Gears of War: Ultimate Edition joins the long line of the new-gen trend of the HD remaster.  In fairness it has been just short of 10 years since the original game graced our Xbox 360 consoles way back in November 2006.  So unlike some recent remasters in which have released during a very short window since its last-gen counterpart, at least nearly 10 years has passed between the original game and this Ultimate Edition.  While Gears of War wasn’t the originator of the cover-based shooter, it was perhaps the game that revolutionised the genre which spawned my imitations, but arguably none could replicate the experience of what is one of the most successful and beloved franchises of our time.  But how well does this remaster hold up and on top of that, will it warrant an attraction to new and old fans of the series?

Let’s begin by recapping over the storyline that Gears of War presents.  Located on the fictional planet of Sera, mankind encountered a sinister threat of a species known as the Locust, who waited for years beneath the surface for the perfect moment to attack.  The locust threat was so severe to mankind, that the COG (Coalition of Ordered Governments) utilised the Hammer of Dawn upon the cities of Sera in a desperate attempt to halt the Locust attacks.  This day would forever be known as E-Day (Emergence Day).

While many of the civilians were evacuated to the planet known as Plateau, some never escaped successfully and those that survived and remained behind, were not so grateful of the COG’s counter-attack on the Locust.  So 14 years has passed since E-Day and our main protagonist; Marcus Fenix has been set-free from prison by his best friend and brother-in-arms Dominic Santiago.  It soon becomes clear to Marcus that hell has been unleashed by the Locust and it is now down to Marcus & Dom, and their fellow COG members (Delta Team) to put an end to the terror that reigns upon Sera and save all mankind (no pressure then).

If you’ve played the original game, then you will know what to expect.  While the visuals have been upgraded to bring it in-line with the new generation, the gameplay of the Ultimate Edition is practically the same.  The developers at The Coalition (formerly Black Tusk) have said that subtle tweaks have been made to the gameplay and they are very subtle, because they’re barely noticeable.  This depending on how you look at it is neither a good thing nor bad thing.  So once you pick up and play this Ultimate Edition, you will feel instantly at home, complete with some of its original bugs, which will perhaps especially annoy newcomers to the franchise.

Even though nearly 10 years have passed, the Gears of War franchise is arguably still the king of the cover based shooter.  It still feels rather clunky when controlling Marcus and Dom, but that just adds to believability of their oversized muscular body frames, which in a way, makes the importance of maintaining cover all that more important.  So if you’re going into this remastered edition of your beloved game expecting an overhaul in its gameplay, then you’ll be sadly mistaken.  Again, depending on how you may look at it, is either a good nor a bad thing, which is perhaps why this Ultimate Edition might appeal more to the returning fan, rather than any newcomers.  But as long as newcomers can look over the fairly heavy controls, then they’re in for a treat.

While this Ultimate Edition still runs on the same original engine (which explains the gameplay), it’s the visuals that have received the new-gen treatment.  I won’t go as far as to say that the Ultimate Edition is the best looking game on the Xbox One, because it’s not, but it certainly does not look out of place.  The developers have done a great job in rebuilding the visuals from the ground up, I know that is a cliché used a lot nowadays, but no words ring more true here.  Everything from the ground, buildings, lighting, various environmental objects, character models, outfits and much more have been given a fresh lick of paint and it looks fantastic as a result.

The cutscenes also look better than ever and are a perfect example of the fine work that has been done with its visuals.  Then you add that to the crisp 1080p and smooth 60fps in both the campaign and the competitive multiplayer, then you have arguably the best looking remaster in this new gen era thus far.  Yet even with the graphical makeover, I never realised until I first fired up the Ultimate Edition, just how much I loved the music to this game.  From the very first moment I encountered the main menu screen, a nostalgic grin that would put a Cheshire cat to shame graced my face and the same can said for many of the memorable moments throughout its action packed campaign.

However if I was going to have some issues with this Ultimate Edition, it is that I have experienced some very laggy cutscenes and long loading times.  During a rare Twitch stream by myself, the lag was that bad, I thought it was an issue with my ISP (despite having a very capable upload speed).  Then during a playthrough when not streaming, the issues with the cutscenes still occurred, which ruled out my initial concern.  The load times also seemed to go on for far longer than they should.  Yet much like the cutscenes, this may be an issue with my review code. Because when streaming in co-op with my colleague, he experienced no cutscene lag and his game was loading up sections a good 10 seconds faster than mine.  So hopefully following the official release of the game (25^th North America and 28^th EU), this might be a somewhat isolated issue and hopefully will be fixed with a patch and if so, I’ll adjust my review accordingly.

 

Back in the day, Gears of War was a game that I not only spent much of my days indulging in its campaign, but also with its multiplayer and this is where you perhaps get the true value of this game, especially with the Ultimate Edition.  Yes you will get many enjoyable hours playing its campaign on your own, but it’s not until you’ve played it co-op with a friend, that you realise how much of a great co-op campaign this game has and this is certainly a game best played with friends.  That factor is the same as it was in 2006 and now in 2015, but what should please you furthermore is that the Ultimate Edition now features 5 new campaign chapters that were previously exclusive to the PC version of the game.

In terms of its competitive multiplayer, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is packed with all your favourite modes from before and then some.  For example, it now features good old Team Deathmatch and King of the Hill, which were previously not available in the 2006 release, as well as a new 2v2 mode with Shotguns (Gnashers) only and no re-spawns, which has been designed by the Gears of War community.

As an added bonus, as you playthrough the campaign and find the hidden COG Tags, you will unlock digital comics (that had physical releases) within the game that adds to the lore of the game, as well as new concept art images and cinematic cutscenes from the campaign.  If that wasn’t Gears of War goodness for you, as long as you play the game before the year is out, you will be gifted digital downloads of the Xbox 360’s original Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgement by utilising the Xbox One’s recent backwards compatibility feature.  Not to mention that by picking up the Ultimate Edition, you will be automatically granted access to the Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta, expected to launch spring 2016.

It’s easy to be cynical with the amount of HD remasters we’ve seen already in this new generation.  What is largely seen as a cheap way to make a quick and easy buck inbetween releases of new games, it really comes down to the individual gamer at hand as to whether it’s really worth picking up a HD remaster.  In most cases they are designed more to appeal to the returning nostalgic fan, even though some publishers like to say that they are created for those that may have missed the initial release, which in many cases is in-fact true.  But perhaps in truth, it’s more than likely down to the fact that developers are still trying to become accustom to the new-gen hardware and publishers release remasters as an inbetween stop gap.

As a Gears of War fan since the original, I couldn’t recommend this new version enough.  It’s not until you may see various screenshots or comparison videos that showcase the great work that has been done with upgrading the visuals and the gap between the last gen and new gen instalment might be wider then your tinted goggles may remember.  Yes it plays the same, but it might still surprise you how well its gameplay has aged (the original clunkiness may have actually worked in its favour here).  In every sense of the term, this is the Ultimate Edition of the game that you love and whether your new or return, the chances are that this a  Bromance you will embrace.

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