I’ve been playing through GOW:UE for the first time and it’s just been an awesome experience. The firefights in Act V, specifically the ones in the new chapters, just felt so damn intense and well thought out. I was playing on Hardcore and it somehow managed to give me that same rush I had when I first played GOW as a little dude.
The locust in GOW 1 are just built different, man.
Foundation Pistons
Probably Gears of War 3 the bridge segment. I don’t remember the Act exactly but It was when you were clearing the savage locust off the main bridge and the locust made a turret out of 2 retro lancers Lol. Was also the scene where Baird and Sam had a cute heart to heart moment.
Man I wish they’d remaster that game.
That would be the first act before Baird decides to drop a box of tickers on a Lambent Leviathan. The exact chapter eludes me.
From the opening titles of Gears 3 until Marcus on the Beach is the greatest firefight in all of Gears.
Locust Forever.
Avalanche bow side.
Ruins, middle bridge
Gears 3 Mercy section, right before Dom passes. I get teary eyed and start sobbing immediately.
A runner up would be the gow 4 anvil gate flashback, I love the hopelessness that the section gives you. Like you’re gonna lose the fort and everybody’s gonna die. But the ICM comes in and saves everybody.
I only play on Insane and Inconceivable difficulty, trying to get my timing perfect so as to take zero damage. Sometimes that works out. I’m also trying to condense all my footage into 2-minute montages per Act for each game. It really pays to know all the animation cancels, how to land frags in a Reaver’s or Brumak’s saddle (or a Carrier’s chest holes), how to use your squadmates effectively, and when to play super aggressively versus when to play defensively.
Gears 1 (UE): Act 3, first fight with Therons. Holy crap what a battle! I have footage of myself deflecting a Theron’s torque arrow with a Longshot bullet. This is special forces versus special forces, with the odds stacked against you, and it’s brutally unforgiving. Very rare to win without your squadmates being downed.
(honorable mention: the Brumak fight is insane, and General RAAM is the highlight of the fantastic train fights… EDIT: but how could I forget the Act 1 fight where you seize a dry fountain, then deal with four E-Holes in quick succession? Perfect arena, perfect depiction of E-Holes)
Gears 2: the last stand of Jacinto might not have the numbers and spectacle of Act 1’s Derrick fights, but my goodness, you are close up and in the thick of it the entire time. Other Gears aren’t just background characters in this battle, they’re finally right alongside you, living or dying based on great AI scripting. Then it’s just Marcus and Dom again, fighting their way into a massive sinkhole, and it’s the single best example of a level with just Marcus and Dom.
(honorable mention: every other fight in this game goes HARD)
Gears 3: the best gameplay in the trilogy! Gears 2 might have had amazingly smooth Lancer mechanics, but Gears 3 allows you all the same precision and control, right down to single shots, while also allowing you to hipfire accurately when walking. The single greatest firefights are, I think, tied between Dom’s death and the infiltration-by-storm of Azura. The former mixes Locust vs Lambent and is extremely taxing, because you’re always surrounded, plus it ends with the most climactic death in the series. The latter doesn’t include Lambent until after the storm, but it uses the vast majority of Locust types across a series of increasingly hostile environments, culminating in the destruction of the Maelstrom tower, and every weapon in the game (from heavies to Silverbacks) is included. In both examples you either fight like brazen commandos and use overwhelming firepower to turn enemies into messes, or you die by the skin of your teeth.
(honorable mention: the battle of Anvil Gate is frigging incredible and quite open-ended, and my clips of the near-last stand in the garage will probably outdo the Gears of War movie… But my goodness, every setpiece in this game is a mastercraft)
RAAM’s Shadow: the final battle against RAAM and his troops is legend. It would’ve only been improved if Recruit Clayton made an appearance outside the evac chopper. This DLC is one of the GOATs in gaming.
Judgement: honestly, several of the levels are still fun, but the gameplay changes always frustrate me. I have the most fun during the endgame, fighting my way out of the courthouse and reuniting with Loomis. But the best fight is definitely the boss fight versus Karn, because holy crap, it has everything, and Karn’s dialogue feels like a badass commander actually invigorating his troops with some kind of epic speech. It’s just impossible to beat Karn without taking lots of damage, which is due to the design of the arena.
Gears 4: the prologue goes harder and harder and harder, and should always be remembered as a highlight of the franchise. I’m not a fan of how the Deebees were used, but the firefights against them are incredibly well-balanced and have great combat bowls, especially during storms. Two levels separate the wheat from the chaff: the Act 3 fight at the bottom of the catacombs versus juvies and pouncers, and the Swarmak bossfight at the end of the dam in Act 4. But the most thrilling firefight, for me, takes place inside the Pendulum Wars museum in Act 3. Gears 4 incentivized hyper-aggressive play in most fights, even on Inconceivable difficulty, and that fight exemplifies it by forcing you to assault the fortified museum’s machine gun nest, breach and clear the top floor, then defend it against overwhelming odds.
(honorable mention: the drone elites are Therons without torque bows, and their lancers are the deadliest in the franchise, so I love overcoming them. The mech levels are also brilliant and invigorating. Overall, this is actually my favorite Gears campaign when judged by gameplay, and it even tops Gears 3’s gameplay… I love that you can use the Dropshot on an enemy in the distance, Yank & Stab another enemy, and drop the dropshot through the distant enemy’s skull at the same time)
Gears 5: this game manages to be “second-best” in a lot of categories, but it’s also the best in a few. The recoil mechanics make gunplay more interesting if you can master them, and each enemy type (especially the new ones) get implemented in combat arenas that demonstrate their strengths and weaknesses. The JACK mechanics are so fun and good, I was left screaming at the TV when the Del/JD choice cutscene forgot to include JACK. The best fight overall is when you link up with Marcus near the end of Act 4, because you’ve just been gutpunched by a pointless death, you’re surely low on ammo with all guns if you’re on Insane or Inconceivable, and you need to rely on Marcus and a Redshirt lady to cover you while you kill and loot. That firefight has Marcus as an NPC, with a scripted kill versus a Pouncer, and then he proves why he’s the best dang Gear in the franchise. Enemy variety is also strong and deadly in that fight, but you can play equally aggressively or defensively depending on how good you are in melee.
(honorable mention: the end of each Act has an incredible fight, and the self-destruction of New Hope lets you shoot snipers while sliding down a slope. If we judge based on tension, options, and variability, then two of the best firefights are the centrifuge battle in Act 3, or the one early in Act 4 where you link up with a Gear squad to flank a Swarmak, fight a Warden, and drop the Hammer)
Theres this part in Act V in Gears 2 where youre in this courtyard and you have a really long fight with no checkpoint until you beat the section. Theres a Troika gunner in the middle, alot of drones including some Cyclops. Maulers closing in on you then Bloodmounts show up while the entire time theres a Kantus in the back and tickers rushing you.
Need more sections like this in the next game.
I can tell you put a lot of passion into your post. 
I loved reading through it, nice one. 
Dana trying to convince us that the chainsaw reload/jam was a feature and not a bug, he took quite a beating.
Thankfully.
Dana explaining the math for getting 100k versus kills would only take a few weeks if you played a couple hours of KOTH everyday.
Any firefight with Samantha involved is my favorite 
Yeah man, even after playing through it a bunch of times already, it still gets me.
The fight itself is already very intense, especially on higher difficulties, and just when you think you can rest a bit once the cutscene starts, you get hit with one of the most heartbreaking character deaths.
Gears of War 3 Act 1 on the ship when you have to do actual firefighting. Grab the extinguisher and then turn valves.
Dana v the community
