A classic and technical showhorse for the Xbox 360 era of graphics fidelity, Gear of War still doesn't fail to impress decades later. The cover system remains a revolutionary mechanic, even if the campaign itself utilizes some pretty mindless AI for the stop-and-pop cover shooting. There are a few gimmicks like the pseudo-stealth sections and vehicle segments that haven't aged gracefully, but the distilled combat experience still fucking rocks. The campaign moves quickly, keeps things fresh, and doesn't overstay its welcome.

The multiplayer remains a landmark classic, but reminiscing on it, it had a lot of problems. The ability to BM and disrespect others in the game was varied and even in some cases ingenious, but didn't avoid feeding into what was a particularly healthy online ecosystem in the first place; people who played Gears of War online were assholes, your lovable reviewer included. And not only did the gameplay loop encourage this, but also unintentionally so with some maps being able to be glitched out of, allowing players to grief each other pretty extensively.

Ah, good times. Gooooood times. Still, the campaign is lean and still hits hard for a classic.