Gears 5 Review - Big, Empty, and Emotionless | CGMagazine

Gears of War 5 from The Coalition bravely adds new mechanics to an aging series, but ends up being worse because of them.

[OldGuyStillGaming]

Seems a bit harsh but I’ll play and judge for myself

[NarutoFox]

Hmm Tbh some of the same thing they said in this review was said in Gamespot review. All they did was paraphrase it a bit. But I agree, you should judge for yourself. Saying it's an aging (stale) series is harsh.

[Fluttershy77]

You should, if you like what you see. It could be the worst game ever made, and you could still like it. The job of a journalist is to review it, according to their standards, but in the end is just an opinion.

[Bigman4k]

Facts

[darthv72]

That is the way it should be. If you are a fan of a series, you generally still check it out for yourself. It's like that with movies. I been a long time fan of Star Wars and while the current movies dont have the same charm of the ones i grew up with, I still see them because they are part of the overall series.

I do that with games too. I liked every gears game so far, some stand above others, but I play every one and decide which I like more.

[Fluttershy77]

Well not entirely. I am a fan of the series (of the first 2 games at least) and I hated 4... I'm not just going to blindly buy a Gears Game because of "brand" if I don't like what I'm seeing...
Sometimes I hate what I'm seeing, or I even don't care about the franchise but the reviews are REALLY good, so I check it out (That was the case with God of War 2018)
By the way I hate current Star Wars: so I've decided to pass on the new movies... I'm not going to give Disney money to keep beating a dead horse.

[sushimama]

I've never played 1-3, But 4 was ok. I just like to play the campaign, so I'm looking forward to playing this on PC with a friend. I acutally like how they've widened some areas for more exploration.

[leejohnson222]

You shouldn't just play or watch something based on what was done before, as fans you should expect better each time. Sad to say star wars is trash after tlj Disney can forget it, no arc or reason to watch the last film, it's time and money I could spend more wisely elsewhere

[DaDrunkenJester]

Just the level of polish, detail, and pure content makes it hard for me to understand a 6/10 especially knowing how good the series is, but you always have a few reviews where it won't click for some.

If you don't like cover shooters, you won't like Gears.

[scoot_n_loot]

I like how the two worst reviews have been artificially pinned to the top of the news feed. Never change, N4G mods. Never change.

[Bigman4k]

yup Facts

[TK-66]

The mods know what pays the bills.

[King_Noctis]

There is something wrong when even the mods pick side, when they supposed to be neutral.

[TheColbertinator]

Been here since 2007 and not once have they ever been neutral.

[Bigman4k]

True

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Mods know that bad reviews draws in all the traffic

[Parasidious]

@TheColbertinator I've been lurking this site since 06'. You're right it's never been neutral. Use to be heavily Xbox focused, now PS. Still IMO this site was much more toxic back in the 360/PS3 era.

[coolbeans]

Let the record reflect: your accusation of 'mod bias' here is predicated on a false claim--that can be proven to be too. Each "artificially pinned" submission (which only ADMINS have ability to) is transparently labeled as "Pinned" for a certain timespan. You'll likely see Christopher utilize it for (hopefully!) upcoming Christmas user contests. Maybe you recall when he did that last year to notify as many users as possible.

No mod/admin has a vested interest in knocking Gears 5 down a peg with a...6.5/10. Not something to lose your mind over.

[King_Noctis]

Fyi, I did not refer to the low reviews article. I know far too well about article and heat. I was talking about mods here in general, specifically the one that we know all too well.

@chri7

Umm...what does Nintendo have anything to do with Gears 5? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t MS developed this?

@solidx

You meant they were supposed to remove all the negative Days Gone reviews? And I’m sorry, slam reviews? Go to Metacritic. How many reviewers give high score to that game that have not yet been posted on N4G before I do?

[coolbeans]

@King_Noctis

"Fyi, I did not refer to the low reviews article. I know far too well about article and heat. I was talking about mods here in general, specifically the one that we know all too well."

Well, that just makes it worse for you. You mean to tell me you're willing to ignore objectively incorrect claims about mods (i.e. that we artificially pinned this article to the top for the sake of clicks) just to share your own piece about us not being neutral about something else? What leg do you have to stand on in respect to "neutrality" if you're fine with someone spreading such misinformation?

[rob-GP]

Artificially? The heat and pins are based on user interaction. The more comments a post gets and click-throughs, the more ‘heat’ it obtains. So you posting your comment complaining has only helped it rise in the list of Gears reviews.

[sushimama]

How in the hell could anyone not know this? I guess deluded fanboys that have convinced themselves that N4G is out to get them and ruin their day. So pathetic.

[HighPlayer28]

I agree that is total bs and needs to change on this site. Its seems like its a plot to put every Microsoft new ip in the worst category so the trolls and haters can fill the comment section. Gears 5 is amazing and fun but its cool to hate everything Microsoft on n4g pathetic.

[starchild]

Xbox derangement syndrome. Xbox man bad.

[Nyxus]

It's because a lot of people (including you) are clicking and commenting on it.

[Nyxus]

lol okay

[SegaGamer]

@HighPlayer28

No, you're wrong, that is the way this site has always worked. The more people that click and comment on a page, the hotter it get's, and that is how it ends up being one of the top stories. Don't blame the site because you're sucker for clickbait.

[rainslacker]

Couldn't be that it gets more attention because it's a bad review, so the way that things get to the main scroll actually work the way they're designed, and the more heat something gets, the quicker it moves up the ranks?

I don't know who to believe. Some say the mods are too pro-Xbox. Some others say they're way to pro-Sony. While I know they all have their individual preferences, they always seem like they try to go by the rules, and once in a while do random things which call their bias into question or appear hypocritical.

In this instance though, I doubt they had to do anything, because every game, Sony, MS, or Nintendo, gets the top review, and the lowest review to the top of the page in short order.

[Christopher]

I would love the data on this because if we pinned it, it would show like all the other pinned items I've done and would be on top with a pin icon on it. Like what I did during E3 for daily events.

And, btw, we have no control over heat. That's all you folks. You know, commenting on submissions you obviously disagree with.

You people. Keep up those theories.

I'm filing this right up there with them same lunacy as people having to constantly remind us how good Days Gone is regardless of review scores.

[yomfweeee]

What is with the Days Gone dig? The game is crushing sales. There obviously is a disconnect between the reviews and people wanting the game. So that's not really lunacy.

[Christopher]

Thank you for proving my point, yomfweeee. It's not a dig at the game. It's a dig at people not being able to accept the review scores and having to constantly talk about something other than those scores just as this has to blame me and the mods for people discussing this review more than others. But here you are defending the game when it doesn't need defending. As you said, it's sold well enough (I've even platinumed it myself).

[sushimama]

Your post is just factually incorrect in every way. You're obviously just butthurt. Cheer up

[The_Sage]

Actually... There is an 8.8, and a 10 along with this at the top.

[aaronlif10]

I knew the open world change would be a detriment to the game.

[Larrysweet]

Prob is empty open world

[LordJamar]

I play gears mainly For multiplayer with my friends which is what the series is known for the story modes were always alright to good

[Kumakai]

Hmmm. Seems this reviewer hasn’t read some of the other reviews. Also how come Uncharted or Mario or God of War reviews never start “this aging series...”. Gears5 seems to have been given some refreshes to switch up the series while retaining its core gameplay.

This review just seems like it has more of an axe to grind than achieving objectivity - especially when compared with most other reviews like from Polygon, IGN, sixth axis and more.

[gam3r_4_lif3]

You summed it up perfectly. Zelda or Mario, God of War or an Uncharted review would never start with tired or stale or worn out but it is always open season on MS big franchises.

[derek]

@Kumakai this game is getting mostly positive reviews why focus yourself on the one that agitates you? Those games you list have great reviews to but there are the negative ones to for each one of them.

[bluebenjamin]

I like Hogs of War on Playstation one and that scored very low yet I enjoyed it would give it a 8 personaly but that goes to show opinions vary we dont have the same taste

[Adexus]

Hogs of War, what an absolute gem of a game.

[bluebenjamin]

Definitely it had personality and allowed you to use your head to strategize a win.

[Raiden]

I'm not going to bother read the article, because i have, we have all fallen for the click bait, the fact of the matter is it not there opinion, it's the click bait trap, we need hits on our site, gears is one of the biggest games coming out this year next Stranding and LOU2, will these games be pack with replay factor maybe, maybe not, the fact that anyone can write a article and score low to start a trend of low scoring meta is there choice and if people choose to listen and follow that there choice too, but in the end of the day every Xbox owner will be playing gears not because its gear, because xbox has not had any first party bangers in a long time, this is also on PC. what people want is a good game with more options and this is what they are giving the gaming public, just play and have fun, forget meta scoring and judge for yourself.

[Livingthedream]

Theres so much quality in this game, I caught a bit of the gameplay on mixer and had to stop to prevent spoilers. It looked incredible IMO. Then again I've enjoyed this series since its birth.

[dRanzer]

One of the great games this generation
Hope this is a new way for MS
Congratulations and have fun!

[BlackRaven85_1]

Judge for yourself people

[bluefox755]

Seems to be sitting at 86 on metacritic, but a lot of reviews still to come in. Seems to be on par with past entries so far, or at least the last few.

[TeamIcoFan]

ohai!
I'mma just take this score as the end all be all for Gears 5 reviews and pretend the numerous 8-10 scores don't exist!
Derp derpitty derp~!

[nucky64]

well, with any game there are going to be some who don't like it. most reviews are very positive. and besides, i wouldn't let any reviews keep me from playing a game i'd been looking forward to for a long time.

[sushimama]

6.5 seems a tad bit low.

[william_cade]

Probably the right score for this game, but journos answer to way to many entities (politics, peer pressure, publishers, etc) to take any of it seriously as a review or even an honest opinion.

[SlagWolf]

Heard they improved the game play but the new characters suck. I miss Marcus, Dom, Cole, Anya and Baird. These new ones are so lame and boring and the big reason I liked Gears was because it had cool , funny, bad ass characters.

[LordJamar]

There still in the game except 2 cause they died

[GoGoGadge7]

Clickbait negative article is trash. Don't give that site traffic.

[Ratchet75]

Big??? Empty??
Are you sure your TV is turned on? 🤔 🤔

[iplay1up2]

It's on Game Pass day one so if it is as bad as this review says ,it wont cost me a dime more anyway. I will judge for myself. There are plenty of great reviews already. It looked fantastic on my X1X when Microsoft had the live beta, and it was fun.

[Soulrakk]

There's always one.

[esherwood]

Honestly I’m burnt out on open world games, botw was last straw for me. K was looking forward to a mindless linear shooter. Rog mechanics seemed cool though

[Donnie81]

Only complaint is not liking the new mechanics in the game gives it a 6.5. Reviews days gone says it is a rather average game with a story that offers no surprises and has a ton of technical issues gives it a 6.5. Makes a ton of sense

[AK91]

That's essentially Gears in general.

[Einhander1971]

There’s always one!! I love gears so will be getting soon enough.

[Raiden]

I just thought of something, this reviewer may love the game, but may have been told/forced to write a negative article by his editor/ boss, because they needed the early hits, now did MS/XBOX send this reviewer and his organization the game to review or did he already wrote up the review beforehand, I'm just spit balling because he is the only one