This is going to be a very long thread.
It will require patience both from me to write it and from you to read it.
They told us that we cannot change the world , because the world will change us instead.
‘‘Well , Captain , SCREW your order’’ as your hero would say.
Because I don’t want to live in a stale world with stale games , because the whole gaming industry regards the entertainment , and entertainment as every other form of art is meant to reflect reality.
… in a slightly better way , in order to inspire others to be the best , to seek for the best.
Not only for themselves but for others instead. To make a better world.
As everything in life I will give my best to be the best and to hope for the best , because otherwise , we’re all dead. I’m writing this longass thread mostly for myself , because if there’s even the slightest chance to make a difference in the future for the better , just take it , go for it , push it to the limit.
This thread will concern mostly the Campaing and the Game Structure as it regards PvE.
If you are one of those ‘‘Gnasher CVLTIST’’ that thrives in the middle of the cluster , please be welcome to step away , this thread is not for you.
Times are changing.
Both in reality as in the games.
Sony ‘‘won’’ the previous console war developing their Single Player AAA-titles that gained vast success all over the world , while Microsoft’s kinda lost the scene , never really impressing the crowd.
Titles such as Sunset Overdrive , Gears of War 4 , Rise of the Tomb Rider , Halo 5 got quickly forgotten by most of the playerbase.
Of course I’m not talking about ourselves Gears Junkies , but I’m talking about good ol’ Lorenzo that doesn’t have much time to play , little girl Jessica that goes SinglePlayer cause her Internet sucks , I’m talking about Honeim that works all day and plays just a couple matches after dinner.
The CASUALS.
Yep , ladies and gentleman , they exist and they are a huge , HUGE , HUUUGE slice of a game’s playerbase , even if perhaps you never realize. People that comes and goes , without studying the game too much.’‘Playing for fun’’.
See , not ever for me it is like that , but … hey , I can see their point too , you know?
They don’t have a lot of time to spend. They prefer do ELSE.
But let’s talk present day.
Gears 5 as present day is clearly in an insufficient state.
I don’t say it : the whole world says that. Reviews , threads , YT videos.
Most of them will agree that 5 is an unsatisfying game that lacks a lot.
This game simply ain’t enough to impress the people , to drive people to play it.
Because let’s be honest , success nowadays it’s not just about the numbers sold , but it is also about visibility , trend, Youtube Videos , Twich Streams , Facebook Comments. Stuff like this.
It’s about ‘‘How many people plays your game’’ … and Gears is not in a good state.
Sometimes the game struggles to find people to put you with.
People seem to have forgotten this game.
If Microsoft wants to take back the pool , it must push Gears.
You can’t offer people just Halo , Tomb Rider , and a couple more exclusives … and you know what?
MICROSOFT GOT THIS , PRETTY DAMN WELL INDEED.
They finally understood.
Things started moving and you have no idea how happy was I when I head of this.
Gamepass sales rising.
Advertisements. People been talking Xbox on the networks and in YouTube.
Ninja Theory. Obsidian. BETHESDA. ID SOFTWORKS!
After years of sleep , finally Microsoft seems to have awakened.
Series X planning to be the market-breaking beast.
They did it every damn year , but this time , they have the studios , the raw power to do it.
They have the huge hungry crowd , waiting to unleash the hate , waiting to carve their teeth into the prize and craving for a good product , a fully functioning , well structured , full of content CONSOLE.
Because you know what? Casuals DO prefer the consoles. They prefer to spend a decent amount of money once in a while for a high performance instead of 3000 bucks for a PC.
And Microsoft has its chance to finally take back the crown.
They sell both the PCs and the Consoles , it’s their chance to break the market.
And while all of this happens , what is Gears doing? … oh , don’t mind him , he’s just in the corner getting gibbed by the Gnasher for the 360th time in the same map over and over again.
He’s farming coins in Horde to buy the same skin I wore in Gears 3 , ha-ha , good times indeed.
Indeed , my friend.
Sometimes ago , I head a YouTuber say ‘‘Gears 5 is basically a 360 game with a new brush of paint’’.
I couln’t agree anymore.
The game , graphically and technically , runs perfectly , it’s smooth , colorful , a joy to behold.
Too bad it’s a pain in the ■■■■ to play!
Team Deathmatch. KOTH. Horde. SSDD from 2008.
Gears is not ‘‘leaping foreward’’ , as Microsoft itself used to say sometime ago , the game basically stood the same. No innovation , no experimentation.
I have to guilt the Gears community for this , because the ONE time they did experiment something with Judgement , you guys punished Microsoft so bad by not buying the game at all just because of no DBNO. Yeah , Judgement had its problems , but it also had some of the coolest stuff in the whole saga.
Unique Maps. Unique Weapons. Overrun. An astonishingly good Campaign. Soundtrack.
Gears has much to learn from Judgement.
There is a saying in my homecountry , that translates roughly as : ‘‘In life , sometimes you win , sometimes you learn.’’
Well , TC can seriously take the lesson and push foreward , learning from Epic’s mistakes.
I believe this game to be so unsatisfying because it lost its spirit , its character , the very thing that distinguished Gears from all other games.
I can see where this game tried to go : Hyperrealism.
The progressive lightening of the armors , the wind , the animations of the fire and explosions ,
A shoulder stock on the Lancer. TC tried to make this game look as real as it could be.
… WRONG.
See , this is a mistake.
People wants to play a nearly-real game when it regads plausible stuff , such as Sims or COD.
Gears is a craft of fantasy! It is not meant to look real!
As every other artwork , it is meant to reflect reality , but not look like it!
We’re talking about Sera , a world with giant flying barges , glowing killer fuel spilling from underground , a place where Science is capable of spawning a Boomshot outta nowhere.
But the whole ‘‘Spirit’’ thing it’s not just about this.
It’s about colors , enviroment , dialogues , state-of-mind , it’s about the magic behind it.
The very textures of the walls while you’re playing.
See , Gears 3 was a unique game in its whole.
It had a wonderful satisfying progression , vast choiche of maps , modes , content , an amazing , clever campaign (KAREN TRAVISS) , the very way it looked was unique.
‘‘UNIQUE’’ is key word here.
Now , ask me some of the best games I played in the last year and there you go :
DOOM Eternal and The Outer Worlds.
Both absolutely unique games , never played something like that in a very long while.
Both games have their defects and mistakes , which I’m here to discuss about , and that’s why I drew this pic.
Now , it is oblivious for everyone that these are exremely different games from oneanother.
Yet , they are complementary , because each of them has something that the others miss.
Now , the best fun of them all was clearly DOOM Eternal.
Lay destructon onto the demons , invade their own world , massacrate 'em with badass brutish executions , bruh , it felt like I was in Gears 2 again. And that’s amazing.
You see , the point it’s not just the combat , it’s the whole world they create aroung that.
I stopped often to give a gaze to the amazing enviromentals , to the destruction around me , I stopped to read those codex voices because I was genuinely interested in the game itself.
DOOMguy is a truly charismathic character not for what he says (gosh , he mute!) but for what HE DOES!
This is basically the most Christian game of all times and yet I loved it. The world loved it.
Doomguy made it there among some of the most badass characters ever , Kratos level , to say one.
But the game wasn’t just about him , or the extremely bloody gameplay , it was about the CHARACTER of the game.
No , I’m not talking about Doomguy himself.
I’m talking about the tone , the ambient that this game creates around you.
Fcourse , I bought some visual exaples.
THE CHROMATIC CHOICE OF THIS GAME IS ABSOLUTLY GENIOUS.
The whole game itself screams : Demonic Possession. Blood. Violence. Darkness. Corruption.
Destruction. Guess what DOOM is all about?
Yep. Demonic possession , blood , violence , darkness , corruption , destrucion.
They absolutly HIT THE SCORE here , they captured the essence of the game , and put you inside of that to let you play it.
You just don’t play Doom , you live it. You see it , you sense it.
This game has its own character.
Pair it with an amazing , pumping , badass soundtrack and an excellent progression with the weapons and the enemies , this game has some of the best Campaigns I ever seen.
Aw , these screenshots are from Doom 2016 BTW , and I can swear Eternal is even better.
And I sensed a lot of Gears of War 2 in this.
The dark , heavy air around you. The violence , the dialogues straight to the point.
‘‘Stop me if you can’’. ‘‘Not if we sink it first’’.
But let’s talk The Outer Worlds.
Obsidian has its chance to shine. They took it. They shone.
The developers applied to this game the same policy they had back in the day when New Vegas came out. FREEDOM OF CHOICHE.
This is something which Microsoft can annihilate Sony with.
Your Kratos game can look cool , you’re still going to play as Kratos.
TLOU can be as heartbreaking , it’s still exremely restrictive when it comes to singleplayer.
The Outer Worlds breaks this stuff. (let’s call it TOW from now on)
This game has one of the best customizations I ever seen , especially in a shooter.
Armors , dresses , weapons , in TOW you can approach the game every single way you want.
Would you look at this.
These arejust some of the examples of diversity that this game offers.
This customization throws Destiny’s one off the window.
Only in this pic thereis the same amount of facial models that Gears 5 has to offer.
The choice in this game is almost complete.
Wanna be a Sniper? There you go , we got perks for you to do that. Heavy Gunner? Sure thing.
So , you’re the stealth guy and you don’t want to kill anybody? We got you there , go full science.
Lone Wolf guy? There , you can go alone. Social guy? We got companions for you.
GOOD ONES.
And that’s one of the two things that TOW absolutly nailed.
The companions you choose are actually pretty good characters.
Interesting ones.
Their lines of dialogues make a lot of sense , especially if you analize the (finctional) background of the person that says so.
They speak perfectly in line with what they are.
Gears (5 especially) utterly fails at this.
Kait hates the army in 4. Kait joins the army.
Baird says ‘‘I don’t love you!’’ to Sam in 3. Baird and Sam come up toghether.
Paduk says ‘‘Let us not meet ever again’’ to Baird in J. Baird and Paduk meet.
Fahz and Del nearly brawl in Act 1 because Fahz likes to annoy him. They become friend for no reason.
Whole squad points rifles toward the First Minister. She goes like : oh , this is absolutly fine , let em go.
Kait goes ‘‘JD is an a-hole’’ for half of the game , JD comes back like ‘‘Yo , I acted pretty rough , I’m sorry’’ , KAIT GOES ''F- OFF , JD , I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOU ‘’
Is this game even trying?!
But this is not what’s best of TOW.
The very thing that leaves that sweet flavour to the player once the game is over is that … it was all shaped as you wanted to be.
You can choose to help that guy or another. You can lie to someone , you can kill them , you can choose to sustain that faction or another , or multiple at the same time.
The way they see you changes progressivly.
And I can ensure you , Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be that way , even bigger .
I am mostly sure that CP2077 is going to set a new standard to games , it’s going to be so big , diverse and complete that Gears is going to look like a PS2 game compared to it for how tiny it is.
Now , question is , what gives TOW and CP77 their complexity and depth?
VOICE ACTING.
Tons , megas , gigas full of LINES OF DIALOGUE.
The ability to let the player hear something brand new that they never heard before , at their 4th playtrought of the game , it’s one of the rarest things , nowadays.
A complete games ought to have so much lines that the player should struggle to hear them all.
Gears 3 was successful in this case , because when Marcus went ‘‘GUDDAMN SUNOVABEACH’’ , most of people lost it and lmao’d.
But the thing got old quickly , and the impact and charisma of some quotes never got replaced.
(Small OT , TC should really mind the italian dubbing of Cole , because it’s just out of this world , basically the whole italian community agrees that new Cole is terrible. Just terrible.)
You see , when it comes to this , I can see that TC at very least tried.
Yep , I stopped to listen all the lines of dialogues of the peasants in the Outsider camp , I appreciated the disappearing UIR Psycho lady , but as you can imagine , it just wasn’t enough.
A game of the new Generation (especially the incoming one) should be dynamic , diverse , big and full of hints about the very Universe’s society and structure.
I say some players actually crave it , there are YT Channels dedicated to the lore that actually spend time analysing all the collectibles and codex of the game.
And that’s one of the things I loved of Gears 2 and 3 (personal favourites) , the Codex behind the collectibles were HUGE , they had a lot of information regarding Sera , Locust and other stuff.
Did somebody remember Adam’s Fenix journal? That thing was pure gold. Lore-breaking.
Picture : Robin Atkin Downes voicing the Kantus for Gears 3.
Such an amazing sight to behold. Pure passion.
CONCLUSIONS
I didn’t write this thread to praise other games or to bash Gears.
I wrote all of this because after 10 years of Grub Slaying almost non-stop , even a hardened Gear like myself wants something new.
I want to play with somebody new , because the playerbase of this game is so thin.
Since Microsoft has the studios , I say they can put up a legendary collaboration to raise Gears from its grave , because we all know where this game is at the moment.
You see , all of the three games need something from eachother because they miss it.
-Gears has its unique cover-based playstile and best graphics. But at the moment , it lacks character.
-DOOM has the best character , but lacks a functioning multiplayer and conseguential replayability.
Also has no doubt the best soundtrack.
-The Outer World has the best enviroment , characters (actual persons , companions) and freedom of choice , but it lacks a strong soundtrack and also the astonishing graphics and fluidity of both Doom and Gears.
I say a collaboration can only benefit these studios.
Because you see , if Gears 3 taught me something , is that to archieve success , we ough to do things all toghether , as a uniform team and community , putting aside our differences and working toghether.
… LIKE COGS. Like a -sigh- Coalition.
Kait Diaz is a weak character exatly because of this : Screw this , screw the world , screw Marcus , Imma go find secrets all for myself and destroy stuff.
Nice.
Well , since I’ve made a dokken huge thread , why not discuss also one more thing.
I AM NOT AGAINST WOMEN IN GAMING.
The COG is far and wide.
Let’s welcome them all.
Women. Black. Asians. Indios. Slavs , Caucasians , Gays , Lesbian , they are all welcome in the machine.
I don’t dislike Kait Diaz because she’s a woman , but because she kinda acted selfish there.
On the other hand , Lahni Kaliso , that traveled and fought to rejoin the army for her brothers , that’s a whole another bell. THIS , I LIKE.
Like Bernie Mataki before her.
And whoever read the books knows how genious and kindhearted was Anya Stroud , and I have no idea why TC decided to just get rid of her.
Perhaps the Gears community might not agree with me in this one , but I actually believe that Gender Equality and Parity suits Gears. Absolutly.
The COG is built exatly like that , to distribute equal rights to every member of the society regardless the gender , the skin colour or the sexual identity. All citizens are equal.
It makes a lot of sense having women engaged in every kind of role or job ( Lizzie = Pilot , Jinn = Minister etc. etc.) , in the COG , it makes sense.
Have you watched outside? It is already like that , as we have women surgeons , women loyers , women pilot , women directing TV programs.
What’s the problem? You have troubles with them? - Your problem only. I don’t have.
They are human beings , just as we males. Their shape and gender is different , but she’s capable of doing everything , given the right education and training.
All of this just to say : I am not a misogynist.
But as a bad guy is a bad guy , also a bad woman is a bad woman.
Queen Myrrah was a bad woman for wanting humanity dead and I loved when Marcus killed her.
On the opposite hand , I hurt when Lizzie died. I hurt A LOT when Valera died.
This is a symptom that Gears knows how to create a good women character.
But Kait … what is that? As a lot , lot , lot , TONS of people said that , she feels forced to us.
Don’t hate me for that. Can I dislike some women the same way I dislike some men?
Isn’t this supposed to be part of equality?
That said , Hurrahee for a game full of diversity and equality , because equality is what the actual world needs nowdays.
Microsoft on the other hand needs to raise one of their best exclusives to a wider , bigger , funnier state of existance , because after all these years of Gears loyal fans playing this game , Daddy Microsoft should’ve understood that Gears is a enormous pit of wasted potential.
The fans want more and deserve more than what Gears is now.
I will always pray for a better future of Gears .
I hope that this thread reaches TC somehow and it also reaches all of you.
You may pardon me if some things aren’t clear , this is not my mother tongue.
[A very grub-slaying hungry]
Terry Sander CSID : 019218-J12SG-4A
Out.
Mod Edit: Please don’t go around the word filter.
