Gears of War 4 - Easy Allies Review

You.....don't agree with an above average score? Did we watch the same review? Gears is just as guilty of "Business as usual" as any other shooter sequel on the market. It's only ever been throwaway stories and beefier multiplayer for most of them and gears doesn't even offer THAT, just a currency based time sink thrown in with the same modes it's had already. He's right to criticize it, this game was talked up quite a bit since it's an exclusive and myself having played GoW3 I agree that it's not that much of an improvement, it could've easily been an expansion. The fact it was even scored THAT well is generous, and for me horde mode has been the only thing those games have that was worth playing, but since other games have already done it....and done it better, there's nothing it uniquely gives right now. Worse when you consider this is the first entry on a next gen platform, they could've done better here. Gears was one of the few reasons I would tell someone to buy a 360, but I wouldn't buy an XB1 for GoW4. I don't think there was anything inflammatory said, so I said it instead. This game is swimming in 7s, and before cutting this review he also handed it off to other allies(As per a statement on a recent stream) for their opinion as well, some of whom are bigger gears fans than he is. (To my perception at least) So you can bet this was a group decision my friend. And outside of the usual biased review sites out there it's getting relatively similar scores.

ZyloWolfBane

Being familliar with somethig does not mean your opinion on it has any less weight OR bearing than someone who is not. What he cited is valid regardless..the game does nothing new in generall..not just for a gears game.The story is lack luster (spent 1 act chasing a bug), chartacter motivations are shockingly bad and the game spends way to long having you shoot robots -the first act almost lost me. THE FIRST ACT. The multiplayer is where its at and brandon said this. Ultimatley he said this is not an essential purchase but technically this game is solid. Thats correct. And doesnt sound like the opinion of a person harbouring any bias. Im a long time gears fan. Had the origonal all the way up to the third and played them each to death. I rate them as follows in order of overall enjoyment - Gears 2. Gears 1. Gears3. Gears 4. The review is spot on.

Something in this Patreon post that may prove useful in the Youtube descriptions of future reviews, is the inclusion of the reviewer's history with the franchise. I believe Ben and Huber discussed it in a Frame Trap episode, that every review isn't suited for every person watching it, and that couldn't be more true here. Since I'm generally aware of the Allies' likes and dislikes and your collective perspective on Gears, your score didn't shock me. Perhaps including that information might tone down some of the inflammatory accusations on the Youtube review - or maybe that's just wishful thinking. Even that might be the wrong course of action, as you may fear people might dismiss your opinion as a result... I'm not entirely sure there's a perfect answer. At the end of the day, there are a lot of people just like you considering buying Gears 4; hopefully your words were valuable to them and aided in their purchasing decision. Keep up the good work.

Forrest

Don't completely agree with the narrative hate from all reviews. I don't expect some epic story out of Gears or insane character development. I expect brutal fun 3rd person action! (The characters definitely were a little bland though) But it was still a great review regardless that's why I love EZA reviews the best. Enjoy them no matter if I agree or not. I do say that what everyone misses out saying is Gears of War has some phenomenal gun creation. From the look of the guns, sound when you shoot it, feel of how powerful it is, and just satisfaction when you kill an enemy really sticks with me and is lacking in a lot of games. A lot of big AAA games... L&R

I had a lot of fun playing campaign co op. The game had a few surprises that I didn't expect to see and play in. I didn't watch any of the commercials. I will say that I was a little disappointed in environment context. Most of the time I was like , ok what is this place and why are we here. I guess that's my only complaint.

YourOwnSkills

Man I had a surprisingly tough time liking this game. Grew to resent it strongly as me and my gf plodded through the campaign. The new protagonists may as well be pieces of cardboard, the gameplay hasn't altered even slightly since 2006 (besides good alterations to horde mode). Some of the set pieces feel straight out of a 90s videogame (hello shitty battletoads light driving sequence), dialogue was incredibly barebones and the humor fell flat. And yes, I know gears isn't known for its story, but I was really expecting more rejuvenation of the series considering this is a completely new (and awesome) studio doing this game. Also, fuck this game for its villians. Leading up to release they promised a new, interesting threat. Nope. Not at all. I'm not gonna spoil it but you can pretty much guess. Lazy. On the bright side, the pc port is phenomenal. Runs incredibly well and every studio sold follow the example set here wit their graphics tweaking options and presentation. Cross play is cool too, I played on pc with my gf next to me on her xbox Other than that, the campaign filled me with such bile I can't even bring myself to fire up the horde mode anymore

Steven Blomkamp

Excellent review! :D x

I was never in Gears for the story so this is right up my alley. Cheers Brandon.

This was a good review, it seems to address some of the major concerns while also pointing out the highlights of the game. The only negative that I noticed was that the review doesn't seem very friendly to somebody who's not familiar with the series already. But I mean how many people could that actually be?

Morgan Mohalla

I'd agree with the majority of this review without a doubt. I'm still enjoying the game a great deal and the bulk of my play time has definitely been spent in the horde mode which is fantastic. I've never been a great lover of the versus multiplayer in Gears and this game hasn't really introduced anything that changes my thoughts on it. The story was mostly average and it was a bit of a shame that it only really gained any solid footing in the final hour or so, the introductory chapter was the worst of them all. The new DB enemy type wasn't even slightly threatening compared to the locust/swarm and every time Jinn showed up onscreen it felt like the story stopped just so you could get pissed at her. I still plan on replaying it in co-op on Insane difficulty though because I'm a glutton for punishment in more ways than one.

Being a huge fan of the series, Gears 4 has been sitting near, and at, the top of my most anticipated list. I'm not a fan of multiplayer unless I can do it offline, and Horde isn't for me. I come for the story. Which is why this review bums me out. Not for the quality, as this is probably one of my favorite EZA reviews to date, but I had expectations that it would, at the very least, be good in all phases, not just passable. There are those who love it, those who see it as boring. Because of some shipping issues, I STILL have yet to receive my copy, though that should change soon. Hearing this review saddens me, because I really wanted Gears 4 to be great, but as the score says, it isn't that. When I get the game, and play for myself, I can make my judgment, but this is a little disheartening. Thanks for the quality review! Keep 'em coming when you can.

Brandon K Gann

As a SP only guy its disappointing to hear that the campaign is underwhelming but then again it is Gears and the campaign for the series has always been boring. I felt the criticisms to the story of Gears 4 was a bit unwarranted considering the previous entries storytelling seems to be worse (Haven't played 4 yet though) but aside from that great review, was well written and edited keep up the good work Brandon Jones.

A lot of this game seems pretty derivative, even the soundtrack that's in the review screams Mad Max to me. Good, that you criticized the seeming lack of creativity in some areas.

Andreas Köther

Thanks for the review, Brandon! Those card-packs really made me reconsider buying this... Not a fan of that at all... Didn't bother with it in Rise of the Tomb Raider, but putting them in horde mode is disappointing as that's a game mode I would like to play.

Looking forward to watching that as soon as I get home from work :-)

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