Yes, the aesthetics of Gears are extremely boring (or did they became boring after everything else started looking like it?) and edgy, but this is a honest to god great shooter with a FLAWLESS pacing. One of the best examples of a perfectly tight 7+ hours campaign that just works; from the introduction of the mechanics to new and exciting weapons to horror inducing hallways to cooperative set-pieces to blind minibosses to huge arenas to sniper galleries it’s just so, so good. The only complain I have, apart from the obvious silliness of the tone epic employed, is that an otherwise excellent multiplayer was impossible to play due to the lack of dedicated servers.