Detailed Analysis - Collectibles, Environment & Context
Collectibles & Context - Docs and Lore
The Collectibles found throughout the Gears of War series have always been fun to find around the fiery battlefields and broken towns of Sera and always strengthened the Lore. No other game in the series did this like Gears of War 2 as every document felt like it was one piece of an overarching narrative that was fun to uncover. Sadly Gears of War 3 did not continue this trend and while Gears of War 4 continues its strong focus on exciting collectibles it doesn’t have its own overarching narrative but each one does fulfil a purpose for each Act in the Series.
During the prologue, we found documents belonging to notable Gears characters from the series like a security report by Garron Paduk during the pendulum wars and a makeshift Will made by Bernadette Mataki giving all her possessions to her close friend Victor Hoffman. From the get-go, it feels like the early collectables are designed to elicit a sense of nostalgia, from the prologue to some of the early stages. At one point we find a report about salvaging materials from past series locations like Jacinto, Landown, Char and Hanover which each held great significance to the series lore and the characters themselves.
While there are collectibles that are designed to invoke nostalgia there are other relevant ones that are created to try and fill in a few gaps like a COG acceptance letter for JD and an old house plan or the Stroud Estate that Marcus either did or wasn’t able to do, most likely after Anya passed. Sometimes however these documents don’t often offer much sometimes but it does help to see remnants of the past and the future meld together finding old mining documents signed off by Anya and COG propaganda on rebuilding their population and trusting in drones. Perhaps the most important collectible is obtained through a scripted storytelling moment where Reyna gifts her necklace to Kait, engraved with a Locust symbol. We have no real idea what this means but there may be some dark implications in the future.
The Collectibles in Gears of War 4 are fun to find and have interesting narrative values helping to fill in certain gaps from the past while also trying to carry the players into the future. While they leave a lot to be desired in terms of advancement as they only seem to look into the past or vague future but the Coalition had done a good job at making the Collectibles worth finding as they provide new narrative insights into a past that’s been long forgotten by its characters.
Collectibles - COG Tags
As a returning staple of the Gears of War collectibles are the COG tags. Since the first game, we have been able to pick up the COG tags of fallen soldiers who had died fighting the Locust and even the Lambent in later years. In the 1st game, they had no other Narrative values, Gears of War 2 innovated on this by attaching a message to each tag that helped to show the fears, doubts and hopes of the men and women who had fallen in defence of Sera. While it was hoped that Gears of War 3 would continue this trend, developers Epic Games decided not to have messages on the COG tags anymore which was sadly disappointing especially because Gears of War 3 would be the last game in the Locust era.
In Gears of War 4, the Coalition would continue the tradition of collecting COG tags, among other collectibles. While they do not do much to innovate the tags themselves, it’s more where we find the tags that hold narrative values. As JD and the rest of Delta explore areas we’ve never seen before and have been left abandoned by the COG in favour of focusing on building up their sustainable infrastructure, we find the old and eroded bodies of many COG soldiers that have been left to the elements. It seems that in their focus to try and rebuild themselves, the COG has neglected the world around them as they focus on rebuilding themselves. As JD and Delta explore the world around them and find these tags, they want to try and find as many as they can so that they can be returned,
While it is a regrettable fate, to leave the remains of brave COG soldiers who fought against the Locust in the wilds to be forgotten, like much of the world, there really aren’t a lot of people left in the world to prioritise taking back areas of the world that have been untouched for a long time. Thankfully JD and his squad have done a small service, finding whatever tags they can find so they can be returned to the COG and in effect, the loved ones of the fallen soldiers. The Coalition did a fairly good job of reintroducing the players to what it means to find the tags, even if they don’t take full advantage of making the Tags stand out again. Regardless, it was fun hunting all the tags again as it helped make it feel like old times which helps to settle The Coalition into their new role as they helm the series moving forward.
Environment - The Forgotten World
The world of Sera has always been an expansive and interesting place to explore, as we joined Marcus and his original team as they scoured the plains of Sera on their mission to fight the Locust we were always introduced to either ruined cities, the underground hollows and the outskirts of Sera. Usually, war-torn and had signs of either COG or Locust activity but also served to show the losses of the already costly war with the Locust. By the end of the Locust war, the re-established COG decided to isolate its citizens in a bid to strengthen their infrastructure and so save for COG settlements the rest of the world had essentially been abandoned to the Outsiders.
As JD and his team march on their journey across the surface of Sera, trying to find their people and learn more about the Swarm, they come across many ancient locations that show the true depth of Sera’s history. Typically we always saw the COG as the advanced military we’ve seen since the first Gears of War. While they were advanced in their own way they had some things that might have seemed obsolete to us but were unique, like their grenades that require a swing and toss. While this has been how we’ve seen the COG in both the games and books, we’ve never gotten a look at how Sera used to look back in the day and perhaps just how far the humans of Sera have come.
When Marcus is taken by the Swarm, Delts descend into the depths of Sera, finding museums that show some of the more well-known historic events in Sera’s history but also ancient crypts that depict the medieval age of Sera as we find the large statue of an ancient king that is larger than life. So much effort was put into immortalising Sera’s history only to see it descend into darkness as it is taken bit by bit by the swarm, with the expectation that the COG will never take it back. A lot of these ancient ruins are connected to some deep tunnel systems that were connected to Osmium mines, Osmium being a metal that was used for old Lancers, the signature weapon of the Gears of War series. The Osmium mines are much older than they look despite their modern fixtures and they were the ideal place to leave the Locust shells which was an almost poetic fate, to leave the Locust to rest in the darkness where they came.
After saving Marcus, they head for another hive which is situated in Tollen Dam, a defunct base of power long before the Locust war. Built pre-Imulsion, the miracle fuel of Sera that was actually a dormant parasite, the dam was used by the COG to provide power to its cities and was even used as an outpost during the Locust war which brings up some painful memories for Marcus who was meant to save several Gears trapped at the dam but he never got to them in time. We always saw the successes and even failures the original Delta had to contend with but not of those failures were ever anything as bad as the dam as we find the ruined outpost layered with the decayed bodies of dead Gears Marcus tried to save. As we move through the structures we can see that the dam still works on a simple level, however, it has become a hive for the Swarm and so might never be reclaimed by the COG in the future, a worrying trend as it seems the COG may never become strong enough to take back the world they will most likely forget about, as they are lost to time.
Factions - The COG
In the 25 years since winning the war against the Locust and the Lambent, the COG reformed itself and started focusing on the future. Using technology that was most likely developed by Damon Baird thanks to the efforts of Adam Fenix, they created a Fabricator which was capable of absorbing inorganic material like debris and repurposing it to create building materials. An effective device which is helpful when it comes to trying to rebuild civilisation. When JD, Del, Kait and Oscar break into a COG settlement to steal a Fabricator it’s amazing to see the leap that COG technology has made, especially with the right push. In such a short time, the Fabricator has helped produce the parts for a functional settlement and within a few weeks there is a town ready to hold hundreds, maybe thousands and the potential to expand.
Building and protecting the settlements are the machine workforce known as DeeBee’s, mechanised drones that are designed to incapacitate hostile forces within and outside COG settlements. Acting as the new police force, meant to reinforce Gears in the line of duty, these mechanical forces are the new backbone of the COG and are relatively effective in their duties. Because JD and his team are the heroes, they have efficient plot armour when it comes to fighting against numerous DeeBee’s at a time without needing a break but because the game only has the DeeBee’s after Delta, we don’t see if they are efficient against the Swarm.
Sadly, however, as their technology has progressed, it doesn’t seem like anything else has as they seem to have regressed into some of their old behaviour. When JD and his group of outsiders tried to steal from a COG settlement, they are confronted by COG forces led by a drone that protects First Minister Jinn, armed with live rounds. JD is initially shocked by that and questions if Jinn wants a repeat of Settlement 2, with Jinn simply declaring that whatever it is, it was a successful operation and is now their most compliant Settlement. We thought the COG would have learned its lessons about starting a war with itself and its own citizens but whatever happened at Settlement 2 was enough to drive JD and Del to leave the COG. Perhaps even more daunting is when Jinn accuses JD of stealing her people since she knows what he was trained to do. What was JD trained to do that would lead Jinn to accuse him of taking people? It’s a good question but sadly one we don’t get much context on in this adventure but perhaps we might learn more in a future entry.
To see how far the COG have come in 25 years, with the new technology they have developed, it’s hard to imagine that they would struggle in a world that is continually evolving in ways they can’t imagine but because we haven’t seen if the COG can protect against the Swarm, it’s hard to determine if they are prepared for the coming battles but we will see if they are up to the challenge soon enough. Not only that but it’s a troubling notion to think that the COG is continuing to hurt its own citizens, this time not having an enemy to blame except for itself but whatever other secrets the COG have it won’t be revealed in this game and I’m personally glad as it means that we have some excellent lore to look forward to in future entries.
Context - Squad Dalogue
Throughout the story, we learn many of the things above us but typically it’s within the confines of the squad dialogue. JD, Del and Kait are quite excellent conversationalists though it’s sometimes hearing them speak that makes the squad dialogue nauseating at times. Make no mistake it is not the fault of the voice actors nor the writers as the dialogue is quite interesting and their performances are great, but after playing as hardened adults who spent so long fighting the Locust we are now playing as youths who have not had the same experiences that Marcus, Dom and Anya had. The perky attitude that the new Delta have can sometimes make for some dialogue that can be unlikable but thankfully most of the time it’s grounded by Marcus’ attitude, experience and excellent performance by John DiMaggio who continues to make the character distinct.
Helping to give context on the environment is typically the work of Del and Marcus as Del gives information on current COG infrastructures like how the settlements are built and Marcus gives context on pre-war locations like the Tollen Dam. Learning about how COG settlements are built from the inside out within maybe a few weeks and already be the size of a town shows the efficiency of the COG’s building prowess, even if it’s just with DeeBee’s. When Marcus brings up that the dam was built pre-Imulsion, it was built to signify the 4 main sources of power, solar, water, air and gas, much like our world the people depended on these sources of power to fuel the world.
Above giving context to the environment around them, the squad also take the opportunity to give their thoughts on the situation around them and how Del actually named the new faction because they attacked their outsider village like a “Swarm”. JD, Del and Kait’s dialogue also helps to fill them in about their history like how JD was raised in Boarding School and how he and Del used to play together a lot at the Stroud Estate. Kait was raised outside of the COG settlement and according to her, she had a relatively good childhood, even if her uncle Oscar was overzealous with her training and when exploring COG settlements she is glad her mother raised her away from them. it’s little things like this that make us understand exactly the kind of childhoods the new Delta had while it may have been rough, it’s conditioned them in ways to survive this world with JD and Del always trusting each other and Kait not being soft like most of the new COG.
Sometimes the humour that the squad exhibit often feels forced with Del specifically designed for comic relief but doesn’t carry the same sarcastic brevity that Baird exuded whenever he spoke. Even when Baird was annoying, his sarcasm got a few laughs on occasion and helped to show the unintentional humorous side that the other squad members would exhibit. On several occasions, the old Delta would often mock Baird but in a playful way. With the new Delta, they don’t seem to have much fun with each other and don’t often play off each other very well which can often make them difficult to bond with as most of their dialogue feels clunky when it comes to each other, but when it comes to the history of the world post-Locust war, I usually found myself hanging on every word. The new Delta are an acceptable replacement for the original Delta but they still have a long way to go to make them more interesting to the player than just giving lore context to certain situations.