"Gears of War 4" review: A sceptic's opinion and what the other media say
11.10.2016
Translation: machine translated
The heavily armed mountains of flesh are back and once again use their chainsaw guns to turn everything in their path into a bloody mass and now also into electronic waste. We'll tell you whether it's worth buying.
After 'Gears of War 3', the game was supposed to be over. However, developer Epic sold the rights to Microsoft and fans received a half-baked prequel in the form of "Gears of War: Judgement". Part 4, the official sequel, has now been released. You play J.D. Fenix, son of Marcus Fenix, who is also celebrating a comeback. Once again, the aim is to save humanity from extinction.
First things first: I'm not a big Gears fan. Even when my mate proudly showed me the first part ten years ago with his new Xbox 360, I didn't really warm to it. I played half of the second part co-op with a flatmate. After that, we both lost interest. I did at least play through part three, but the fun factor was only just high enough to get me through to the end. I started "Gears of War 4" with a correspondingly prejudiced mindset.
Here comes the mouse
As a primary PC gamer, I've never really enjoyed shooters with a pad, so I was particularly excited about the PC version, which was released at the same time as the Xbox One version. As with "Halo", I've always wondered whether the lack of enthusiasm is simply because I don't enjoy the core mechanic - shooting - enough because I'm too bad with the controller.
In part: Using the mouse to crosshair approaching enemies is definitely more fun for me. However, little has changed in the game mechanics of Gears. You still sprint from cover to cover and shoot at hordes of enemies with all kinds of weapons. Most of the time, you can see from a distance that you are entering another game area, which serves as an entertaining combat arena. And then a plane drops the first capsules and a new wave of enemies wants to be decimated. It feels a bit antiquated and I would only describe the weapons as ok. In the end you always come back to the Lancer, a mixture of assault rifle and chainsaw. At least the graphics are top notch. Xbox One users can look forward to HDR and PC gamers to high-resolution textures.
Not so bad
But, and this was the real surprise for me. "Gears of War 4" is still somehow quite fun. This is partly because the game doesn't take itself too seriously and the dialogues made me grin more than once. And secondly, because the game offers an almost perfect rhythm of action, story and variety. "Gears of War 4" is like fast food: nothing of the highest calibre, but something that you just like to tuck into. As I'm not quite through it yet due to a lack of time, I've put together a few opinions for you from people who know a lot more about the series than I do:
What the others say
Polygon: 9/10
"Gears of War 4" doesn't completely reinvent the genre and it's not always "bigger". But it is an amazingly consistent overall package with a polish and focus that few games can match. With its excellent single-player, co-op and multiplayer options, it is one of the best action games of 2016.
The Jimquisition: 7/10
The campaign is poor and despite claiming to usher in a new generation of the series, "Gears of War 4" ultimately only offers tried-and-tested fare.
Game Rant: 9/10
"Gears 4" is a carefully crafted love letter to those who have a bloody soft spot for the series. Costly cosmetic-focused (micro)transactions aside, it's exactly the experience fans have been waiting for.
PC Games 8/10
Maybe I belong to a dying breed, but I mainly remember scenes from story campaigns and hardly anything from multiplayer battles. I remember some unforgettable moments from the first Gears instalments. That's why I had high expectations for the Gears 4 campaign. There's no question that it also offers some highlights, but these are rarer and less impressive than in the Epic Games titles. I was most impressed by the weather effects. I hope that the new studio finds its own way with the next instalment.
"Gears of War 4" was provided to us by Microsoft and is available for PC and Xbox One.
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Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.