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.

Hitman Absolution

To be perfectly clear, it’s not like Hitman Absolution was terrible. It just failed to really capitalize on what made the series so popular – the sandbox levels that encouraged experimentation and all manner of interesting assassinations. The story was fine and the visuals top-notch but without its rich sandbox, Absolution felt like a stop-gap rather than a real step forward.

Never played the previous Gears of War titles? Missed Gears of War: Ultimate Edition‘s offer that provided the previous Xbox 360 titles for free? You’re in luck – purchasing The Coalition’s Gears of War 4, either at retail or digital, before 2016 ends will receive the previous games in the series for free.

Thanks to Xbox One backwards compatibility, you’ll receive Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War Judgment for the Xbox 360 totally free. You’ll need 32 GB of space in order to uninstall all four games and they will made available via “tokens” through Xbox Live messages. Said tokens will be sent “in waves within one month of redemption”. Offer expires on December 31st so hurry up. Or take your time, whatever helps.

Gears of War 4 will release for Xbox One and Windows 10 on October 11th. What are your thoughts on the game and the offer? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

When one looks back and thinks about the first Gears of War, it’s amazing to forget how much the game innovated.

It changed the way we looked at third person shooters. No longer were you zipping around levels, playing third person platformer while dealing with enemies. Now you were meandering around, dealing with your own bulky weight and dying out in the open. It was for this purpose that developer Epic Games decided to mimic “real warfare” and have you rely primarily on cover. The rules were simple: Find cover or die trying.

"It wasn’t its mechanics that made Gears of War innovative or outright amazing but they helped bring its essence to the forefront of gamers’ minds."

But that’s not all. Gears of War also introduced the Active Reload, which had you carefully timing your button presses to properly reload. A wrong reload caused your gun to jam. A proper reload saw you ready your weapon that much faster and a true Active Reload meant the next few bullets (or potentially the whole clip) received a damage boost. In the midst of finding covering, struggling to reload and mowing down foes that were extremely dangerous even in pairs; Gears of War delivered a palpable, hellish experience that had you on the edge of your seat.

Of course, the main mind behind Gears of War, Cliff Bleszinski, didn’t stop there. The game’s intensity was further enhanced by a near-lethal injection of violence, post-apocalyptic genocide and outright brutality. Chainsaws attached to assault rifles chopped Locust to pieces. You could brutally execute enemies on the ground or gib them into several pieces using explosives, perhaps best exemplified by the Hammer of Dawn’s concentrated laser from heaven.

Mix in some water-cooler moments inspired by Resident Evil 4 – the encounter with the Brumak, the first fight with the Berserker, laying siege to Locust barracks, fighting off General RAAM on a train, navigating the brutal darkness as enemy Kryll waited till all was dark – and Gears of War for its time was one of the craziest and most outright insane shooters out there. And that’s not even counting its biggest contribution to cooperative multiplayer with Horde Mode.

It wasn’t its mechanics that made Gears of War innovative or outright amazing but they helped bring its essence to the forefront of gamers’ minds. Even as Gears of War 2 and 3 shifted the focus towards more cover-based shooting and narrative-focused murder respectively, the action shooter’s many layers left us wanting for more.

"This is the main obstacle that lies before Gears of War 4. In attempting to keep the game firmly entrenched in Locust-massacring territory, Judgment acted as a prequel but Gears 4 can’t bury its head in the sands of time."

Which brings us to Gears of War 4 and reminds us of Gears of War: Judgment, another game in the series that wasn’t developed by Epic Games (it was actually handled by Bulletstorm developer People Can Fly). Judgment took the traditional Gears of War experience and attempted to add its own hooks. You can choose tougher variants of missions. The enemy count was significantly higher.

Newer weapons were added along with newer enemy varieties. Horde Mode had been incorporated into the single-player campaign while Survival took a more class-based, defense-focused objective. All in all, it was a solid Gears of War experience but did it really offer much distinction between “hook” and “innovation”?

This is the main obstacle that lies before Gears of War 4. In attempting to keep the game firmly entrenched in Locust-massacring territory, Judgment acted as a prequel but Gears 4 can’t bury its head in the sands of time. It needs to make a solid effort at moving forward.

So why not set the game several decades or even centuries after the first? The Locust Horde itself resulted from early human Lambents and their mutated genes being passed down to their children. The Horde then found itself torn between fighting the divergent Lambents and being pushed towards Sera’s surface to establish its own home. The Locust formed the basis for a lot of Gears of Wars’ gameplay – would it be a cop out to bring them back again? It would, if they suddenly just reappeared in full force. So why not a slow evolutionary return, entrenched in the annals of human corruption and conspiracy that finally sees them make their triumphant return by game’s end?

"With regards to the game’s mechanics, it makes sense to incorporate some form of linear mission progression intermixed with the ability to race around a giant set piece and murder enemies."

The only problem with this route would be the placebo enemies that the player would need to cut down throughout the game. This isn’t Gears of War without insane cover-based warfare and the Lambent reappearing would just be a similar dilemma. So why not have a cult built around the Locust, one that worships the teachings of Skorge and swears by Queen Meera in the middle of another civil war between the various factions of humanity?

The cult could slowly swell in power before declaring open war as their attempts to bring back the Locust come to fruition. This serves to paint the Locust in a new political light – that of an alternate solution befitting of humanity’s current state but one steeped in past horrors.

With regards to the game’s mechanics, it makes sense to incorporate some form of linear mission progression intermixed with the ability to race around a giant set piece and murder enemies. It would be akin to Halo’s open air battles which promised multiple approaches, vehicles and tactics towards successfully killing enemies.

We’ve seen hints of such open air areas in the Gears of franchise but within a tighter area – and without the feeling of “Go there and do this thing before doubling back and doing the other thing” – it could help lend that urgency of war without compromising on the in-your-face intensity that the series if known for.

"However, the one thing that Black Tusk Studios shouldn't compromise on with Gears of War 4 is the series’ spirit. It’s about killing. It’s about staying alive and it’s about being a bad-ass about it."

Active Reload shouldn’t be scrapped but it should be built. Deliver damage multipliers for successive Active Reloads. Send out enemies that can only be taken down in this fashion or at least structure certain difficulties in such a way that these multipliers will be necessary. Allow gamers to customize their load outs at the beginning of each mission along with different Perks and Abilities. Give them different equipment to further distinguish themselves from their friends and have these character load outs carry over into multiplayer/co-op.

Most importantly, Gears of War 4 should incorporate some form of persistent multiplayer. Have up to 16 players fighting together in the campaign, turning the exercise into one gigantic Horde campaign, and throw in those same open air missions for some additional carnage. There is so much that could be done with the next game in the series that it’s plain crazy to think about.

However, the one thing that Black Tusk Studios shouldn’t compromise on with Gears of War 4 is the series’ spirit. It’s about killing. It’s about staying alive and it’s about being a bad-ass about it. Plot, characterization, dialogue wheels, sandbox elements and whatnot are some nice hooks but at the end of the day, it’s about chain sawing an enemy to bits for the 1000^th time and still feeling like it means something.

It wasn’t long before Director of Product Planning Albert Penello was asked about the 50 percent power difference that Chmielarz was touting, which then prompted this exchange:

@Datownkidd What devs?

— Albert Penello (@albertpenello) September 8, 2013

When pressed for a further reply, the response was surprising.

@Datownkidd don't know 'em.

— Albert Penello (@albertpenello) September 8, 2013

Which is very interesting considering that People Can Fly worked on the Xbox 360 exclusive title Gears of War: Judgment under Epic Games’ supervision. Despite the studio closing, the man who leads planning for the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Kinect isn’t aware of the developer that created a high-profile exclusive released in 2013 itself? Regardless of your thoughts on the PS4 versus Xbox One hardware, it’s hard to deny how strange that statement must be.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Will it influence which console you buy when the PlayStation 4 releases on November 15th in the US and the Xbox One releases on November 22nd worldwide? Let us know below.

The total amount of retail spent on the Xbox 360 in March, which includes hardware, accessories and software, totaled $402 million. This was also the highest for any console in the country.

The release of titles like Gears of War: Judgment, despite its underwhelming sales in comparison to Gears of War 3, Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider can be credit for the high sales gain.

Microsoft has been mostly silent on the next generation of its Xbox console and faced a lot of flak for it. While the new Xbox, rumoured to be called the Xbox 720, might be seen at E3 2013 (with more info arriving in May apparently), there’s no denying the tremendous amount of momentum that Microsoft has going forward.

Judgement sold about 425,000 units in the first month, as against the 2 million units that Gears of War 3 sold when it was released in September 2011. God of War: Ascension sales are estimated at 360,000 units as against God of War 3’s sales of 1.1 million when it released in March 2010.

“We had expected sales trends to improve in March due to a strong core line-up. Two historically strong franchises appear to have significantly underperformed,” according to the company. Unsurprisingly, titles like Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite are still going strong, with the former selling 696,000 units in March and the latter selling 665,000 units in 10 days.

The company expects console and handheld sales in the latest NPD report to drop by 21 per cent year-on-year although a 66 per cent rise in PC sales is expected with the releases of SimCity and Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm.

Source: GIBiz

The world of Witcher 3 not only looks large but it feels large – it encapsulates that feeling we get with several old-school titles where they seemed infinite in concept and could just go on forever. And not even in the Skyrim sense, which you could theoretically play forever. No, Witcher 3 just feels epic in scale.

However, after reviewing Gears of War: Judgment recently, a curious thought occurred. For those keeping score, Judgment isn’t really the longest of experiences. You may probably finish both parts of the campaign within 6 to 7 hours.

But it is fun. Every time you explore a new Declassified segment, there’s this wild anticipation, this thrill, this excitement to see what People Can Fly and Epic Games will throw at you this time. But when it’s over, it’s over and aside from leveling up for multiplayer, there’s very little incentive to go back and replay the campaign aside from re-experiencing those cool moments again.

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Some games involve us to such a great degree, demanding time, commitment and their fair pound of flesh that completing them becomes an achievement. It’s one of the reasons why smaller, more arcade-like indie titles have become so successful: You can jump in, have a blast for 30 minutes and then jump out.

This singular aspect is one of the reasons Angry Birds became so successful and helped drive the amount of mobile and smartphone gaming seen on the market. Some people may not have all the time in the world and just want to get in and start having fun right away.

Why else do you think Call of Duty games have single-player campaigns that seem to cram in more and more set pieces as time goes on? It’s not because they’re looking to impress the great departed spirit of Roger Ebert (R.I.P.) with their emotional depth, that’s for sure.

This presents an interesting quandary for The Witcher 3. It has all of these interconnecting storylines and roughly 50 hours of side missions to go with the 50 hour main quest. You’re almost guaranteed to have a unique play-through each time you go exploring.

Multiple endings also ensure that you don’t get the same end result. But for an experience like this, how willing would someone be to recreate their character from scratch just to experience each and every little nuance the game has to offer?

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Yes, we’ve seen many players do this with games like Mass Effect and Skyrim. And it’s a given that people love these kinds of games, full of epic moments and quests to feed the adventuring soul within. Heck, look at Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and criticisms that is predecessor didn’t necessarily have enough variety in its environments.

Gamers wanted a wide open world full of quests, activities to complete and people to stab. But with the number of so-called epic games that will become available on next generation consoles, how do you get to the point where it feels like too much?

Far be it from us to say that CD Projekt RED should dumb down the experience, and we’re sure they’re balancing it in such a way that the game has lots to offer without overwhelming the gamer.

But a venerable event horizon for RPGs is approaching, where the game goes on regardless of whether events are affecting the gamer or not. Perhaps the best way to put it is that all the action is happening somewhere else and you just carry on carrying on.

On the one hand, with proper balancing, this means you’ll be in for an awesome experience every time you hunker down for the weekend. On the other, it could mean you play for half an hour and just run around, tying up ends here and there on the way to completing that quest a few days later. We’d imagine that the combat will help satisfy the urge for instant action but we’ll have to wait and see.

As of now, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will satisfy a need for the next generation of consoles – the need for a solid, lengthy RPG that can both show off the power of the platform as well as provide enough substance for the long haul. Whether it paves the way for more such games is a different matter, but it certainly has its work cut out for it.

Execution is a lot like Warzone in that players must execute downed enemies in order to score points. Enemy players won’t bleed out, and will basically crawl around unless hit with a One-Shot.

For now, double XP is active in special playlists for both Haven and Execution – those with the Judgment season pass can receive triple XP for a limited time, since the season pass brings permanent double XP with it.

The same mix of brutality and tactical combat returns, buffed up by larger numbers of enemies and unique mission objectives in between chapters delivers a new challenge to veterans of the franchise. The same characters, with their mix of over-the-top macho heroism and gritty survivalist fundamentals, keep you engaged one minute with their witty banter and the next with their tragic circumstances. So it’s a new Gears of War game all right – but is it an entirely new game?

Not really, but the amount of content goes beyond the mere tag of “add-on”. In fact, it could be argued that it’s perfectly justified in its pricing, packing enough campaign and multiplayer material while expanding that ever depressing Gears lore further.

The game starts with Damon Baird, a lieutenant, being court-marshalled along with members of Kilo Squad. Told in flashbacks, you’ll be commanding different members of the squad and recalling the story through their respective POVs. Each new chapter consists of several segments – one could have you playing as Sofia Hendrick, a COG Onyx Guard cadet, while the next has you playing as Augustus Cole, the former Thrashball player turned insane soldier.

But the most interesting new character is undoubtedly Garron Paduk, a former URI soldier from Gorasnaya who joined the COG after the Emergence of the Locusts. Sure, he may stink of Russian stereotype but he turns out to be a rather solid grey character that you can’t help but root (and feel sorry) for.

We won’t spoil the story for you…heck, People Can Fly/Epic Games don’t want to spoil it either. Why else would they tell it in flashbacks? Of course, those flashbacks serve another meaningful gameplay purpose – they allow for certain “extra” testimonies to find their way into the actual mission. Known as “Declassified” segments, they have each member describing a unique situation or activity that occurred in their fight against the Locust.

Those activities manifest themselves in the gameplay. Each mission has one Declassified setting that allows you to significantly up the difficulty and change the circumstances of the mission. Perhaps you want to take on double the number of Locusts? Maybe switch the normal Locust out for a swarm of Ragers, a new enemy type that turns red and immediately charge you with berserker like strength and speed? Every kind of challenge and twist imaginable comes into play: a fog of war distorting your vision, reduced health regeneration, starting with no ammo, reliance on a set weapon (that may also have no ammo), and much, much more.

Toggling a Declassified setting has a deeper purpose – it helps in collecting Stars, which go towards levelling your character and unlocking weapons and such to customize your load out in multiplayer. It’s a great incentive and hardly ever feels like extra work. Just rewards on top of the already rewarding gameplay.

That doesn’t mean you won’t be facing your classic Gears of War watercooler moments. One moment you could be reliving Normandy; the next you’re trying to prevent a Normandy beach landing. Other moments include taking on an actual Berserker or targeting mortar locations. The game is definitely well-balanced and for all those times it can be tough, there’s always another strategy for success.

Of course, this is because every single mission has more or less been relegated to some kind of variant on Horde. You’ll be defending against enemies, holding a section off against enemies or just commandeering a mortar launcher against enemies. See a pattern there? The enemies are always coming to you, as you hunker down in a single spot and prepare to defend, at times more literally than others. Of course, you’ll still be barrelling down corridors and piloting a Silverback to tear through entire waves of Locust defences. But at its core, the game throws as many enemies at you as possible with the Declassified segments providing a little zest.

So the key question: Is it fun? Hell yes it is.

Whether you’re mastering the new URI semi-automatic rifle, which the Ragers modify into the Breech-shot, or taking advantage of a new grenade launcher or just laying into enemies with the Lancer chainsaw, Gears of War: Judgment has the classic gameplay down pat.

It’s amazingly intense and blood-pumping; the increased number of enemies helps add to the insane panic caused by the Locust forces during E-Day. On their own, Locusts with One-Shots, Boomers, Diggers, Ragers, Tickers, Grunts and Grenadiers may not be too tough but entire swarms of them? It’s as awesome as it is challenging.

Increased enemy numbers aren’t the only thing that Judgment does well. This is the apocalypse, and People Can Fly wants you to know it. Remember the destroyed beauty of the other Gears games? Here, you’re actually seeing civilization crumble around you. There are plenty of explosions, but you’ll also be seeing Sera in a completely new light.

For all its wars and tragedies, it’s much like our own world. And the complete and utter annihilation of humanity, as well as the slaughter of those who survived the initial attack, is emphasized far better than in any Gears of War game to date. Really, for all of its flaws, it’s amazing that Unreal Engine 3 can still crank out visuals like this so long after its initial introduction.

Now for the bad news. Remember how we said that it could be argued that the game was perfectly justified in its pricing? None of the other Gears games needed that kind of argument – they always went above and beyond with the amount of content provided. However, when you factor in both parts of the campaign, Judgment and Aftermath, you should be able to clear the single-player in less than 7 hours on Normal difficulty. Then again, playing on Hardcore didn’t make that much difference to length.

There’s also the fact the Horde is gone and replaced with Survival and OverRun. On the one hand, OverRun sounds exciting but it has to be played with friends. The single-player version of that is Survival, where you’re on the COG side and must defend objectives while repelling Locust attacks.

The different character abilities are cool but more than Horde, it emphasizes the fact that you need real team-mates and team-work to effectively succeed. If Horde mode relies on a no-holds barred approach and effective strategy coupled with supreme movement to defeat enemies, then Survival depends on how well you can defend an area.

And with bumbling AI team-mates, who try but ultimately leave it up to you to guard an E-Hole, and lack of upgrades or additional weapons, you can bet it won’t be for long if you go it alone. At its core, Survival is fun; it just sucks when that fun is cut short irrespective of your performance.

If it were any other game, we’d be wary in saying if the Campaign mode alone is worth the price of admission. However, by effectively combining great graphics with interesting mission variants and larger enemy numbers, not to mention overhauling multiplayer (just remember the “multi” part if you want to properly enjoy it), Gears of War: Judgment succeeds as a strong third person shooter that can teach most modern games a thing or two about compelling gameplay mechanics and controls within a short but sweet play-length.

Just remember: It’s not Gears of War 4 by a long shot. The sooner you get past that, the sooner you can enjoy Judgment for the side-story that it is.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.