We’ve had our share of endless Gears 5 negativity threads, but what do you actually like or love about this new Gears?
Here’s my list:
Campaign. I thought the campaign was great. As much as I love Gears, they all do end up playing pretty close to one another. It’s nice to see Gears 5 take some chances, and for the most part they paid off. The semi-open world worked pretty well, if not a little paddy. I enjoyed exploring with the Skiff, finding different relic weapons, and completing various sidequests. But by far my favorite aspect of the new Campaign was Jack. I loved finding components and beefing him up. Very nice and I hope to see this mechanic make a return in 6. As for the ending, well it was…different. I’m interested to see how this plays out in Gears 6. Maybe the ending was actually a dream…?
Stunning visuals. This is by far the best looking Gears to date and probably one of the best looking games this gen. Especially at 4K 60, it’s a sight to behold no matter what mode you are playing.
Very smooth gameplay. Going back to Gears 4, the game feels a little stiff and jittery in comparison. I think they found a good balance with the speed in Gears 5. Gears 4 was a little too wild IMO, and that’s coming from someone who played it for 3 years straight and was generally pretty good.
The Gnasher. Yes I know the game suffered from over powered aim assist and bullet magnetism at launch, but since the patch it feels MUCH better. Assuming you have a good connection (of course), shots feel good and land the way they should. Also the removal of active reload power buffs was a great idea. Levels the playing field.
Hit markers. This is something I’ve wanted in Gears for a long time. It’s very satisfying to know exactly when you’ve done damage to your opponent and exactly where. The individual bullet markers for the Gnasher are a nice touch as well and help you visualize your shots so there’s no questioning where the bullets landed.
Weapon variety. Gears 4 was fun but the weapon variety was a little stale. The new weapons like the Lancer GL, Claw, Talon Pistol, Cryo Cannon, etc add much needed variety to the weapons. It feels like a much more complete package in comparison to 4.
Map design. Yes we don’t have enough maps and are growing bored of the current 7, but what we have are some really well designed maps that offer some real variety. Gears 4 maps were good, but also very safe. I like that they’re trying to really change it up in Gears 5 and no two maps play the same. Bringing back environmental effects from the OG Gears games is nice too. Looking forward to the new maps.
Arcade mode. Yeah, call me crazy but this mode is super fun, especially when you just wanna chill and take a break from Ranked. Very cool concept. Double Trouble is even more fun.
Enemy health bars. This is a very nice touch for those who play a lot of PVE. It’s great knowing how much damage you’ve put into an enemy, especially a boss as it allows you to strategize appropriately with your team. It’s also just very satisfying from a UI standpoint.
Speaking of UI…it’s fantastic in Gears 5. One of my biggest gripes in Gears 4 was the clunky and sluggish UI. Especially the character customization screens. It’s super smooth in Gears 5 and accessible from any menu, any mode. Very clean and snappy.
Tour of Duty/Medals. IMO this is one of the best new additions to Gears. Battle Passes are nothing new, but bringing it to Gears for me personally was a match made in heaven. I never really had issues getting myself to play Gears before, but now I have a real sense of motivation and something to work towards. I play Gears 5 on a daily basis, not something I’ve done with a Gears game for a long time. One thing I’d like to see TC improve however is the rewards. I want to see better skins, and more opportunities to unlock iron. Boost would be nice too.
Totem system. This one is big. If I had to pick one major issue to be addressed in Gears 4, it would be the terrible RNG based loot box system, aka digital gambling. I absolutely hated this crap system. I’d grind for hours getting credits, open tons of packs, only to NOT get the skin I wanted, then guess what, the character is gone. Or there would be a character release where I simply wasn’t around to play. It was stupid and unfair. Of course TC started introducing a pay option towards the end of the game’s life cycle, but yeah that was 3 years later. With the new system you get the option to grind or pay, right away no questions asked. And if you choose to grind, there’s no time limit. FINALLY. This is how it should have been in Gears 4. I unlocked the Warden last night, and honestly, it wasn’t bad at all. A bit grindy? Yes. But at least I’m given the option over spending real money and I’m not at the mercy of an RNG based system. Also there’s no expiration on the unlock. Does it suck that the challenges need to be repeated for each character? Well I guess some view it that way, but once again it’s an alternative to paying and there’s no expiration.
Horde. I know this is a controversial one as some love their classic Horde and being able to use any skin they want, but I think it’s a solid change. The Hero system is a good idea. Having unique abilities is cool and makes each player on the team feel unique and relevant. It also really makes the Engineer shine. I like how power is automatically split between teammates, it makes retrieving power more important as it now affects everyone. Power Taps are a neat addition and force the team to rethink their trategies on each map. Do you try and defend them all? A select few? None at all? It’s the teams decision. But if you can, you will gain a lot of extra power. Perking up is great. I love the feeling of buffing up during a Horde match. One area I’d like to see adjustments are some characters ultimates and abilities. I feel like some are great and some are kinda weak. Hopefully TC can make some adjustments to make every character feel like they’re worth using . The Forge could use some work too, it’s too expensive and doesn’t reward you enough back. I’d also like to see the option of a Classic Horde mode where any skin can be used. It would please all Horde fans.
Escape. This mode is a really nice surprise. It’s not mind blowing, but offers a fun alternative to play Gears and it’s a really cool concept. I’ve actually played Escape more solo than with friends, but I’ve had a blast with it. They are like these mini adventures at first, then as you get better they become personal challenges. I completed the Labyrinth solo last night, pretty challenging.
So that’s my list of the top things I like about Gears 5. Could I make a list of negatives too? SURE. But we have plenty of those lists already.
What are some things you genuinely like about Gears 5? Share your list.
P.S. - TC only paid me 500 iron to write up this post. I honestly expected WAY more. Also I am a shill, not a real fan. I’ll probably stop playing this game next week and go back to Fortnite. Chapter 2 is SO COOL. I’m also 15 years old and my mom bought this game for me, otherwise I’d never play it…
I like how the aim-assist and funky mechanics let me one-shot people from a mile away without even looking at them. I love how strong the lag compensation is, so I can shoot people miles around corners when I have 100ms+ ping.
I like how the blood splatter distracts my enemies by being excessive. I like that I can use a mouse and keyboard to wallbounce so fast players with a controller can barely touch me with infinite scroll wheel.
I like how people can shoot me clean in the face with the sniper and it not kill me. I like how you can grief servers and the host can’t kick you without ending the game for everyone.
[quote=“Link23809, post:1, topic:34572”] Very smooth gameplay. Going back to Gears 4, the game feels a little stiff and jittery in comparison. I think they found a good balance with the speed in Gears 5. Gears 4 was a little too wild IMO, and that’s coming from someone who played it for 3 years straight and was generally pretty good.
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Agree/Disagree
GoW 3 I felt had the best movement, where this game did right with movement is it doesn’t have that ridiculous screen shake, that’s a plus. It’s not terrible, honestly removing the delay from the movement would make it 10x better. If you can’t feel it, you’re not a wall bounce/ strafe player.
I don’t think this is as bad as people make it out to be, but the rewards are quite garbage, at least this tour.
It feels ok, the magnetism is very much still there, and the aim assist still makes it to easy to shoot, it’s range is fairly op. Overall fairly garbage version of a used to be skilled weapon, now noobed down.
Like you said toward the end, but to be honest it shouldn’t be purchasable, as the promised not to micro transactions gameplay content and seeing as to how some characters are in fact content related to gameplay ie COG Gear, they lied. The system also should have challenges unique to the characters. But it’s not a terrible idea, just needs refined.
I know some people will flame me for this but I like the 2 halo characters. Yes it isn’t their universe and they have half as many perks as the default classes but still.
I like the look of their armor.
I like Emiles play style for lower difficulties. Shame it isn’t viable at higher ones.
I prefer Kat over Del. Del has better perks hands down but lvling up Kat has taught me you don’t need “that” many turrets to beat masters. Also I prefer her starter weapons and her ult. It feels good to succeed with someone who isn’t part of the current meta.
Isn’t COG Gear unlockable by just playing? Yeah, he is. As long as there is an option I think it’s fine. Also they do have character specific challenges, but only 1 per character the rest are copies. I agree it needs refinement.
I like Escape and character upgrades in horde. The jack/foundry combo would be good with some tweaking.
Definately miss beast mode as it was a good change of pace.
It will be a good game if the pings comes down and they fix issues like disappearing weapons on reload benches.
Visuals are amazing as usual and I enjoyed the campaign luckily didn’t run into any issues. Also like the halo characters too because Emile is just a badass in general and definitely fits in the GoW grit and badassery. And yes I only play as Emile lol. Just the bad completely over shadows the good in my opinion.
PS willing to fight anyone who tries to get Emile out of the game
I like how they added bots to horde so you aren’t grossly undermanned if someone quits or you just want to go it alone. I agree that the added weapons add some variety to the game, as does the hero system in horde. Just wish that were a tad more flexible. I loved the campaign and didn’t have too many technical problems with it. I like the ToD system, though it could use some tweaks.
