“I hope they go back to it, but I love those guys and just want them to make a game they feel nails the Gears experience everyone loves,” wrote McIntyre when asked about whether he was upset that the trilogy started with Gears of War 4 never got a conclusion. “That’d be awesome. And hey, if that leads back to the trilogy, happy days.”

“We did Gears 4 and 5, and there was a suggestion that maybe there would be a Gears 6,” he continued. “But the team wanted to try something new, as I understand it. And honestly, it looks great. Can’t wait to play.”

As for JD’s ultimate fate owing to the events of Gears 5, McIntyre proposed his own solution for how The Coalition can bring the character back for a potential Gears 6. It essentially involves the Swarm somehow having revived the character and controlling him, and eventually even bringing in his father and original trilogy protagonist Marcus Fenix joining the fight to save him.

“I have a solve for that regardless of what you choose,” he explained. Hoping that Del is canon, Marcus loses his mind and goes rogue, and you learn JD has kind of been revived and controlled by Swarm, his dad has to fight him. But somehow you save him. Not sure how yet. Or if it matters lol.”

JD was introduced as a new protagonist in Gears of War 4, which also revealed that he was the son of Marcus. Set over two decades after the events of Gears of War 3, Gears 4‘s story revolved around the rise of a Locust-like race known only as the Swarm, as well as the COG, serving as the secondary antagonist thanks to its desire to bring Outsiders back into the fold.

While the story’s resolution turns the crew into allies of the COG, Gears 5 offers a fun twist on the story. JD, ordering a Hammer of Dawn to fire on large Swarm creatures in the midst of an evacuation, accidentally triggers the death of many civilians. The role of protagonist for Gears 5 is played by Kait, who starts having visions related to the Locust.

The next mainline entry in the franchise, Gears of War: E-Day, is slated for release later this year. The story takes place before the events of the first game, putting players in the midst of the Locust attack on Sera. Players once more take on the roles of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as they fight their way through the invasion in the city of Kalona.

Resident Evil 2 (2019)

Resident Evil 7: biohazard was the first RE Engine title, but it arguably shone brighter in Resident Evil 2. It leveraged the engine to reimagine many iconic levels and creatures in exquisite detail while providing excellent character models and animations. The effects and lighting depict events like meeting Mr X for the first time in ways that are in keeping with the original while feeling memorable on their own. It’s crazy that the RE Engine was created in 2014 and still provides some of gaming’s most gorgeous games.

We’ve had quite a few notable examples of games that have disappointed with their runtime in both ways, and here, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about- five games that we felt ended too soon, and five that just didn’t know when to end. Let’s start with the former.

GAMES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LONGER

RESIDENT EVIL 3

You don’t ever want your survival horror games to be too long. More often than not, a dozen or so hours is the sweet spot, which means that owing to their very nature, horror games often end up being relatively shorter than other games in other genres, especially in today’s day and age. But even in a genre where audiences are more accepting of shorter runtimes, some games can end way too quickly. 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remake is surely one of them. Perhaps its because it cuts out some fan-favourite sections from the original, or perhaps its because what the game does pack into its 5-6 hour runtime doesn’t exactly hit the highs that they probably should have. Either way, by the time you roll credits on the game, you don’t exactly feel fulfilled by the experience- certainly not in the way most did with the RE2 remake.

THE CALLISTO PROTOCOL

The Callisto Protocol turned out to be a disappointment in more ways than one, from its lack of real scares to its baffling focus on melee combat to its frequently clunky controls. Another area where it failed to meet expectations was its length. Striking Distance Studios’ horror game is one that you can blow your way through in roughly 8-10 hours. Viewed in isolation, that isn’t necessarily a bad number, especially given the fact that this is a horror game. What exacerbates The Callisto Protocol’s issues in this area is the fact that it’s an excessively linear game, with little to no room for exploration or engaging in optional content. By the time you’re done with the game, it feels like the game has barely scratched the surface in terms of making good on its potential.

METAL GEAR SOLID 5: THE PHANTOM PAIN

Even if you’re focusing almost exclusively on is main story, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is a game that you can easily clock about 45-50 hours into- twice as much if you decide to properly engage with all of the optional stuff. So no, in terms of pure numbers, Metal Gear Solid 5 doesn’t really need to be longer. The problem isn’t with the amount of content the game offers though, but with the nature of the content it offers. The vast, vast majority of the game’s second half is little more than remixed and recycled content from the first half, and of course, it’s no secret at this point that Kojima Productions had to cut out a great deal of ideas, content, and features from the game during development. The end result is a spectacular game with incredible stealth mechanics that, sadly, loses steam halfway through, and ends on a bit of a downer. Perhaps with more time to properly tell the story it wanted to tell would have helped the game stick the landing.

GEARS OF WAR 4

On paper, it doesn’t look like Gears of War 4’s length should be much of an issue. At about 10-12 hours long, it’s roughly as long as all the games that preceded it. Like a few other games on this list though, it doesn’t use that time well. Gears of War 4’s campaign isn’t a bad one by any means, but not only does it take too long to get going, it also ends too abruptly. The first act of the game is a bit too slow and uneventful, but the game does begin picking up pace a few hours in. When the credits roll though, it doesn’t feel like the story has reached its endpoint- not even close, in fact. Even calling it a cliffhanger wouldn’t exactly be accurate- it just feels like someone decided to stop telling the story before the climax could really gather any momentum.

DEUS EX: MANKING DIVIDED

Speaking of games that end just as things are beginning to get interesting, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is probably one of the finest examples of that in a modern video game. 15-20 hours is a little short side for an RPG as it is, and it doesn’t help that Deus Ex: Mankind Divided doesn’t end on a very high note- in that the note it ends on feels more like the end of act 2 than the conclusion of the final act. Of course, it’s well known at this point that a lot of that was down to development issues behind the scenes, but the fact of the matter remains that the game left a host of people extremely dissatisfied with its conclusion. Hopefully, one day we’ll get to see a resolution for this story- even though the chances of that look rather slim right now.

GAMES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHORTER

MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR

The open world bloat epidemic has infected a vast number of games over the years, and Shadow of War was one of the earlier examples of that. The root of the problem lay, unfortunately, with the game’s aggressive monetization, and how it always wanted to push people into spending more money- because if you didn’t, you had to spend hours upon hours grinding your way through its rote open world offerings in order to make any real progress. Of course, a lot of the monetization-related issues were eventually patched out, and what was, in many ways, even worse- a game that was too large and too bloated for no reason whatsoever. If it had been about 20 hours shorter, Shadow of War could have been a worthy follow-up to its predecessor. As it stands, it’s still a fun game- but it just does not know when to end.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily the most ambitious game Rockstar has ever made to date, which is saying something, because making ambitious games is the only thing Rockstar ever does. You can spend upwards of a hundred hours in this game’s gorgeous and incredibly detailed open world, and the wealth, variety, and quality of content on offer in every nook and cranny ensures that you’ll always find something to grab your attention. If you’re in it purely for the story though, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game that does drag on from time to time. From its prologue to the infamous Guarma section to the surprisingly long epilogues, there are plenty of sections in this open world epic that can feel like they’re unnecessarily padding out the total runtime. Don’t get us wrong, this is still an absolute masterpiece- but every game has flaws, and being a bit too long is one of Red Dead 2’s.

GHOST RECON BREAKPOINT

Ubisoft games are the poster boys of open world bloat at this point, and though we can point to several examples to prove that point, the one we’re going to go with here is Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Why? Well, there are the obvious reasons of course- the open world is too large with not enough variety, the side activities on offer are too repetitive and formulaic, the mission design even if you’re sticking to the main story is nothing to write home about. What compounds those issues even further is the fact that… well, that this is just a bad game, if we’re being blunt. Ghost Recon Breakpoint tries to be Ghost Recon and The Division all at once, and it doesn’t do any of it particularly well (or even passingly well). The fact that we have to tolerate its mediocrity for several dozen hours makes its already long runtime feel even longer.

DEATH STRANDING

Death Stranding is the sort of game that you either “get” or you don’t- there’s no middle ground. It’s weird, it’s eccentric, and it’s proud of it. If you like what it’s doing and if you buy into its ideas, there’s little doubt that you’re going to love every tiny little bit of it- but if it just doesn’t grasp you, then its open world adventure is likely to feel like a bit of a slog. There’s a zen quality to Death Stranding’s traversal-focused gameplay loop and its asynchronous multiplayer mechanics, but for many, that isn’t enough to carry the whole game. Seeing as the whole game is easily thirty hours long at the very least (and much longer if you decide to really dig in), that can be a pretty big problem for people in that group.

DAYS GONE

You’ll often hear people tell you that Days Gone doesn’t really pick up steam until you’re about ten hours into the game. To be fair, that’s not wrong- it’s at that point that the game truly begins coming into its own and its mechanics and world start singing. At the same time, however, not everyone has the patience to play a game for ten hours before getting to a point where they actually start enjoying it. This is a big, wide game with a ton of content on offer, and a lot of it is really good- but a lot of it is janky as hell and bogged down by generic design. Perhaps if Sony Bend had decided to trim out the fat and go for a much more focused and better-paced experience, Days Gone would have been a much better game- maybe even one that could have gotten a sequel greenlit.

Gears of War debuted in November 2006 for the Xbox 360, developed by Epic Games. Following several sequels and a spin-off, it reportedly didn’t know what to do with the IP and sold it to Microsoft in 2014. The Coalition would form, developing Gears of War Ultimate Edition (a remaster of the original) and further sequels in Gears of War 4 and Gears 5. There was also the strategy spin-off Gears Tactics.

What’s next for the series? A job listing suggested that development is underway on the campaign for Gears 6. The Coalition also sought a motion capture technician specifically for the series, which could be further proof of the sequel being in development. Rumors have also suggested a Gears of War Collection to be in the works, though it hasn’t been officially announced.

Double Barrel Shotgun – Quake

Quake’s Double Barrel Shotgun is a great example, annihilating foes with explosive-sounding shots that don’t outright overwhelm the player. They still feel powerful though and reinforce that feeling of being a nigh-unstoppable Ranger against the world.

#7. GEARS OF WAR: JUDGMENT

Gears of War: Judgment definitely feels like the most inessential game in the series, that’s for sure, and there’s certainly a lot about the game that felt like a bit of a letdown. Not all of the changes it made to the core formula were for the better, and even with that in mind, it didn’t make enough changes, which meant that it just didn’t get that balance right. Even so, it had some solid multiplayer content on offer, with Overrun in particular being a great mode, while for series fans, the story was also quite enjoyable, providing greater backstory and context for some beloved characters that didn’t always necessarily get too much of the spotlight. Certainly not Gears’ best moment, but far from bad even so.

#6. GEARS OF WAR 4

When Microsoft established The Coalition and tasked the new studio with overseeing the Gears of War franchise and safely guiding it into the future, the developer had a whole lot to live up to with its first Gears game. With Gears of War 4, they decided to take a safe approach, and that, perhaps, wasn’t something that people were hoping for. While many felt that the series needed a reinvention, Gears of War 4 was instead content to play things by the rulebook- but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a great game. It introduced great new characters, delivered a tightly crafted campaign with excellent mechanics and memorable shootouts, and quite a few memorable set piece moments that rank as some of the best the series has ever delivered. Add to that a solid Horde mode and an enjoyable multiplayer component, and what you have is a solid, enjoyable, yet unambitious third person shooter.

#5. GEARS TACTICS

The Coalition and Splash Damage teamed up for this one, and ended up delivering a much better game than any of us had expected it would be. A series like Gears of War, which is so reliance on team-based tactical shootouts against the backdrop of cover-based mechanics, does make a lot of sense as an XCOM-style turn-based tactics title, and Gears Tactics proved that the idea can be just as good in practice as it is on paper. Gears Tactics is addictive, mechanically deep and dense, and consistently enjoyable, with great progression, engaging strategy gameplay, and excellent customization mechanics. Sure, it can get a little repetitive in terms of its side quests, and the story isn’t the most perfectly paced, but this is an excellent turn-based tactics debut for the series, and we’re hoping it’s the first of many of its kind.

#4. GEARS OF WAR

The one that started it all, and immediately went down in history as one of the most revolutionary and influential games ever made. Cover-based third person shooting has become such a widespread staple that it’s hard to even think of it as a special mechanic anymore, but it was Gears of War that pioneered and revolutionized that excellent gameplay mechanic and built a spectacular shooter around it. And there was so much else that helped the game standout, from the iconic chainsaw Lancer and the brutal executions to something like the active reload mechanic, which, too, is something that games of all kinds have been aping since 2006. All of that combined with the introduction of memorable (and eventually iconic) characters and the establishment of a legendary franchise ensured that Gears of War would always be remembered as an all-time great.

#3. GEARS OF WAR 2

Following up on a revolutionary, genre-defining game such as the original Gears of War is no easy task, but Epic Games did it with great aplomb, confidently delivering one of the best third person shooters you’ll ever play. It was really the perfect sequel in every way possible. On the multiplayer front, this was when the series truly came into its own, thanks to wide-ranging and robust offerings that players could sink dozens upon dozens of hours into. Most notable was the introduction of Horde mode, which would go on to take the industry by storm and is being aped by games to this do, to the point that it’s basically become a trope. Meanwhile, the campaign was excellent as well, delivering memorable set pieces and surprisingly emotional narrative developments in one expertly paced package. With Gears of War 2, Epic Games took the winning formula of the first game and improved upon it to cement the series’ legacy forever.

#2. GEARS 5

After playing things safe with Gears of War 4 and showing to the world that they were capable of making a perfectly serviceable classic Gears of War experience, The Coalition decided that with Gears 5, it was time to get more ambitious- and we’re glad they did, because they ended up delivering one of the series’ best games in years. The campaign is right up there with the likes of Gears 2 and 3 in terms of quality, thanks to excellent pacing and a nice mix of tightly designed shootouts and more open ended areas. The addition of light stealth mechanics and Jack as a companion add a whole new layer of strategy and progression to the experience as well, making the experience that much more engaging. Meanwhile, with the trifecta of Horde, Escape, and Versus, Gears 5 also offers the deepest, most varied, and most robust multiplayer component of any Gears of War game till date, and better yet, it’s only kept on improving as time as gone on. Add to that the excellent single player campaign expansion of Hivebusters, which might just be the best single player Gears of War content ever produced by The Coalition, and the game becomes that much more of an irresistible package.

#1. GEARS OF WAR 3

By the time Gears of War 3 rolled around, the series was firing on all cylinders. Knowing that they were capping off the entire trilogy, Epic Games took this opportunity to build on all the strengths of the first two games, and ended up delivering the most confident, refined, and full-featured Gears of War game at the time. The campaign was a rollercoaster from start to finish, excellently tying off the trilogy’s story with a great mix of high-octane adrenaline-fueled action and high-stakes and emotional character-driven moments. The multiplayer was brimming with content, with excellent maps, characters, and weapons to sink your teeth into, while the Horde mode was perfected even further, especially with the introduction of Beast mode, which was, in essence, a reversal of Horde itself. It was, in every way possible, the zenith of the Gears of War formula, and an appropriately excellent way for Epic Games to sign off from the franchise.

Sunset Overdrive

Sunset Overdrive’s vivid art-style would look absolutely phenomenal in 4K and 60 FPS. Currently, the game runs at 900p and 30 FPS and while the Xbox Series X’s Auto HDR makes it pop, a proper optimization patch would go a long way. Given that Sony owns the rights to the IP, this may seem like a pipe-dream – at least on Xbox consoles – but we can still hope.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/top-xbox-one-games-that-need-xbox-series-x-patches/feed 0 470052 https://gamingbolt.com/15-video-game-sequels-that-were-unnecessary-but-amazing https://gamingbolt.com/15-video-game-sequels-that-were-unnecessary-but-amazing#respond Mon, 07 Dec 2020 11:39:10 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=461383 Throughout video game history, there have been some series where you wonder why the sequels never end. However, there are others which seemingly shouldn’t get sequels either because of lack of sales, development troubles or because they don’t need it. Then they get sequels anyway and they’re pretty darn good, sometimes even better than the original. Let’s take a look at 15 such sequels here, though beware of spoilers.

Titanfall 2

For as brilliant as its multiplayer was at launch, Titanfall had some major issues with balance, content and post-launch support. The throwaway “story” didn’t help either and despite a positive critical reception, player numbers dropped off, leaving doubts as to whether Respawn would revisit the franchise. But not only did Titanfall 2 happen – even with how disagreeable some of the multiplayer changes were – it had an incredible campaign that stands as one of the best in the genre. Sadly, its sales and player count dipped even quicker and the series is more or less AWOL.

BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS

Batman: Arkham Origins could not have released under worse circumstances, in retrospect. Not only was it developed as a stopgap and sandwiched between two of the series’ biggest games in Arkham City and Arkham Knight, it also came out exclusively for 7th-gen consoles right on the cusp of the beginning of the next console generation. The fact that it was developed by WB Games Montreal while the series’ main devs Rocksteady focused on Arkham Knight did its pre-release hype no favours either, while Warner Bros. themselves have, bafflingly enough, continued to roundly ignore the game in the years that followed. That’s a real shame, too, because with a great story, some of the best boss fights in the series, and the typical strengths in combat and open world traversal that the Arkham games are know for, Arkham Origins did everything series fans wanted it to.

The newest installment in the Gears of War franchise burst onto the scene with Gears 5. The game has managed to really give a big shot in the arm to the franchise. While never in any real danger per say, there definitely was a feeling of stagnation with the previous installment, Gears of War 4. Which makes it a symbolic victory, of sorts, that it was outsold by the sequel.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Phil Spencer gave a huge, overarching interview about the Xbox brand and the many games under it. When it came to the sales of Gears 5, he simply said, “Gears 5 sold well for us. It sold better than Gears 4. And we feel good about it.”

That’s about all there is that. There’s no specific numbers given, nor is it clear if Spencer is in any way factoring in the Game Pass numbers into the Gears 5, considering its massive success on that subscription service. Either way, if there was any fear of stagnation at one point, it’s probably been quelled with this news.