I've had a good time with Gears 5 so far. This is more an "first impressions" review, but I'm glad this series is on Steam after I had to skip 4 because my XOne was busted and dusted by the time it came out.

The game's run completely perfectly for me so far, no slowdown, and the keyboard controls work fine. It's absolutely surreal to be using a PS4 controller for a Gears game, but thats the world we're in.

Gameplay is snappy, chaotic, and PVP is a blast but I suck beans at it. Horde is back, now with character abilities, and I actually think it adds some nice flavor to the gameplay, actually. 50 waves, and prepare to be there a long while. A new mode, Escape, is actually pretty interesting. I'd liken it to the Hunk mode from RE2, very limited ammo and you have to escape before you're poisoned or killed, with two other buddies backing you up. It's a lot of fun. Campaign is here, and honestly I'm pretty damn interested in the story so far! I always was interested in the Gears story though, and I know that makes me an outlier. But I think some people will find this interesting as well.

I do have gripes though. I am NOT a fan of the PVP Roster which they gutted for seasonal, limited unlocks with the "Tour of Duty" system. It seems way too grindy. I'm sure they'll tone it down but yeesh I don't see myself completing the vast majority of this stuff, and it sucks, because the roster basically NEEDS to be bolstered by this Tour system. I think its a cool idea at its core, but I'd prefer it to be toned down and maybe find some special way to unlock characters in past tours. Maybe they will, I can't say for certain yet. Another smaller issue is the online connectivity right now, it seems patchy and you might get kicked for no reason a few times, but I'm sure thats a pretty quick fix, so I can bear it.

Also I loathe that stupid Fortnite-esque Store. I definitely prefer it to lootboxes, but damn Coalition, 'no lootboxes' is not a high bar to clear, and definitely not something to wear like a badge.

All in all, good game. Glad Microsoft is really being buddy-buddy with stuff like Nintendo and Steam right now, they're definitely looking pretty alright. You know, for a massive corporation and everything.

I've had a good time with Gears 5 so far. This is more an "first impressions" review, but I'm glad this series is on Steam after I had to skip 4 because my XOne was busted and dusted by the time it came out. The game's run completely perfectly for me so far, no slowdown, and the keyboard controls work fine. It's absolutely surreal to be using a PS4 controller for a Gears game, but thats the world we're in. Gameplay is snappy, chaotic, and PVP is a blast but I suck beans at it. Horde is back, now with character abilities, and I actually think it adds some nice flavor to the gameplay, actually. 50 waves, and prepare to be there a long while. A new mode, Escape, is actually pretty interesting. I'd liken it to the Hunk mode from RE2, very limited ammo and you have to escape before you're poisoned or killed, with two other buddies backing you up. It's a lot of fun. Campaign is here, and honestly I'm pretty damn interested in the story so far! I always was interested in the Gears story though, and I know that makes me an outlier. But I think some people will find this interesting as well. I do have gripes though. I am NOT a fan of the PVP Roster which they gutted for seasonal, limited unlocks with the "Tour of Duty" system. It seems way too grindy. I'm sure they'll tone it down but yeesh I don't see myself completing the vast majority of this stuff, and it sucks, because the roster basically NEEDS to be bolstered by this Tour system. I think its a cool idea at its core, but I'd prefer it to be toned down and maybe find some special way to unlock characters in past tours. Maybe they will, I can't say for certain yet. Another smaller issue is the online connectivity right now, it seems patchy and you might get kicked for no reason a few times, but I'm sure thats a pretty quick fix, so I can bear it. Also I loathe that stupid Fortnite-esque Store. I definitely prefer it to lootboxes, but damn Coalition, 'no lootboxes' is not a high bar to clear, and definitely not something to wear like a badge. All in all, good game. Glad Microsoft is really being buddy-buddy with stuff like Nintendo and Steam right now, they're definitely looking pretty alright. You know, for a massive corporation and everything.