Set 25 years after the third game in the series, Gears of War 4 feels like it could have been released the following week.
So know that when I say this, it’s a statement with some meaning: if you’re a fan of the series, you’ll like Gears of War 4. And both Judgement and 343’s Halo games alike have been criticized for changing up their formulas in unwelcome ways. Stewardship of the series has been taken over by a newly assembled studio named The Coalition, echoing the way Microsoft set up 343 Industries to take control of Halo. Once Microsoft’s standard bearer for the Xbox 360, the series’ stock has fallen somewhat following the last installment, 2013’s tepidly received Gears of War: Judgement. It’s a lazy way to bunt on actual appraisal of the title in question, playing off presupposed notions of what the reader wants to hear.īut things are a little different with Gears of War. “If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll like it.” It’s a perennial cliché in games criticism and something I almost always try to avoid.
