No, this isn’t another “what if we got this crossover” post, calm down, cool your jets.
I’m just curious how you guys would feel about a Gears game styled after the Resident Evil type of gameplay, particularly RE3 Remake.
Basically, I was watching an RE3 Playthrough & Nemesis comes in immediately, crashes through a wall & just starts messing sh*t up. And I just thought to myself… “But, what if that was RAAM” lmao.
A more slower-paced, horror/survival-based game where you’re kinda lurking around dark streets & buildings taking Wretches/Tickers/etc & the occasional Drones. And every once in while RAAM bursts through a wall and just walk-chases you and tanks damage like the absolute force of nature he is. Maybe with some guest appearances from a Theron Elite or Jermad as a boss fight.
You’d obviously be playing as a Stranded to really play up the helplessness. If you played any RE games, then you get the general vibe I’m going for.
Anyway, just a general idea that crossed my mind. Given how much I liked Tactics, I’d like to see TC make more games like that that are a slight departure from the norm, but still very much possess that Gears spirit.
But yeah, like I said, just curious & wanted to see how receptive other people would be to something like that.
I’d support that idea. If TC wanted to take a step further, I’d also be supportive of an actual open-world style game in the GOW universe.
My only real wish to this though, is that storywise it needs to be a total departure from the current crop of heroes (which you mentioned). Maybe play as a Stranded character or something. I think this would suit the “survival” perspective of such a game better than playing as a beef-cake COG soldier character.
I support this idea. But would you think it would be better to have it be Command and Conquer style or something more akin to Halo wars? Because I played C&C 3 back on the 360 and the controls were horribly optimized for controller.
I totally forgot to respond, sorry. I’m bad about that, procrastination and whatnot.
But yeah, I’ve never played Command & Conquer or Halo Wars, but I’m assuming it’s the top down stuff where you basically play as a whole army?
Well, Halo Wars at least. I’ve seen a few screenshots of that once upon a time. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything of C&C.
Yeah, exactly the mindset I had for this. If they wanna throw in a known character, I’d say the only place for them is in a cameo or at the very end of the game where maybe they swoop in for an evac of the Stranded they’ve just come across while RAAM kinda closes in on them, not too dissimilar to the RAAM’s Shadow ending.
Which, speaking of, maybe the COG hero tries to enlist them once they’ve been rescued much to their dismay. We’d get a better look at how Operation: Lifeboat goes down.
Alright, let’s be honest, if anyone from RE were to be put in this game, it’s GOTTA be Chris. Put him in COG armor & he’s indistinguishable from your average Gears character.
Maybe a horror gears based on first contact with the locust. Random squad, mostly new recruits (greener than ben carmine, if such a thing is possible). Story could be something like the squad leader dies instantly, and the new recruits have to figure things out quick. Part of the plot could also be that, this squad was sent to a specific location, to confirm strange reports. Higher ups don’t need them to come back alive, and don’t wanna “waste resources” on rescue.
The problem with this kind of horror, is that we already know lots about the Locust so it’ll be hard to write horror about the Locust. You’d almost certainly be relying on jump-scares, which is the lowest form of horror.
EDIT:
The only way I can think of re-writing Locust-based horror, would probably involve changing the game mechanics to the point it’s very different to the GOW we know now. This would involve some true survival-horror mechanics where ammo is limited; regenerating health is nerfed (or even removed and replaced with medi-kits which are limited in number and take time to use); and changes to the character movement to slow the pace of the game down so players couldn’t just move quickly and run away easily from enemies.
not just jump-scares, but also high quality voice acting, facial expressions, sound, and animations.
maybe something like until dawn. Never played this, but the facial animations seem really good.
and yeah, game mechanics, writing would have to adapt to a more chilling mood.
Until Dawn’s horror works because it’s a brand new IP and the monsters are an unknown quality. The player doesn’t know much about them, and they are learning as they go. It doesn’t have that much to do with graphics. voice acting and facial animations. Plus from what I’ve seen, Until Dawn uses a fair amount of jump-scares too.
GOW’s Locust have had 5 games (original trilogy and Tactics and Judgment) where they have been the main enemy and fans will know lots about them. It’s hard to create horror around monsters which we already know about. There’s also the risk with say, introducing new creatures because you have to somehow explain why they’re not in games which take place further down the timeline, and this kind of ret-conning has it’s own risks. Like retconning that some Locusts survived the Imulsion Countermeasure. Or in Judgment when Ragers were introduced but they had to use the convenient but lame excuse of “oh, they went extinct during the early stages of the war”.
Alot of highly rated classic horror movies work on the premise that the antagonist/monster/ghost/alien/creature is not seen very much. The whole idea is to create mystery and intrigue, which contributes to the horror element.
idk
people still keep making clown, dead nuns, zombies, etc movies/shows. To me, it’s definitely about creating that atmosphere. A lot of it is suspense and psychological. We’ve seen the locust, but we’ve never seen in full detail how Tai/maria were treated (for example).
I would’ve preferred a “Yeah, they’re still around but the Locust don’t use them as frontline combatants” type of thing. I guess that would have been a valid excuse had TC used them as a ‘new-old’ Swarm unit or something.
As to the subject itself, you could say Gears 4 kind of touched a little on the horror aspect with the initial way the Swarm was introduced. Old, decrepit ruin with an alien look, sounds and feel, middle of the night, and, well, Snatchers are kind of nightmare-ish if your first impression is them literally eating up a person right in front of your eyes. Seeing the Screamer pop out of the pod followed by the Juvie onslaught. Or that first run-in with a Scion/Carrier - if you go in blind - is bound to unsettle some people, as the new cast were. I sure was.
Also :
Alien Isolation. Obviously, the xeno isn’t thrown in your face at every moment, but its prevalence throughout a large portion of the game really isn’t hidden that much. It still captures a horror feeling with its atmosphere and general sound design. Most of the mystery/intrigue isn’t so much from the creature itself as the aspects relating to its presence… which, I guess, still ties to the creature but we as the player(unless you’re new to the franchise) already know all about it by then. Even if the characters in the game don’t. I still hear it’s largely said to be pretty damn good at what it wants to do.
Yes, but this worked because of the game mechanics (which I kinda touched upon). The Alien being able to insta-kill you; and firearms not being able to kill it (just scare it off), the stealth mechanics, tanky controls, slower pace etc, it all adds to creating a certain vulnerability about the game experience. Plus it was single player. These mechanics aren’t what GOW is known for, but this is why I say that if TC wanted to create an actual horror GOW game, then something about it will need to change in terms of the mechanics.
I think what you might be asking for is a return to some of the atmospheric elements of the original Gears. My impression of early Gears (1&2) was a muted color palette, practically black and white; blood and muzzle flash really popped. Somewhere along the way things got a bit more lush and…“Unchartery” but I agree, the darker grittier atmosphere was preferable with the mood that it set…scenes like the Kryll cruise gave the impression of Resident Evil meets Saving Private Ryan.
At the same time I can see how this can get kinda played out; so maybe a little creativity and you can get both styles in the same game. Time travel is always and easy way to incorporate such contrast and some great games have utilized that tactic and for the same effect: Think Ocarina of Time and Super Metroid. Metroid wasn’t so much time traveling as it was returning to a place you had visited in the prior game, but it being desolate and spooky
Whatever happens just don’t change the combat other than tightening up the binding options!
I don’t buy that you need completely unknown creatures to insight fear / intrigue. All you have to do is introduce something that makes you question what you thought you knew, have a prequel, or even reboot. We have references in the movies of this all the time…Alien manages to pull this off; twisting the lore, adding a backstory etc. We have had some vastly different Jokers, and some vastly different Batmans over the years thanks to reboots…so perhaps Gears is due. What you suggest with this “new” is precisely what I disdain. I I much prefer a timely reboot rather than having an unjustifably confusing mess of a story. or a bunch of new characters I don’t care about…I’d consider such the Mortal Kombat effect. It’s like a violent soap opera…bunch of characters with intertwined non-sensical stories.
On the other hand, I personally stopped paying attention to the Gears story and characters after Gears 2…hell I don’t even play the Campaign anymore I just hop right into horde for some arcade action. Curious what everyone else does…but I suppose that’s another topic.
