genre. It's got elements that are borrowed from a lot of genres, and IMO they've come up with a pretty compelling fusion, but a lot of purists may turn up their noses because it's NOT TACTICAL ENOUGH or whatever. You can't run and gun a la Halo, but it's not nearly the same kind of ultra-precise tactical experience as a GRAW or Rainbow Six. OMG it suxorz, M I RITE LOL?!?!

I would think that with all the bemoaning of lack of innovation in the game industry, people would be willing to cut a game some slack when it actually takes some risks with gameplay. But maybe y'all are only interested in innovation if it happens in a non-shooter genre, or in a low budget game that is developed by a no-name house? Or is it just a negative reaction to all the hype? Popular = bad?

I'm honestly not trying to be inflamatory here, I'm just a little puzzled by all the negative sentiment, especially when it mostly seems to be a knee-jerk reaction. But then, I think Epic makes great games, and I basically bought a 360 to play Gears, so maybe I'm a fanboy, I don't know.

Let's discuss.

 

[TomBeraha]

Well I frankly am not really that impressed by the gameplay footage I saw. The game itself didn't look fun to play to me so much as repetitious. It's just not what I'm looking for in a game right now I think - I've never been big on shooters for console - the only system with a chance to change that is the Wii and that depends greatly on how the controller feels for me. Microsoft is definitely going out of their way to push Gears of War as the next super-game. I'm just not feeling it. I didn't think Halo 2 really improved drastically on Halo 1, I don't think either are stellar examples of graphics and the only thing that Gears / Halo have that really attracts me is cooperative storyline play. It's something that I would love to have for that style of shooter.

As to the Rainbow six comparison - unless the games have changed greatly recently Rainbow Six is what I would call a Strategic/Tactical shooter. You start by figuring out where you're going to infiltrate / exfiltrate from, how you're going to achieve your objectives, what weapon teams and people you're going to send in and at what time you want to move. It bears no comparison here to a game that so far has looked to me like it plays more like Doom3 does.

 

[Ajar]

Well, time to eat my words.

If I wasn't itching for another great co-op shooter, I'd probably skip Gears. The art style, atmosphere, and seemingly dull storyline all turn me off.

*munch, munch*

Gears of War is an excellent game. There, I said it. I bought it yesterday and spent a couple of hours in single-player; this weekend I'm going to get into co-op and multiplayer. The gameplay is exquisite -- solid controls, strong emphasis on the use of cover, and contrary to the impression I got from the trailers, the characters can't take a lot of punishment. Gears uses a "recharge" system like Halo and Rainbow Six: Vegas to very good effect.

The music is outstanding. That was one thing that truly surprised me. It's instrumentally and stylistically varied, yet still cohesive, and it really adds to the immersion and atmosphere. It's also nothing like a typical shooter soundtrack.

In some ways, the game reminds me of a graphic novel. Characters are stylized, but not to the point of grotesqueness; it's just enough to remind you that this is a story, not the real world. And that's perfect, because it isn't trying to be "real" in the same way that GRAW or R6V are.