3.75 Stars
This is a pleasant and faithful adaptation of the Gears of War series. It is amusing to see staples of the main series in a new light. The Tactics/RPG elements are grounded enough to fit in context with the Gears universe. It is fun to unlock loot after every mission and test each class/skill. Jack was introduced to the squad during the Xbox release and similar to Gears 5, his abilities are game-changing. I can't imagine playing without him.
While I was fond of this game, there are design choices that keep it from being great. Most notable is the repetitive mission structure. The missions (minus boss fights) and settings mostly feel the same. Even worse, you are required to do extra missions to advance the story, which drags the game out. This issue is compounded by the low amount of experience you gain. You are given an extensive skill tree, but will only acquire a few skills by the time you beat the game. Once beaten, you can unlock Supreme loot and experiment by resetting skill trees at will, but the repetition essentially kills this game's replay value.
This game was in my backlog for years, and I’m happy to have finally played it. It's concept was mostly executed well. I often thought about it when I wasn't playing, but I was burned-out after completion. One day, I could see myself returning to try a higher difficulty.
This is a pleasant and faithful adaptation of the Gears of War series. It is amusing to see staples of the main series in a new light. The Tactics/RPG elements are grounded enough to fit in context with the Gears universe. It is fun to unlock loot after every mission and test each class/skill. Jack was introduced to the squad during the Xbox release and similar to Gears 5, his abilities are game-changing. I can't imagine playing without him.
While I was fond of this game, there are design choices that keep it from being great. Most notable is the repetitive mission structure. The missions (minus boss fights) and settings mostly feel the same. Even worse, you are required to do extra missions to advance the story, which drags the game out. This issue is compounded by the low amount of experience you gain. You are given an extensive skill tree, but will only acquire a few skills by the time you beat the game. Once beaten, you can unlock Supreme loot and experiment by resetting skill trees at will, but the repetition essentially kills this game's replay value.
This game was in my backlog for years, and I’m happy to have finally played it. It's concept was mostly executed well. I often thought about it when I wasn't playing, but I was burned-out after completion. One day, I could see myself returning to try a higher difficulty.