Detailed Analysis - Ultimate Edition
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: The Coalition
Release Date: Aug 15th-28th, 2015
IGN: 8.5/10
Metacritic: 82/100
Gamespot: 6/10
Cinematic Direction
Nearly 10 years after the first Gears of War game, the series had expanded itself to one of Xbox’s greatest flagship franchises, spanning 4 games, several books and even comics. Building on the solid bedrock established by the first Gears of War, the developers decided to keep going spawning successful sequels and building even further on the world they made in 2006. After 2013, with the release of Gears of War: Judgment and the impending release of the Xbox One, it only made sense for the series to spawn a new entry to build on the Xbox’s exclusive base. Set for release in 2016, Gears of War 4 would mark a new era for the series but before starting their next chapter, The Coalition would re-introduce the returning players and new players to an amped version of the original game.
When Gears of War was in initial development it was on a budget and the developers were on a timetable that they had to meet as such there were some things they wanted to be different in the final product. Regardless, Gears of War was released with excellent acclaim and quickly became a respected series not just with Xbox but the entire gaming community. Utilising the power of the Xbox One and its beefed version, the Xbox One X along with more talent, a better timeline and a better budget, The Coalition were able to remake Gears of War into a visually brilliant game filled with better Cinematic direction than its predecessor. Returning to the first Gears of War game made for some intriguing nostalgia for the player as they were re-entering the world of the first Gears of War with a brand new filter.
Being able to do motion capture and having experienced developers allows The Coalition to bring a better cinematic approach to the game’s story and change them in ways that make massive differences all while being completely subtle and easy to miss. One such scene is when Dom breaks Marcus out of prison: Where the original focused on keeping Marcus out of frame due to lighting limitations, the lighting tech has been upgraded in the Ultimate Edition allowing Marcus to emerge from the shadows more effectively. When Kim is killed and Delta retreat into the Tomb of the Unknowns, they are then pursued by a Berserker. With better camera angles, animations and lighting, the developers make the Berserker even more terrifying and make the scene much tenser. One last mention is after eliminating the Berserker, Marcus is promoted and placed in charge of the squad. When Baird makes his insulting comment to Marcus, Dom becomes confrontational towards Baird with Cole standing in between them. In the original version, the squad are much more casual.
Along with the brilliant direction done for the remastered Campaign, the overall visuals, physics and particle effects, and lighting made revisiting Gears of War a satisfying and fulfilling chapter in the series as we can see several dramatic cinematic changes and overall see how the game would have looked like if it has been made for the first time during 2015. The Ultimate Edition of Gears of War is a worthwhile investment as it elevates the Campaign both narratively and visually in fun and exciting ways.
Comics
A returning collectible was the COG tags that were first introduced. While they were fun to find, there were never any narrative rewards as we were unable to see the names of the people they belonged to and this is the same in the Ultimate Edition. This time whenever we find COG tags we get a much better Narrative reward. When returning to the main menu we can navigate through it and find the collectibles page where with each unlock we get an unlocked page from a selection of comics from the Gears of Wars series. After playing so many games and books, there is still so much Gears of War content that is largely unexplored and The Coalition took advantage of the lack of COG tag information and instead filled the game with comic segments.
Set in periods like the fabled Pendulum Wars as well as focusing on the Locust war, we get to see the characters that we know and love in a much younger setting. Not only that we get to see the events that would shape older characters like Hoffman and another character, Adam Fenix, and see them participate in the history of Sera. It’s also a treat to see actual aspects of the Pendulum Wars as we have only heard about it in scattered dialogue and random collectibles in future entries and this was an innovative way to help fill in some gaps for the players understanding of the period.
