Gears of War: Reloaded Review: More of the same, but a bit more for everyone now

There are a few franchises that are immediately associated with the Xbox brand, mostly due to their exclusivity to Xbox consoles over the years. One of those franchises is Gears of War, a series that began on the Xbox 360 and continued to have more games come out in the years that followed. To many Xbox console owners, Gears of War was a game that was emblematic of everything Xbox in the early 2000s. But so many things have changed since the first Gears of War game came out in 2006, with the biggest one being that more people outside the Xbox ecosystem can now experience the gritty gameplay and story of the first game, including PlayStation console owners.

Enter in Gears of War: Reloaded, a definitive edition of the first game in the Gears series that is now more wildly available than the original release. Although the story and core content from previous re-releases are the same, everything is given a fresh coat of paint for anybody who never got to experience Gears of War back in the day. This is especially noteworthy to PlayStation owners who have never owned an Xbox 360, or any of the other platforms that the Gears series has been available on. But does this third-person shooter classic still have the grit and appeal to resonate with players today? To me, it still delivers exactly what it's supposed to, even if things can get a little messy along the way.

Gears of War: Reloaded was purchased by our team for review after release. The game was played and reviewed on PlayStation 5.

Gears of War: Reloaded price and availability

Gears of War: Reloaded is available for the Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Steam digitally. However, the PlayStation 5 version is the only one to have a physical release in retail stores. The game is optimized for PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro, and also has support for the DuelSense Controller haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Preordering the physical version of the game on PlayStation 5 also unlocks two character skins for online multiplayer. Gears of War: Reloaded is also available to download through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and can be downloaded on Day 1 of release. Those who own Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will also get a free upgrade to Gears of War: Reloaded for their respective platform.

• Standard Digital Edition - $39.99
• PS5 Physical Edition - $40.00

Same Gears that we know

But everything looks so much nicer

People who are playing through Gears of War for the first time with this new version are in for a real treat. The visuals, the sound, and all the nooks and crannies of the game have been given a visual overhaul from the original Xbox 360 version. Not only does Gears of War: Reloaded have some extra color saturation over the previous versions, including the Ultimate Edition, but it also has some extra details in the places you fight in. Building structures and walls that were once empty and generic now have additional details, such as paintings or signs of battle, to make everything feel more lived-in. The 4K textures do wonders for a game that was already detailed to begin with back in 2006, but these kinds of changes have allowed Gears of War to age very gracefully, and let players take in every gritty part of its hostile world.

The story itself, and everything else content-wise, is still very much the same as Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. Even the extra comic book pages and credits are the same as in the previous version of the game, including the Cole Train rap. So anyone that was hoping to see something radically different is going to be disappointed. But that doesn't mean playing through the campaign once again, alone or with a friend, isn't worth it. Some of the game's most iconic scenes look better than ever, and arguably are done more justice with all the extra effort into making the visuals look as good as possible. Whether it's the grubs looking menacing or the Brumak looking like my worst nightmare, Gears of War: Reloaded makes it all look very good.

The higher frame-rate for the campaign, which is locked at 60 fps, does a lot of good alongside the higher-quality textures and better lighting effects. And for multiplayer, the game jumps up to 120 fps for matches online, allowing every single tense moment I have online to be captured during a chaotic match-up. As far as looks go, Gears of War: Reloaded is better than anything we've seen with any re-release of the first Gears game.

Dents in the armor

Gotta stay smooth baby

As much fun as it is to play through Gears of War in a way that looks fantastic, there are still some problems that can be improved upon with future updates. Some issues are worse than others, but nothing truly game-breaking in a way that would deter anyone from the experience. Although the game looks and plays great on PlayStation 5, there are bugs that will happen throughout the course of the campaign, especially in the later parts of the story. Your allies can sometimes be locked in place and not react to enemies advancing on them, and in some instances will blindly run straight into enemy fire. It's silly, but can also be annoying when you see it happen in real time. Certain encounters that involve turrets or massive enemies can suffer from this, forcing you to see the icon of your downed ally often.

But enemies can also suffer from the occasional glitch when trying to kill you. It doesn't happen often, but can appear in some comedic ways that will give you an edge in a firefight. Sometimes I would run into enemies that are caught on a part of the ground that was sticking up, forcing them to stand still out of cover as I opened fire on them. At other times, I'd face down enemies that wouldn't fire a single shot for a long time, even after I was hitting them with bullets. Although I was playing the game on the Normal difficulty to keep things fair, part of this could also change when playing on higher difficulty settings. But it's most likely a bug that comes up with enemies that can be ironed out with a future update.

However, the worst glitches that happen aren't ones that are common, but still very annoying. During the stage when I was in control of the truck to escape the Kryll, the truck could sometimes get stuck on the road and appear to clip through the ground. This could completely derail everything and force someone to restart from a previous checkpoint, but I was lucky enough to maneuver the truck around and get things back to normal. Stuff like this definitely needs to be fixed, and most likely will at some point. Other sections that involve riding on vehicles or interacting with moving structures didn't have this issue, but there's nothing to stop it from possibly happening to them as well.

Online multiplayer mayhem

Break out the shotguns again

Of course, Gears fans don't just play the series for the story campaigns. They love diving into multiplayer online matches that can get chaotic and vicious. Is the multiplayer for Gears of War: Reloaded fun on PlayStation 5? It's definitely a lot of fun to jump into, even if you've been playing Gears of War for years. Everything you know about Gears of War multiplayer from previous releases is present, but there's one major change that shifts the momentum for everyone. And it's something that I think was the best choice for Gears of War: Reloaded to adopt.

Cross-platform support for multiplayer is a big deal, which allows players on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC to play online with each other. Not only does this open things up to a larger pool of players, but it's a stable experience of all the platforms interacting with one another. Getting into a match of Blitz, King of the Hill, or Warzone is pretty quick, especially if you have cross-platform play enabled in the game's settings. Even with some players dropping out of matches in-between rounds, the battles you get into online are still furious and fun. What's weird for me is looking at the leaderboard during a match and seeing the different console icons next to the names of players, with both PlayStation and Xbox logos side by side. It's something that nobody would have ever thought possible when the original Gears of War first came out, and it's still surreal to see now.

Multiplayer does, unfortunately, need to have some balancing adjustments in the near future. While everything does feel like it's up-to-date with what was done with multiplayer in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, some fire fights I was getting into online via PlayStation 5 did feel like they needed tweaks. Shotguns are still very powerful in the most random situations, even when you think you'll win against them. Other weapons will have varying degrees of effectiveness, depending on the situation, so it's hard to get a good grasp on what's the best all-around solution for most encounters. Hit detection with melee attacks might be a little weak when you're trying to push back someone rolling into you for a close shotgun blast. Some long-time Gears players might disagree and be fine with how things are, but it's little things like this across the board that can make an already solid competitive foundation feel even more balanced for everyone.

All aboard the Cole Train

Gears of War is a must-play title for anyone that enjoys most action games or third-person shooter titles. As of now, Gears of War: Reloaded is the absolute best way to experience what was so great about the original game. The boost in the presentation with 4K visuals and extra details make what so many people loved about the game look and sound even better. Bugs and glitches with the campaign can definitely be addressed quickly, along with some multiplayer balancing, but the majority of what's here at the start is very good for a beloved game. Seeing Gears of War run on a PlayStation console will definitely be a little weird for some at first, but who knew that the Gears of War series would look so good as it does now. If everyone gets to experience the first Gears of War game like this, then it's a win for everyone to jump on board the Cole Train.