GamesRadar Staff: Ahh, the humble spin-off. The proverbial and opulant risk for a successful series hoping to branch out into pastures new (just take a look at Battlefield Hardline and Yakuza Dead Souls for two very different examples of said risks). Back in 2013, Gears of War Judgment such roll of the dice. Co-created between Epic Games and People 'Bulletstorm we love you, where's our sequel' Can Fly, the prequel changed up the classic GoW formula by breaking the game up into smaller sections and adding in an arcade-style scoring system. Thankfully it didn't bomb, it wasn't received as favourably as previous entries. However, the game's unique flavour was actually intended to be even more 'out there' than the final product.
WTMG's Aaron Price: "Revisiting Judgement is always a treat, especially now, ten years after its release. It received a lot of hate for its changes upon release, but it has aged like an average quality wine. It’s not perfect, but it’s more than worth a playthrough, which leads me to the last thought on the game, as little as I’m looking forward to it… it’s time to try for all the challenge stars in the campaign on Insane difficulty. Pray for me."
GB: "Nailing an experience's length is easier said and done, and one way or another, these games left a little to be desired on that front."
I always have a problem with games that should have been longer when lasting 8-10 hours.
Here's a question I ask all the time when ppl say that.
How many times have you replayed the story of a great game like Tlou2, GOW, Final Fantasy remake, GTA, Zelda, or any other 20 hours plus game? and usually, the answer varies between 0 and rarely 1.
So what's the point of having great 30 hours plus games if you will never replay them because of level, section, grinding dragging too long?
Disagree with Days Gone - yeah it took a while to really get going, but I appreciated it when I was done. Jumping right in at 4-5 hrs or whatever would've made the rest feel less impactful. RDR2 and Mankind Divided felt just right too, I wouldn't change them at all.
What needed less time was AC Valhalla. I was more than ready to be done with that by the time it was 2/3 over. Just too much useless stuff, and I hated the Asgard sections.
The Gears of War series has been a consistent deliverer of quality for Xbox, but which games are the best?
Gears of War is my favorite video game franchise, and the Locust is my all-time favorite faction.
My rank list:
1. Gears of War 2
2. Gears of War 3
3. Gears of War 1
4. Gears of War 4
5. Gears of War 5
6. Gears of War Judgment (No Locust in multiplayer was a disgrace)
2 is still my favorite but 5 is also up there (for me). Then I'd say 1, 3, 4 and Judgement. Tactics isnt the same type of game, so it seems odd to rank it among TPS when its a strategy game. So I make that one all its own. Pretty fun game too.
The first is and has always been the best one imo - the story, the levels, the set pieces, the soundtrack - as close to perfect as a campaign can get.
I’d say the series had been on a continual downhill slide until 5.
3
5
2
1
4
Judgement
I love the series as a whole, but 4 was pretty by the numbers, and Judgement was just ok.
I played them all since picking up a Series X about 7 months ago. Personally, I don't think time has been kind to the earlier games and they feel very slow and repetitive to play. Whilst the newer games may be prettier, they stick with the original gameplay mechanics too much in my view so as a whole series of titles, I think they are pretty average games.
Not to say they weren't fun and I have a lot of nostalgia for 1 and 2, I just think there are far better action games out there.