Gears 5 - A Review

I finally got around to playing Gears 5 over the last couple of weeks. 

I played this on my XBOX ROG Ally X, and the performance was honestly really good. I guess you'd expect that on a game that came out nearly 7 years ago; but it was a really good experience. I played with most settings on Ultra with occasional highs/mediums on shadows and reflections.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**
On the slight chance you have an interest in playing Gears 5 and have not yet, you may wish to stop reading now. There will be spoilers ahead.

I'll give the TL/DR up front: 7/10. Story was a little weak. The game missed an opportunity for a valuable payoff. Combat is top notch but could have used a bit of variety in dialogue and enemy presentation.  And for the love of all that is sacred, give me a different vehicle in act 3. COGs shouldn't be kite surfing around for 2 full acts. 

Now onto some more detail. Overall I really enjoyed the first two acts of Gears 5. The combat is awesome for the most part. But, some of it did start to get repetitive. The pattern of clearing a room, find or doing a thing, getting to the next room where you see barricades and cover started to get too familiar. You'd see these visual queues and just know there is another rush of enemies coming. I wish aspect felt more organic and less scripted. The enemies really started to get old too. "We've got a Warden!?" "A Scion!?!" "Oh no THEY'VE GOT A BASTION!". I did not want another boss fight or anything, but maybe give some versions of these enemies some special clothes or armor or something.  Give them a brief of an entrance cut-scene when it's a meaningful section of the game. 

I guess it was controversial that you have to play as KAIT DIAZ. I didn't mind playing as KAIT DIAZ at all. That part didn't bother me. But, once we got out of act 2 I really started to get sick of skiffing around. This felt largely like filler and gave me vibes of Halo Infinite doing the damn repair bays and fuel cells on a map where you feel disconnected immediately from the story arc. Especially in Act 3 in the desert where you literally stop at an airport with planes, helicopters, trucks, etc. All kinds of vehicles. But, sure let's have thes 5 COGs just kite surf around like they're on vacation in Key West. I didn't do a single optional mission in the desert, I was sick of them and anxious to progress the story.

The side-kick robot Jack was a surprise value to the game. The abilities you can develop with him were interesting and added a dynamic element to the game. I especially liked where he could control an enemy and have it fight as one of your team. I would shoot helmet off of a distant enemy and tell Jack to control him.  It was some much needed diversity in combat strategy and made me think about how to approach the larger and more consequential battles. 

My favorite parts of the game were the "under-the-ice" lab and rocket facility.  In the lab, where you inevitably fight the Matriarch (which, was a really frustrating but awesome boss battle) the game has a slower but tense tone reminiscent of how I felt when I played Bioshock. In the rocket facility, the sweeping open space and large scale level design feel immersive even though I played it on a 7 inch handheld screen.  The combat in these large spaces as you're trying to load satellites and get the rocket launched was a fast paced rewarding section to play through. Most of the work in act 3 misses its payoff though for me. All of that work was to get the Hammer of Dawn back online in the Gears universe.  And you FINALLY do it... and the game gives you 2 chances to use it.  The first was pretty fun, you're elevated and just blowing up all kinds of enemies and the environment structures react to it in a satisfying destructive manner. But, the 2nd time it was mostly pretty normal enemies that you have fought before, just in greater / faster numbers. I was feeling like the game missed a payoff for that once the beacons started getting smacked down by the Kracken.

The end boss fight of the Kracken bothered me a bit if I'm being honest. I was ready for the game to be over at that point, and it felt like largely a replay of you first encounter of the Kracken. The 16th time I had to shoot a tongue trying to eat one of my team-mates, I was ready to just let them get eaten. I was excited when the game steered me to operate the giant wall mounted rail gun; but you don't REALLY get to use it. You aim, you pull the trigger, but surprise - it's a cutscene and your aim and careful placement of the important rail gun shot had zero impact. Then you are faced with reracks the tongue battle and have shoot at tonsils with your normal weapons before firing a 2nd scripted railgun shot after a long recharge time. Finally, Jack overtakes the beacon system and goes into the Kracken's mouth so the Hammer of Dawn can get a lock, a worthy sacrifice Jack. Thank you for your service. But, the game fires the Hammer of Dawn for you in a cutscene and kills the final boss for you.

As far as the ending story goes, my story choice was fine. I chose to save Del instead of JD. In that scenario, Marcus' reaction is understandable.  But, I watched the other ending where you save JD instead and I thought it was crazy that Marcus says nothing to KAIT DIAZ when she reports that Del has perished. Marcus just goes to JD and hugs him. KAIT DIAZ and Del fought together through the entire game and Marcus doesn't even acknowledge her. KAIT DIAZ and Del also basically saved Marcus' ass in the 4th act. I know the game sets up some animosity here because of KAIT DIAZ'S origin and connection to the swarm, but all it needed was an acknowledgement from Marcus that KAIT DIAZ is on of them no matter what. He does finally silently beckon KAIT DIAZ into the debrief huddle at the very end, but that story just seemed off. I wish I felt more connected to the story, and I think it wouldn't have been that much harder to make that happen.

I'm glad I played Gears 5.  I'd do it again... But, there's a few areas that this game could have been better in my opinion.