Review of the game Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

Gears of War was the first game that started my acquaintance with the Xbox 360 game console in the distant 2006. Need I say that this third-person shooter has had an incredible effect on me? After the previous generation of consoles, which was dominated by the old PlayStation 2, the game looked fantastic. That's why I was closely watching the development of its full-fledged remake for the new Xbox One game console.

Microsoft is particularly serious about the issue of reissuing games that are important for the Xbox console family. So it was with the reissues of the first two parts of the shooter Halo, which changed just beyond recognition in comparison with the originals. In the case of remakes from Microsoft, it's not just about extending the resolution to the HD level, but about full-fledged redrawing of textures and 3D models, rethinking the control system, and even the complete reworking of story inserts.

In Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is really felt that colossal work, which was done by the employees of the studios The Coalition and Splash Damage. It was they who were honored after almost 10 years from the time of the original's release to recreate from scratch one of the most legendary shooters in the history of igroproma. And I'm not exaggerating when I talk about the "legendary" Gears of War, because today only the most lazy developers do not use the elements of this series in their games.

In 2006, then, very few well-known game designer Cliff Blezhinsky decided to create a project of his dreams that would combine a view from behind his shoulder, like in Resident Evil 4, a system of shooting from coverings, as in the game Kill Switch, as well as jumping and rolling from one object to another, as in the Bionic Commando. Over his game, only 30 people worked, and the development was spent quite a modest by modern standards, a budget of 10 million dollars. What happened to this team, forever changed the face of modern shooters from a third party.

The plot of the game tells how the brave mercenaries from the Delta force, fight with alien invaders, called Locusts ("locusts" - English), on the planet Sera. The main characters of the first game of Gears of War are two war comrades Markus Phoenix and Dominic Santiago, who shoulder to shoulder to go through fire, water and copper pipes. The game is famous for its unprecedented brutality and cruelty. Soldiers with the help of rifles-chainsaw model Lancer in the dust shot aliens and saw them in pieces, with bloody splashes flood their faces. Spectacle, it must be said, exclusively for the adult male audience, so that children can not be allowed to play such games.

The game has completely changed since the Xbox 360 version. The power of the Xbox One console allows you to display a clear and saturated picture in the resolution of 1080p. Single-player and co-op game modes run at a frame rate of 30 fps, but in multiplayer, the frame rate doubles to 60 fps. A very important change in the remake was the complete reworking of the story cinematic screensavers. Everything was literally altered: camera position, location of objects and characters, animation, lighting, effects - the story component of the game became even more cinematic, although the original looked very impressive. And I also thought that the game became more colorful and bright compared to the original, sustained in a muted brown palette.

Many people might think that the game was simply taken and dragged from the Unreal Engine 3 engine to the Unreal Engine 4. But this is not true. The game, as in 2006, runs on Unreal Engine 3, only on its much improved version, which allowed developers to use a lot of additional special effects, a new model of lighting and generally improve the quality of the image at times. You yourself can see the increase in graphic beauty on the comparative screenshots from the game. The team of developers took a year and a half to create a remake.

Among other things, more than 750 different textures were redrawn from scratch and most of the 3D models, so now we can clearly see the bristles of Marcus Phoenix on especially big plans. In the game, you can hardly find a "soapy surface", as often happens with other HD-remasters. Here everything is done on conscience and with an amazing attention to detail. Even the arrangement of checkpoints for automatic recording has been changed for greater convenience of players. Untouched remained, perhaps, only the voice of characters and a general plot.

A few words about the voice: the voice of Marcus Phoenix belongs to the actor John Di Maggio, who is well known to you due to the role of the robot Bender in the animated series Futurama. But I hasten to upset those who prefer to play with Russian voice acting: it is completely faded and inexpressive. As far as I understand, in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition there is no choice item for voice in the menu, so, most likely, you will have to change the system language of the Xbox One console to hear the voices of American actors.

The game was added a new level of complexity Casual, which will crush the alien invaders, even the most inexperienced players. Also, the multiplayer component of the game was reworked. In the remake were included all released to date DLC from the original (and this, for a second, as many as 19 cards). Also, new online game modes were added: Team Death Match, King of the Kill, as well as a special 2v2 mode, the idea of ​​which fans were thrown by fans of the series. The modes from the original have not disappeared: Warzone, Assassination, Execution and Annex. At the time of writing the network modes were still unavailable to journalists (the game will go on sale only on August 28), so I could not test them. Although, judging by the reviews of those people who have already played in the beta version of the multiplayer, with the online component of the Ultimate Edition all right.

As I mentioned above, the changes were made even to the game control scheme. Xbox One version of Gears of War has acquired the possibility of auto-targeting for novice players, the ability to revitalize their partners, without leaving the shelter, and the ability to switch weapons directly on the run. The players were given a very flexible adjustment of the sensitivity of the game controller, as well as various alternative key layouts. The changes also affected the cooperative mode of passing the game. Now you can divide the TV screen horizontally (in the original, only vertical separation was available), and also choose different difficulty modes for each of the two players.

From the bonuses for those who bought Gears of War: Ultimate Edition in a boxed version, you can mention the opportunity to be the first to touch the beta version of the fourth part of the series, which will be available to them in early 2016. Also, each remake buyer will receive absolutely free all original games of the Gears of War series in the form of digital copies, which can be played on the Xbox 360 emulator for Xbox One. Agree, a very pleasant bonus. And in the game were woven comics, drawn based on the series of Gears of War, but to unlock them, you will have to search one page for them in the ruins of the planet Sera.

Owners of personal computers can be outraged: they say, where is the version for PC, because the original was released in due time for the Windows operating system! Experiencing is not worth it. The first to remake will be able to touch the owners of the Xbox One game console, but after a while the game will also be released for the PC. You just need to wait a bit. During gaming exhibitions this year, Microsoft has not in vain focused on the fact that it will actively develop gaming among users of the Windows operating system.

If you've never played Gears of War in your life, you should start with this version of the game. If you played the original, but want to experience this dramatic and very brutal story again, Ultimate Edition will allow you to do it in full. This remake - the most vivid and rich version of the game about the struggle of Marcus Phoenix with Locusts to date. Despite the fact that the original came out as much as 9 years ago, this remake makes us forget that for the first time since the universe of Gears of War, we met so long ago.

Pros:

• Chopping aliens with a chainsaw is still just as fun.
• The game has never looked so wonderful.
• Honest resolution of 1080p and 60 fps in multiplayer modes.
• A huge amount of content, including DLC ​​and comics.
• Cinematic inserts were created from scratch.
• Redesigned and improved management.
• Complemented with new multiplayer modes.
• Improved cooperative mode of passing the game.
• Free original games in the load to the remake.
• One of the best remakes in my memory.

Minuses:

• I, as always, is very annoyed by the Russian voice of the game.
• No ability to skip the cutscenes.

What else can you say? We have an exemplary example of how to make the right remakes of games. Microsoft has not just acquired all the rights to the series of Gears of War from Epic Games. It is immediately evident that the franchise was in good hands. Further it will only be developed and improved on all fronts. I put the game 9 points out of 10 . Now it remains to wait for Gears of War 4, which, according to Microsoft's statements, should be born next year.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/games/obzor-igry-gears-of-war-ultimate-edition.html.