Gears of War: E-Day was revealed recently, and like a lot of Gears fans, it has ignited a burning passion and giddy excitement inside my soul. I’m just so happy one of my favorite series is returning. As any fan would do, I decided to dust off my copies of the Gears games and begin my tour around Sera once more.
A good pal of mine mentioned that we should play through the series together, but with Gears of War 1 having a remaster available, I wondered which version I should suggest them to start with. Having played the original 2006 release again a year and a half ago, I decided to boot up Ultimate Edition this time so I could choose between the two.
My conclusion: the original 2006 release.
Ultimate Edition is a great remaster that provides the Gears 1 PC campaign experience with, at the time, cutting edge visuals powered by Unreal Engine 3. For the uninitiated, Gears 1’s PC release had an additional 5 chapters added to Act 5, they were cut from the 360 release due to technical limitations. As is with most remasters, the original game’s framework has been left unaltered, for better and worse; the exception is the pre-rendered cutscenes, they have all been re-animated but still achieve the narrative purpose they originally had.
Gameplay is still the classic and ground-breaking formula it always was: Walk, take cover, shoot, reposition, and ACTIVE RELOAD. I’ve played many faster, more mechanically complex 3rd Person Shooters since 2006, none of them have ever felt as good as a Gears title. Along with the still-engaging gameplay comes with the incredibly busted AI for both your allies and the Locust. They all tend to stand around during combat and get chewed up by gunfire; Delta Squad will take 3 melees to the jaw and ask to be revived; the Locust have very simple methods of attack, they never intentionally synergize, and are easily handled as long as you shoot the Drones out of cover first.
The music is the same classic score by Kevin Riepl, incredibly nostalgic and an awesome bar to set for the rest of the series. Though Steve Jablonsky’s work on the scores for 2&3 arguably perfected Gears’ music, Riepl’s work fits the original release’s vibe perfectly; it is brooding, intense, and faux triumphant with a slight twinge of horror laced throughout. The soundtrack perfectly embodies all the elements of Gears of War, it compliments the tone without being overbearing or too subdued. Tone, which brings me to the reasoning for recommending the original release over the remaster.
Though the game has higher fidelity with superior visuals, the remaster fails to capture the grungy and drab aesthetic of the 2006 release. Gears of War’s entire environmental design philosophy is ‘Destroyed Beauty’; for a very surface-level example, the inspiration from Greek architecture is apparent, these sorts of structures are almost always war-torn and bloody. The buildings that have somehow weathered the war are testaments to a beauty the world Sera once had 14 years ago. This design philosophy is clearly respected by The Coalition and is unchanged in any significant way. The issue is the lighting, it’s not blue enough, not flat enough to really drive home the exhausted and depressing state areas like Embry Square now exist in.
Another visual aspect I feel falls short is the work done on the characters. Though I appreciate the faces being redone to be more in line with their later iterations, there is a new level softness and warmth in their skin. Delta squad looks almost airbrushed when they used to look more grimy and in desperate need of a shower; this could potentially be a side effect from my previous complaint.
I remember seeing comparison videos for the cutscenes between the two releases. Though the changes aren’t massive or even substantial to altering the plot, they do exist. The 2006 cutscenes were directed as if they were being filmed on a hand-cam; to make the player feel like they’re right in the fight with Delta Squad they used tight angles, messy zoom-ins and outs, and off-center framing. There are probably more proper/accurate terms for these filming techniques, but I do not know them. In Ultimate, they use ‘two cameras’, as described by the devs; the result is cinematic and showcases the new art assets and animations fantastically. Though I feel the new camera work doesn’t capture the desperate and unpredictable nature of the war the COG is arguably losing, I cannot honestly commit to saying it is worse. It is simply a stylistic choice I do not entirely prefer over the original.
Gears of War Ultimate Edition is a great remaster that delivers the entire Gears 1 narrative to consoles; again, remember that most of Act 5 was cut from the original 360 release because of technical limitations. It’s an updated version of a classic and influential game, and though it may not entirely capture the original’s atmosphere, it is a visually beautiful jog down memory lane that showed The Coalition’s vision for the series. A bit of a wobbly first few steps with Ultimate and Gears 4, in my opinion, but I believe they carry Epic’s former mantle well.
Gears of War Ultimate Edition is currently on sale for a mere $5 USD on PC and Xbox, and is included with GamePass, if you are so inclined.
I give Ultimate Edition a Swarm of nibbling Kryll/10
