Gears of War returns through the big door with an inheriting delivery of the best of the original trilogy and able, in turn, to add new weight in everything that is proposed: campaign, horde and confrontation.
Gears of War returns. And it is a sentence that serves to understand that the saga is again topical thanks to the new release for Xbox One and Windows 10, but we can also use it to understand the will of this fifth iteration: a look at the origins of the franchise a decade after Epic Games marked how third-person shooters of the future should be understood. The Coalition has managed to leave behind the doubts caused by its generic demonstration at E3 2015 and offers us a great taste that fans of the saga will appreciate. A brilliant starting point that focuses on the best that the franchise has given us: gameplay above all else.
Marcus Fénix became together with his team of the CGO in an absolute reference for Xbox 360 and users of the Microsoft platform. The first Gears of War marked a way to understand the TPS that was copied in a thousand ways. He did not invent the formula for the hedging system, but he did popularize it and put it as standard. That a saga as successful as GTA will adopt it for the fourth numbered delivery says it all. It was also that great game that made us feel that we were in "a new generation". Local and online cooperative, full multiplayer, a technical portent and the gore and violent touch did the rest.
The formula was polished, improved and brought variety with the arrival of Gears of War 2 and the final closure of the 360 trilogy with Gears of War 3 and the end, in theory, of the Locust threat and all that was supposed for the humanity. Three titles of unblemished solidity - with its pros and cons - and a formula of action always in the space of the excellent (with nuances). Changes in the multiplayer, the novelties of the horde mode -which so many other games have also adopted as a cooperative modality- and the bases established in 2006they made up the subsequent installments of the Epic Games franchise. Then Judgment, more unnoticed, and a break of more than three years (Ultimate to one side) plus a change of company that has sat well to rethink mechanics and not feel exhausted.
A different world from the other Gears
One of the surprises that leaves the fourth installment of the saga is the change of location and context in which we find ourselves. After a first playable compasses that remind us all about the Day of Emergency (a stretch that fans of the saga will thank and much), we take a leap forward several years while controlling JD Fénix , the son of Marcus. He is the protagonist with his friends 'Del' Walker and Kait Díaz. Other characters are added to the trio according to the requirements of the script, such as Kait's uncle, who in a certain way recalls the mythical Dizzy, or Marcus himself.
JD and his father have not seen each other for a long time, and that is something that will be explained later. What we do know is that the protagonists are a kind of fugitive from the CGO-which the little Phoenix enlisted without Marcus's permission-who are working to find resources for a population outside of what is known as the system: walls that enclose the cities and that pretend to assure the people of the climatic problems and other instabilities that Sura suffers after the events of Gears of War 3. The persecution of the CGO to the trio protagonist occupies the first part of the plot, that it ends up leading to other, more important and personal tasks.
Without going into destripes about the plot and its development, to regret in part that the argument leaves many questions open, does not explain many things or motivations that end in a secondary section in an inexplicable way. The objective and the path is clear, but we will have the feeling, at the end of the adventure, that important elements have been left in the inkwell. For next deliveries surely, but that generates certain bittersweet feeling.
To this it is added that the characters, at least for the moment, are not Dom . Not Cole . Not even Baird with his impertinences. Although they have great moments with conversations and reactions so characteristic of the franchise, they do not manage to transmit as much as the protagonists of previous deliveries or as a Marcus does of everything in this own fourth installment and that shines with its own light within the clichés and topics in which always, and probably on purpose, the characters of the franchise have been presented. In any case, they will live several moments at the level of worthy of mention and show, at various times, a potential that can be exploited in the future.
The essence of the first Gears of War
After all, Gears of War is a game that focuses all its virtues in shooting. It is there where the excellence or not of the title of The Coalition is decided, and not in itself its plot and characters have the nuances of a Bioshock or a Metal Gear . And the truth is that the main and great success of the new Microsoft company dedicated to the franchise is to look back and notice, especially in the first part: the most important part of the fourth part are the shootings. From beginning to end. Before robots or before swarms. With final heads or on top of a motorcycle.
The proposal is known by all: we have the triggers to aim and shoot , a button for fast loading that allows us to dynamize our skirmishes, melee attacks and, of course, the mechanics of covering us in all kinds of objects, walls and columns to be able to point from safer situations. The control is much more fluid and faster than before, allowing us to have a domain of our JD more precise and pleasant. Everything is much faster in this sense, with animations to move from coverages to others in an agile way or jump over blocks looking for a better place. It is true that it is still 'hard' to run and turn at the same time, but in general the feeling is that all movements flow much better.
The variety of weapons grows in number and options. There are several types of Lancers , the Hammerburst of the Locust, the devastating Gnasher , the Boltok pistol, the explosive bow, the sniper rifle, the mulcher turret or the rocket launcher, as well as a large cast of grenades to which others like a a new rifle named Markza , the Dropshot , a cutting-disc thrower, a high- speed submachine gun, or Embar , a kind of fusion rifle halfway between the charged shot and the sniper. Yes, there is the Hammer of the Dawn but its presence is totally anecdotal.
New robotic enemies
Many of the weapons are inherited from the enemies we encountered especially in the first two acts: the DeeBees . They are robots controlled by the CGO that are responsible for monitoring specific areas of Sera and chasing the evildoers. That is, to us. Thanks to them we have the aforementioned Embar or a brutal electrifying grenade that makes real havoc. But the contribution of the robots, unfortunately, is far from being the most successful of the game. They have several versions: private soldiers, spheres that assail the infamous, soldiers of greater size and a guardian, a kind of flying drone with protection. But they just do not fit as we would like.
The truth is that the skirmishes with these enemies do not have the intensity or variety that we see with the Locust. The original trilogy offered us combats with a certain tactical component, with the followers of the QueenCovering up like us, shooting from afar with sniper or looking for our back with Gnasher. If you threw a grenade at them, they tried to dodge it. That balance in which the two opposing parties used in the same way the scenario here changes. The robots are rather clumsier. Many of them base their resistance on absorbing bullets, and in return we do not see them covered. The spheres that pursue us are not very relevant and only the guardian, because of its hardness, really offers a different game proposal. These robots, which are under the orders of the Prime Minister and try to stop us in our efforts to get out of the walls, end up offering an unsatisfying experience: shoot, empty clips in your body and wait for them to fall.
Although they try to replicate the profiles that we already know about the Locust, their behavior in combat is not up to expectations. The difference is noticeable especially when the swarm appears for the first time, some derivatives of the Locust called in another way (our protagonists did not know the Locust, after all). That is when we really see the potential of an enemy faction in conditions before us. These old acquaintances, with differences in nuances, maintain patterns despite the change of name - the smallest are juvies , the normal soldiers are drones and the larger ones are the Scions- and we will recognize again from those who carry an explosive bow to boomers, heavy machine guns or classic shotguns. In addition to having several patterns, there is something better: new and surprising monsters are added to the catalog of species to exterminate.
**It is precisely what makes the campaign go forward without further development into a constantly growing development, with moments simply apotheosis in both Act IV and Act V, which reserves a proposal somewhat different from what we know but with the Same essence: destroy enemies. Without going into destripes, when we realize that the enemies of the swarm or something similar to them make an appearance, another game begins. What we have disputed previously is in water of bozos before what comes to us above. **
We will meet the Juvies , an evolution of the infamous but much more dangerous, since in addition to moving at breakneck speed they are capable of executing us when we are injured waiting for a partner to rise. There is a new form of Locust that serves as a "leader", making his teammates more resistant to bullets, something that is not deactivated until he is dead. There are also the new Pouncers that we saw in E3, a kind of animal on all fours that can hurt us in the middle distance by the projectiles of its tail and attack us at high speed moving through the platforms and walls. There is also the collector, a kind of giant beetle that absorbs the CGO and we must finish it before it is taken from the stage. This catalog of enemies is not missing several bosses that it is best to discover for yourself and offer some of the most challenging matches of the game as the Carrier , enemies of great armor and mid-range attacks difficult to assault by how they move through stage.
Change the way to fight
The most relevant of these new enemies is how it changes the way to face the battle against the army, if you can call it that, of the Swarm. The system of coverage while shooting at distant enemies, we try to make out of their hiding place to others and we watch that we do not come running the owners of a Gnasher still present, as the demand to close the holes that come out of the ground, to raise our companions and look for ammunition in every corner. Explicit violence in the form of executions to enemies or the classic Lancer saw remain mechanics as visually striking as they are necessary to defeat some enemies. But there is much more.
In many moments, being crouched with our shift coverage and sticking your head out when necessary will not work. The juvies come from many possible points, are faster than their counterparts of previous deliveries and are present in almost every fight from the third act. This forces us to move, to remain unguarded and to have to monitor possible consequences. The same goes for the Pouncers. These do not understand coverages. What's more, they use the blocks where we cover ourselves to jump from side to side of the screen. It is the Gears of War in which one has the greater feeling of having to retreat by shooting right and left and doubting if it will really help.aggressive patterns coming to look for us makes us live new situations.
The juvies are the youngest version of the Swarm, and appear from within larvae that are scattered around the stage. These larvae also play their role: sometimes they are the only coverageswe have, but if they exploit them they can call hordes of juvies, as if we did not have enough with the other enemies on screen. There is also the other part: the enemies cover themselves in places full of larvae. If we aim badly and we end up blowing them up, more problems for us. If to all this we add the fact that many enemies combine (pouncers and gatherers, who at first seem like bosses, end up being enemies who attack with juvies and drones all at once), that there are other monstrosities waiting and that there are also elements around us that change the game, the result is that with the same base, shootings made in Gears of War, we are facing situations of the most diverse.
The reason why the cities are enclosed in great walls is because the instability of Sera causes that from time to time there are flares, those famous thunderstorms. This also changes everything. Covers that fly through the air, structures that destroy us because the strong wind has sent it with virulence towards us, rays that fall from the sky and must be avoided, reduced mobility to change coverage due to the wind that comes from the face ... There are many details that make that during the 9-10 hours (in difficulty Elevated ) that we are shooting without ceasing we do not have the sensation that they are repeated confrontations. There is always some detail that modifies the experience.
There will be locations in which we will have to fight with platforms that are moving and that 'give and take' coverage, both for us and for the enemies, several areas in which we will have to stop waves of enemies as if it were the Horde mode using a resource box that allows us to get weapons and defense elements ( turrets , electrifying fences ...) to create an improvised fort, something that we saw in Judgment by the way, those phases in which the action is coated in another way ( vehicles, on-rails situations and some surprises), the classic moment in which the team separates into two paths with diverse objectives and concrete actions that we will need to learn in order to finish with the enemies of greater magnitude. On this, there are at least three major clashes that leave a mark by scale and intensity.
Some special allies
Throughout the campaign we are accompanied by at least two AIs, and most times by three. They shoot, they move, they kill some enemies and as a rule they try to come and revive us if we fall in combat. But it is true that there is a lack of more agility in certain moments and in high difficulties, in which we can get desperate. Some juvies lie to us, our companion stays in cover next to us and when he decides to come and pick us up, the monster on duty has already executed us. It does not always happen or is constant, but it is true that in some clashes in which we need the collaboration of the team, this fails something more than the account.
Gears of War 4 is an action game and does not pretend anything else that throughout the campaign we are enjoying shooting right and left. With the largest list of weapons in the series, with many nuances that change a scuffle of the disputed moments before and with a growing rate that makes the campaign, from the third act, shoot ceaselessly. The difficulty is in line with what we have seen in the saga, with the Elevated mode as of great demand to play alone (and with certain hard moments even in cooperative) and madness mode for players who want the greatest of challenges As it happened in Gears of War 3, in Madness if they kill you, you restart game, there is no option to be revived. And in fact in Elevada we will already find several attacks and situations in which we will die directly without going through the statedowncast .
In this sense it is important to emphasize a step back offered by the game with respect to the last two installments: the cooperative multiplayer . It has been limited to two players, both split screen and online. An incomprehensible decision considering that the jump to four players was done at the time and that the campaign never leaves us with only two players (and if he did it is something easily excusable by putting an extra Carmine for a player). It is especially lacking in some battles with final bosses where the two players separate to be able to mislead the enemy from two different flanks and next to us comes an allied AI, which if it decides not to support or cover us, can frustrate the attempt to overcome said enemy.
The horde mode 3.0
It was one of the great news of Gears of War 2 and in this fourth installment has been careful to the last detail the classic way to overcome waves of enemies that so many games have been adopted as a pillar of their games in addition to the campaign and the multiplayer The base proposal is known by all: we have a large number of maps in which we must overcome waves of enemies in the difficulty we want (from informal to Madness) with up to five friends at a time. In total, 50 rounds each more demanding than the previous one, with a scoring system that is rewarding us according to what we do.
The Horde mode 3.0 of this fourth installment adds some interesting developments. On the one hand we have the manufacturer that we had already met in the campaign. The first thing we are asked to do is pick it up and leave it in a safe place. That's where we're going to barricade ourselves. This box has several objects and gadgets to stop enemies, shoot them or electrocute them. But they cost experience points. What we have to do is kill enemies, collect the experience they have left on the ground and place it in the box. This introduces a nuance of management that the team should know how to take advantage of: round 5, is it worth to put some fences or better to hold and collect more experience to get turrets for later?
In addition, to customize the game to the fullest and enjoy a cooperative mode as God intended, we have a series of classes that we can choose and we must share with colleagues. Scout , sniper , engineer , heavy and soldierare the available options. While the first get more power than the others to improve the manufacturer, the sniper can mark enemies and improve the weapons of the team thanks to their skills. All have their pros and cons and most importantly, cards can be equipped to enhance different sections. Execute enemies to get more power, give 15% more health to the fortifications that we install, have more capacity of shotguns or be able to use (in the case of the heavy class) the mortar. Each class has different skill cards, in addition to common cards that can be used by placing them in the corresponding slots.
The system is much deeper than it seems. As we play with a class we raise its level, and that allows us to equip ourselves with more skills (at level 10 we have five slotsof letters to place, but the rise is quite slow and we will take his time) and further outline our choice. Combine it with other players who choose another type of CGO is key to succeed in a way that does not forgive, that launches many enemies at once, that when you kill and restart that round you appear in another order disrupting any strategy that you could pose in a way initial. As we advance rounds invite us to perform some mini-task to get extras. For example: split six enemies in half with the Lancer saw to receive two resource packs. It's risky but it's worth getting the Savo rocket launcher for the Scionsand harder enemies. We will also have challenge cards, which in exchange for doing what they ask us (kill 100 enemies) we will gain experience bonus.
As we play we collect general experience for the level of our avatar, we will raise the level of the class used and get coins that are used to buy packs of cards. Consumables , aesthetic elements and enhancers are the order of the day as if it were an Ultimate Team. The packs are designed to increase our progress in the horde, in the multiplayer, get rewards, skills, skins and characters. They are needed? No, but they make things easier. Getting a thousand gold coins to buy a pack is not too complicated (1.99 euros to change), but it is true that the boost of investing 20 euros in 15 packs or an initial air launch with a pack of packages is an option that is there
Confrontation: a multiplayer for each player
The PVP of Gears of War 4 wants to be durable, and has wicks to get it. It has different proposals according to the level of demand that each player has. The fast social games are the best to compete without any pretense other than divertimento (teams are completed with bots), while the two main modes are the, worth the redundancy, 'Principal' and 'competitive. In the first case we will have a good variety of modalities known to all. Team duel, Dodgeball in which you have to confirm the low, the king of the hill , arms race where we change weapons as we kill enemies, Guardian with the classic team duel where you defend the leader and you must finish with the other, and War Zone occupying the areas spread across the map to get points.
At a competitive level we have Climb , capture and defend rings to add the points or have them all to win a round (and with weapons that are added to each round), and Execution, where we have to kill the members of the rival team using executions and only We have a life to get it. The multiplayer proposals are completed with cooperative modes, where a group of players fight in the PVP proposals against bots, private games where you can customize everything, games in LAN mode and the option to customize your character with skins, weapons and other.
The online sessions we have done with press colleagues worked well, among other things because in the options one can choose the server on which he wants to compete and the European server had a stable ping of about 40ms, something that shot up to more than 100 if we were looking for other servers like the Americans. It will be necessary to see how the game works in a real environment - we will remove anything from the text that is necessary in this sense - although the feeling is that everything has been prepared so that there are no last minute surprises at this point.
What the games transmit in the Showdown modeIt is from a classical and well-known base and a bet for balance. The scenarios (10 in total today) have a very Gears map design, with their replicated areas on one side and the other, with small levels of height, places for ambushes and endless coverages. The appearance every X time of special weapons in each level and the battle to obtain it is an important part of the game, as it is to learn the ins and outs of the maps because in the ways of capturing zones, for example, most points are open to Receive enemies from several flanks at once. It is true that the Gnasher seems to return to have an important role if one manages well through the scenarios, but it will not be until a few months when we really see if it is something that needs to be reviewed or not with some rebalancing.experience in less time.
Technical section on One and W10
Gears of War 4 is a game that looks great on Xbox One and better, logically, it does on Windows 10 . A title that takes advantage of the Microsoft machine with, yes, 30 frames per second in campaign, and that achieves a great finish at the level of modeling characters and scenarios with great detail. We will see explosions, constant contrasts, electrical storms and a game of lights that will surprise you in many moments that are a visual spectacle. Some designs of final bosses and certain enemies provide a more unpleasant and infernal touchof what we were used to with the Locust of the original trilogy. Little can be attributed to this section in a very solid game that is true that it has a very punctual framerate drop -it does not affect the action- and some typical clipping error or some texture that squeaks with respect to the others. To emphasize that where the best finishes have the title is in the campaign, since in the multiplayer one has bet to raise to 60fps in exchange for graphics not so powerful nor with so many details.
But the best visual finish is undoubtedly that of PC. We have a myriad of aspects to customize how we want to see the game. From the resolution to a frame rate totally unlocked - being able to set it to 60fps constant or running at 120 or more, greater viewing distance or vertical synchronization to a myriad of details to improve modeling, lighting, various effects and much more. We have only had a fps drop in some transition between locations, but when we are playing the rate remains solid as a rock, without optimization problems such as those we saw in the recent Forza Horizon 3. In our case we played Gears of War with a processor i7 4700k, 12 gigs of RAM and a GTX 980ti, being able to establish all the parameters in Ultra level and keeping the frame rate constant. The title has a benchmark that allows you to check the performance of our machine and if you have to touch something in this regard. It is not the new technical reference of PC, but there is no doubt that what we see in the campaign looks at a great general level saving some details (like some other animation that could be more credible or something of clipping in executions next to walls and objects).
The soundtrackIt is still a good accompaniment with melodies that are molding their notes according to each moment, with moments of high tension that also know how to transmit through the OST, although the best are still special effects: the sound of weapons, explosions, the jokes of the enemies, the noise of a swarming body shattered by the chainsaw or the jingle that gives us so much peace when we finish with all the enemies and load the control point. As you know, the title comes with voices in English until November 1 that, by patch, the dub will be added to Spanish. In English, in any case, the conversations feel more fluid and less forced than certain moments of the dubbing of the original trilogy, although some comments can be lost - and are relevant - in the middle of the action,
conclusion
The Coalition clears any doubt that may have been generated around him as a company in charge of giving a new direction to the Gears of War saga. The fourth installment of the series that started on Xbox 360 is a tribute to the title that amazed us ten years ago, but it does not stop there. Gears of War 4 is one of the best action titles of recent times, and achieves it with a base known to all and with new weight on several fronts. The enemies of the swarm mix what we liked about the Locust with new challenges and a great variety of situations to overcome. Adapt to the environment, forget at certain times of coverage, back off because there is no other choice and know how to use the large number of weapons available in our favor.
Playable, the work of The Coalition has few cracks. Solid, frantic, varied and intense like few others. Its main setback is in the campaign, with a somewhat irregular start by some enemies, the DeeBees robots , which are not up to the task. And an argument that leaves many holes to fill. But in return we have an in crescendo development that is simply apotheosis from the third Act until the time of the credits. When it seems that we have already done all the type of shootings that could be done, there always appears some mechanics that differs and modifies the game board. A campaign full of momentazos that, unfortunately, limits the cooperative to two players.
Beyond the campaign, the strengths of Gears of War 4 focus on a renewed Horde 3.0 mode for up to five players, demanding in the 50 rounds available and with new features. Character classes that can be customized with varied abilities, a management of fortification objects that requires a certain strategy and waves of enemies that overwhelm by the amount and challenge they offer. The multiplayer , with dedicated servers, games for all kinds of experiences, classic modes and balanced maps has everything to last for months. Included crossplay between platforms and, yes, the arrival of micropayments that, without being necessary, are still a shortcut for those who want to pay.
The best
- The new weapons and new enemies of the Swarm multiply the possibilities
- The rhythm of the campaign in the second half is apotheosis
- Certain major battles with huge enemies
- Variations and context elements that change the way you handle the shootings
- Everything that Horde 3.0 proposes, an indispensable way
- Large number of multiplayer options for all types of users
- The campaign looks especially good visually
Worst
- Robotic enemies of the first section of campaign are not at the level of the rest
- Cooperative campaign reduced to two players
- Allied AI forgets to save us at some crucial moments
A reference title in its kind, which stands out above its competitors and which you will enjoy from beginning to end, surely several times. A game destined to become classic over the years.**
Gameplay 9
Campaign of about ten hours depending on the difficulty and ability of the player who starts cold for robotized enemies that are not as challenging as the Locust, but that starts definitely after Act 2 and triggers at the level of frenzy, variety of situations, new enemies, weapons and apotheosis moments. Madness as a more demanding level of difficulty, several collectibles to get and big battles with bosses for a campaign that goes clearly from less to more. The control is more fluid and dynamic than in previous installments of the saga.**
Graphics 9
A first level visual finish that works at 30fps on Xbox One with great detail in modeling, textures, a more aggressive artistic direction in locations and enemies and a lighting worthy of mention. PC allows higher resolutions, a higher frame rate and endless customization options to achieve a portentous visual section. Well optimized in both cases.
Sound 9
The soundtrack follows the line marked by the original deliveries, and what stand out most are the special effects of shootings, explosions, dismemberments, squeals of enemies and others. Unfortunately, it will not be until November 1 that we have Spanish dubbing, although the English voices have a solid and convincing interpretation.
Multiplayer 9
The horde mode 3.0 offers games for up to five players with up to 50 rounds in 10 maps available, a personalization of characters based on different classes with the ability to equip skills that mark our way of playing and a fortification system in which we have to kill and collect power to build better items. The PVP mode has social games, classic modes of the saga, 10 available maps, competitive modes, games with bots and cooperative clashes against teams controlled by the CPU. A system of micro-payments has been added to obtain power-ups with money from the game or real money and the cooperative has been limited to two players in the campaign, either online or on a split screen.
1-6 IMAGECREDIT
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