Gears of War: Reloaded Review

Originally released all the way back in November 2006, Gears of War broke new ground in the gaming landscape, revolutionizing cover-shooter mechanics while being a prominent graphical powerhouse for the 6th console generation. Gears of War was the first step in a seven-entry multimedia franchise that's still going strong today. And before the shiny new prequel Gears of War: E-Day releases next year, fans are being given the opportunity to jump back into that first 2006 entry once again.

Building from the foundations laid by the 2015 Gears of War: Ultimate Edition remaster, Gears of War: Reloaded sports another suite of technical improvements to the original Gears experience, and most importantly, brings the franchise to PlayStation for the very first time. But while these improvements are noticeable, and it's great that PlayStation owners can finally experience the Sci-Fi shooter series for themselves, this introduction might be a lukewarm one.

A Fresh Coat of Paint on an Aging Gears Campaign

One half of the remastered experience, Gears of War: Reloaded gives the original campaign a fresh makeover. For those who are new to Gears of War, players assume the role of Marcus Fenix (and Dom Santiago in co-op), a Coalition of Ordered Governments soldier fighting a losing war against the Locust, a vast army of underground mutants whose sole aim seems to be the eradication of human life.

Gears of War: Reloaded's 8-hour campaign is split into five acts, each of which is littered with shooting galleries and enjoyable action set pieces, albeit ones that might feel a little quaint when compared to the standards of modern AAA action-adventure games. Though world-building is a key strength of the series' first campaign, its story feels a little barebones, essentially boiling down to a cycle of the core team of COG soldiers needing to either blow something up or stop something from blowing up until credits roll. This first outing also ends rather abruptly.

The team escapes from a giant Locust boss - Gears Of War Reloaded

Revisiting Gears of War's campaign in 2025 also sheds a disappointing light on the series' now-iconic cast of characters. In this first entry, Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird lack distinct personalities of their own, with all of them being gruff, no-nonsense badasses who lack concrete character traits or motivations.

Of course, these heroes are given much more depth in Gears of War's sequels, and their one-note nature suits the campaign's gritty tone well. Still, their lack of individuality in this first entry certainly stands out awkwardly today, being surrounded by the likes of The Last of Us, God of War, and even Xbox's own Halo.

But the biggest selling point of this remaster isn't necessarily the campaign itself, but rather how that campaign is presented in a new, modern light, and Gears of War: Reloaded does a good job. Where 2015's Gears of War: Ultimate Edition offered 1080p resolution, 30FPS, SDR, and 7.1 audio, Gears of War: Reloaded delivers 4K resolution and textures, 60fps in the campaign, HDR, improved lighting, shadows, and reflections, and 7.1 3D spatial audio.

All of these improvements are noticeable and welcome in Gears of War: Reloaded's campaign, but to be clear, Reloaded is a remaster and not a remake, and that means there are plenty of elements in this almost 20-year-old campaign that don't hold up as well today. Pacing is a sizable issue throughout the campaign, with the game's middle acts feeling very repetitive due to a severe lack of enemy variety. The campaign's momentum is also routinely brought to a screeching halt with classic 2000s talk-to-earpiece moments, which slow the player's movement to a crawl and prevent them from progressing through the level.

gears-of-war-reloaded-corpser-battle-end

Gears of War: Reloaded's COG Tags are a fun collectible to find dotted throughout the campaign, with them unlocking whole comic books that players can read in-game.

Gears of War: Reloaded Wants to Party Like It's 2006

As a faithful remaster, Gears of War: Reloaded gives fans the ability to play through the entirety of the campaign in two-player co-op, either via splitscreen or online. Arguably, co-op is the best way to enjoy Gears of War's campaign, with most of its set pieces being designed with two players in mind. Though it should be noted that some combat encounters end far too quickly in co-op, with only a handful of enemies being thrown at players on most occasions.

Additionally, some of the optional routes in this first Gears campaign don't feel quite equal in co-op, particularly if a bug occurs where enemies don't spawn on one player's route, which happened to me on several occasions. Another notable bug we ran into a few times during the campaign saw our AI companions firing into the ground while the game refused to spawn the next batch of enemies needed to progress through the stage. This bug required checkpoint restarts at least three times.

Multiplayer Isn't Quite 'Definitive'

Gears of War: Reloaded - Locust Curbstomping Baird

The second half of the package, and likely the aspect that will ultimately determine Gears of War: Reloaded's longevity, multiplayer is a bit of a mixed bag, at least in its current state. The general gameplay foundations of Gears of War: Reloaded's multiplayer feel good. Just like with the remaster's campaign, Gears' groundbreaking cover-shooter mechanics still feel great even all these years later; active reloads are always rewarding, and movement is still unlike anything else out there, with camera angles, animations, and controller feedback all going hand-in-hand to give characters a tangible, grounded weight.

Gears of War: Reloaded also offers a comprehensive suite of multiplayer content, with it bringing together all 19 maps from the original game and its DLC, along with seven multiplayer modes spread across its Social and Ranked categories. Progression is another strength of Reloaded's multiplayer, with players gaining levels quickly and new skins being unlocked at a regular rate.

Of course, Gears of War: Reloaded's bevy of technical improvements is carried over to the remaster's multiplayer component. The same 4K resolution and textures can be seen throughout the game's maps, and framerate on PS5 has been increased to 120FPS, and the Ultimate Edition's 30hz servers have been replaced with 60hz ones. Audio is also incredibly crisp, which is a blessing when it comes to weapon sounds and character noises, but a curse when it comes to the ear-piercing alarm that plays when a team is about to win a round.

Much like its remastered campaign, Gears of War: Reloaded's multiplayer improvements are definitely noticeable, but there are still two significant issues to be found. The first of these issues is that Gears of War: Reloaded doesn't feature a 'Quick Play' option, meaning that all players need to choose to play a specific mode. This – combined with Reloaded's controversial crossplay toggle – has the potential to seriously limit the game's player pool in the near future.

A (Frustrating) Tale as Old As Time

But by far the most pressing issue is one that's plagued the Gears of War franchise for well over a decade now. Put simply, Gears of War: Reloaded's Gnasher Shotgun is unbelievably overpowered. At close-range, the Gnasher will one-shot opponents at full health most of the time, and with a perfect-reload round in the chamber, the Gnasher will even instantly obliterate targets standing meters away.

gears-of-war-reloaded-launch-patch-notes

Although Gears of War: Reloaded is home to an assortment of unique power weapons, they'll often be ignored in favor of this starting shotgun. The Gnasher's overt dominance in multiplayer can lead to a very repetitive gameplay cycle, where, regardless of the mode, the entire lobby is just sprinting around the battlefield with their Gnashers held right at face-height.

While long-time Gears of War fans will be more than used to this scene, those just joining the franchise will likely experience a lot of frustration with this decades-long meta, especially with Gears of War: Reloaded's iteration of the shotgun being one of the most overpowered in series history.

Gears of War: Reloaded Offers A Flawed First Impression

On that note, Gears of War: Reloaded might be a jarring first impression of the franchise for PlayStation newcomers. Both Reloaded's campaign and multiplayer look impressive and run extremely well on PS5, and the remaster's DualSense integration is impeccable, with the controller's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers adding a whole new layer of immersion to the Sci-Fi military shooter. But given the remaster's aforementioned Gnasher-dominated multiplayer scene and somewhat dated campaign elements, it doesn't paint the series in the best light for those diving in for the first time.

As a package, Gears of War: Reloaded feels a little underwhelming. While everything from the first Gears of War is included, and it all looks and sounds better than ever, in many ways it still feels like I'm playing the same game from 2006. 20 years later, it's only natural that the cracks have started to show, but Gears of War: Reloaded doesn't do quite enough to paper over them, even though the wallpaper it's using is very pretty.

Gears of War: Reloaded is a remaster of a 2006 game so players going into the game with that in mind will likely be happy with what's on offer. But those expecting a truly modernized version of this flagship Xbox game might be disappointed, especially if they're PlayStation newcomers who have been told for two decades that they're missing out on one of gaming's best experiences.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image