2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

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VideoGameCritic
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2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 2nd, 2021, 4:29 pm

It's been a while since I reviewed an Xbox One game. Let me know your thoughts on this Gears 5 review.

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BlasteroidAli
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby BlasteroidAli » March 2nd, 2021, 9:02 pm

Not your best review critic. Problems with it is that you do not explain why you do not like it. Wonky camera angles (which I love). Your review seems like only half of it has been completed. The story is okay but it is the middle game and as such is not going to have a real ending.
What is has going for it, superb graphics a different story line and a new mode where you almost get to roam freely. Sounds great, I have almost sold myself on it.
Cons.
Always online. This as with the woeful GOW 4 are always online games. If you do not have xbox live you cannot play the multiplayer. Couch co op has gone and this game has not brought it back. Recently my games pass ran out and they wanted £11 a month to play games as well as giving me access to the fabled xbox live. I did not bother. I thought I would go back to gold. Now it is virtually doubled in price I did not bother. Foolishly I thought I would still be abled to play the horde modes which previously worked offline. Now when I tried to play it says pay £6 for the month of play. So I did not bother and this means half of the game is missing. Horde mode is great and it is the other half of all of the games. No it is always online. The different story. It is good and it is bad. Matchmaking is bad. Ludicrous amounts of time to level up your characters.

Multiplayer. The same old same old red vs blue. You against the locusts or whatever they are calling them now.

The best thing about the game now is escape. You get sucked into a warren by a big nasty. Then you take off the breathing apparatus and then tried to escape before the gas bombs you brought with you detonate. It is immense fun. It is the best thing about the game and guess what? You cannot play it offline.

It is a B+
This time last year I would have given it an A +

Breaker
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby Breaker » March 2nd, 2021, 10:18 pm

BlasteroidAli wrote:It is a B+
This time last year I would have given it an A +


With all the cons you listed, and all the monthly charges you detailed, I'm surprised you'd still give it a B+. Sounds more like a D (as in dud) to me.

newmodelarmy
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby newmodelarmy » March 3rd, 2021, 5:27 am

I think the review was spot on except for the grade, I would give it a "C", maybe even a "D+" as the game is about as generic (as Gears games go) as it gets. This was the reason I bought an Xbox One and I was very disappointed. I can't remember the last time I even fired up the old Xbox One but that is a completely different story.

brendand
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby brendand » March 3rd, 2021, 6:54 am

What will happen to all these must remain online to play games when the servers eventually shutdown? Coasters? Frisbees?

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BlasteroidAli
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby BlasteroidAli » March 3rd, 2021, 10:47 am

brendand wrote:What will happen to all these must remain online to play games when the servers eventually shutdown? Coasters? Frisbees?

Battleborne.. a dud..
Titanfall last time I was on it empty
defiance shut down the servers

Hellshouse 80p game on 360.. and a tiger shark clone.. both of which i still play.. no longer play

last year Doom and doom 2 downloads stopped working for a bit..

Where as Dig dug on the 2600 still works some 40 something years later...

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BlasteroidAli
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby BlasteroidAli » March 3rd, 2021, 10:55 am

Breaker wrote:
BlasteroidAli wrote:It is a B+
This time last year I would have given it an A +


With all the cons you listed, and all the monthly charges you detailed, I'm surprised you'd still give it a B+. Sounds more like a D (as in dud) to me.


I am being kind to it as the 1 player game works sort of off line. But it is the MS 1 and they love online only...

the reason it gets a b plus is escape.. the best new thing about gears 5.. which is better than the single player game...

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BlasteroidAli
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby BlasteroidAli » March 3rd, 2021, 10:56 am

newmodelarmy wrote:I think the review was spot on except for the grade, I would give it a "C", maybe even a "D+" as the game is about as generic (as Gears games go) as it gets. This was the reason I bought an Xbox One and I was very disappointed. I can't remember the last time I even fired up the old Xbox One but that is a completely different story.

It is still better than Doom raider. That games is a F-

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby VideoGameCritic » March 3rd, 2021, 11:27 am

brendand wrote:What will happen to all these must remain online to play games when the servers eventually shutdown? Coasters? Frisbees?


I was only reviewing the single-player campaign, and if I was online, I was not aware!

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Retro STrife
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Re: 2021/3/2: Xbox One: Gears 5

Postby Retro STrife » March 3rd, 2021, 12:01 pm

Good review - I don't have Xbox One, but I played through Gears 1 to 3, so I was still curious how this game turned out. From what I see in the review, it sounds like C+ makes sense. I can sympathize with the "law of diminishing returns" at the end of the review. I started tiring of Gears after Gears 2, but beat the 3rd game to complete the trilogy. I just can't envision something that would bring me back. Same with Halo to some extent. These are all A or A+ games in their heyday, but it's hard to keep giving the same score as the formula tires out. And I don't blame the developers too much, because there's only so much they can do with that formula.

One point I'll add is that, I know multiplayer doesn't factor into VGC reviews, but one of the biggest strengths of Gears is its online multiplayer. I always had a lot of fun with it. I suck at shooters like Call of Duty, but Gears is more forgiving and fun for someone like me. I actually feel middle-of-the-pack in a Gears deathmatch, whereas I'm a liability in most online shooters.


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