Gears of War 4

I never expected to compare Gears of War 4 to The Force Awakens, but I couldn’t be happier to do so. Like the latest chapter in the story from a time long ago in a galaxy far, far away, Gears of War 4 is directed by a new generation of creators, shares a lot of similar narrative structures to the beloved first piece of the trilogy it succeeds, and is an experience you’ll walk away from with a big smile on your face – in campaign, Versus, and Horde modes alike. It’s about as good of a franchise reawakening as I could’ve hoped for. J.J. Abrams would no doubt appreciate what Gears 4 accomplishes.

Despite that pressure, The Coalition have proved with Gears of War 4 that the team is more than capable of providing an experience that falls in line with the titles that came before it by staying reverent and faithful to the original games (sometimes to a fault), but with enough layers of intrigue and new additions to make Gears of War 4 an admirable continuation of the Gears story. Like with the relationship of Marcus and J.D. throughout the game, Gears of War 4 sticks close to the legacy of its predecessors, but along the way is on the way to writing one of its own.

Gears of War 4 is exactly what you've come to expect a Gears of War game to be over the years -- an impressive visual showcase in the campaign, with the accompanying competitive and cooperative modes to keep you busy long after the credits roll. Its good to finally see a new Gears of War game on the Xbox One. The wait has been long for Gears of War 4, and now we've seen that the wait has been worth it.

All in all then, Gears of War 4 is a triumphant return to form for the series. What’s more, it proves that the franchise is more than safe in the hands of The Coalition. A visual spectacle that dials back some of the macho ridiculousness of the original trilogy whilst refining and expanding the gameplay, it’s genuinely a game to own an Xbox One for, and with an exceptional range of online adversarial and co-op modes, it’ll keep you more than occupied until the inevitable next instalment.

Gears of War 4 had a lot to live up to, but The Coalition has delivered a visually stunning and thrilling campaign, plus top notch multiplayer modes. One of the Xbox One's very best titles, and the PC version is excellent too.

Gears of War 4 is a great continuation of the series that offers a fun and unique gaming experience.

Gears of War 4 is a worthy successor to the trilogy that came before it. The story features a familiar face or two, but remains focused on the new line of characters. The online component adds new and altered multiplayer modes, but keeps the gameplay locked into what made the originals so endearing. Gears 4 is a painstakingly crafted love letter to those that have a meaty soft spot for the franchise. Aside from the costly cosmetic-focussed transactions, this is the exact experience that fans have been waiting for.

Coming into Gears of War 4, I really had my doubts. As I mentioned before, I wasn’t sure if The Coalition was up to the task of carrying the torch and moving the Gears series into a bold new direction. Thankfully all my fears were disproved with the release of Gears of War 4. And even though the game still plays things close to the hip, instead of going balls deep into a new territory, make no mistake that this is a Gears of War title that does exactly what it was meant to do – Get you excited and have you smiling from ear to ear.

Gears of War 4 is a fun sequel fueled by nostalgia and pitch perfect gameplay. Here is our review...

The nature of Gears of War 4 is that we won’t know its legacy until there are more games in the canon. That’s frustrating now but it’ll hopefully be exciting later. This was a fine first showing but it’d be nice to see The Coalition carve its own identity for Gears of War. Using Epic’s foundation is understandable and expected, but it often feels like a crutch. Marcus’ boy had grown up just like him.

Gears of War 4 is probably the best Gears campaign so far, but it's saddled with uninteresting robotic enemies, a multiplayer suite that makes no concessions to casual players, and a loot treadmill that pushes microtransactions too aggressively.

This feels like a game you've played before, but with plenty of blood pumping through its intense multiplayer.