Gears of War: E-Day Needs to Rediscover The Series’ Summer Blockbuster Sense of Fun

ign.com:

This year’s Xbox Games Showcase was a bit of a treat for fans of chainsaws and chest-high cover. Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel set during the earliest days of the Locust invasion, is set to throw us back into the boots and bandana of original protagonist Marcus Fenix. It’s an interesting direction; we’re coming up on the fifth anniversary of Gears 5, meaning it’s been nearly half a decade since Kait’s story was left on a cliffhanger. But throwing back to the era of the original trilogy has me thinking that developer The Coalition is taking the chance to look backwards as much as it does forward for what comes next. With E-Day, I hope Gears of War can rediscover its '80s and '90s summer blockbuster-style sense of fun.

Epic Games’ original Gears of War trilogy thrived on being the video game version of Predator’s muscle-bound “son of a bitch” handshake. So butch it was actually camp, Gears dripped with the kind of outrageous machismo that flowed like sweat through the back catalogue of ‘80s action heroes. Led by a foursome of WWE-likes clad in LED-accented armour panels, there was nothing too absurd for the game that bolted a chainsaw to an assault rifle. The contrasting personalities of gruff Marcus, loyal Dom, sarcastic Baird, and energetic Cole ensured continuous, enjoyable bickering throughout the three campaigns. Meanwhile, a perpetual desire to one-up whatever came before resulted in escalating set-piece grandiosity. Gears of War had ambition in many areas of game design, but the place it really delivered was in sheer Hollywood blockbuster fun. Combine Predator, Terminator 2, and Aliens, make it playable, and you have Gears of War.

The Coalition’s sequel trilogy (I can only assume it’ll be a trilogy, considering the story’s structure thus far) is a different beast. While strongly adhering to the original mechanical pillars of weighty combat and squelchy dismemberment, the storytelling and campaign design in Gears 4 and 5 have progressively moved further and