The territorial battles between companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have blurred over the last few years, with PlayStation exclusives becoming increasingly available on PCs, and Microsoft continuing to “play nice” by leaking some of their hits into the world of Sony gamers. The latest such release is arguably the biggest to date, offering Sony PlayStation owners the first chance to play a “Gears of War” game on their console of choice. “Gears of War: Reloaded” doesn’t just import the bestselling and award-winning 2006 game that genuinely changed the shooter genre; it updates for the current generation with 4K graphics that support a 60fps campaign, 120fps multiplayer, and 7.1 3D Spatial Audio. The game has been rebuilt to look nearly like it could come out in 2025. While some of the mechanics will always be a tad dated, “Reloaded” is a reminder of why “Gears of War” shook the landscape, a thoroughly entertaining campaign experience that honestly could have been twice as long, and I wouldn’t have minded. I recently mentioned that I enjoyed the old-fashioned gameplay of “Mafia: The Old Country,” and this is another game that fits that mold —a simple run-and-gun that, nonetheless, remains consistently entertaining.
Clearly heavily inspired by James Cameron’s “Aliens” with a dash of Paul Verhoeven’s “Starship Troopers” (and a lot of “Metal Gear”), “Gears of War” takes place on an imaginary planet called Sera, where an invading force known as the Locust have overrun society, leaving only a select crew of soldiers known as the “Gears” to fight back. You play as Marcus Fenix (John DiMaggio, a legendary voice actor who also plays Bender on “Futurama” and Jake on “Adventure Time,” among many others), a leader in a quartet of gruff soldiers that includes Dom Santiago, Augustus Cole, and Damon Baird. You can tackle the game co-op and really initiate strategies like flanking with a buddy. Still, one of the fun elements is how much that also comes into play in single-player, too. However, the AI-controlled grunts in my squad often needed rescuing more often than I liked after they would just basically run into enemy fire. Marcus and his mates head into the fray to find a resonator that can guide them to the underground enemies known as the Locust, so that they can plant a bomb and live to fight another day.
“Gears of War” is divided into five acts, each with generally the same gameplay but enough variety in setting and special boss battles to keep the game from going stale over its relatively brief runtime. One thing one notices about “Gears of War” in 2025 is how much we’ve become accustomed to longer campaigns than the 7-8 hour one presented here, although it’s worth noting that many games with multiplayer portions as robust as this one—like recent “Call of Duty” entries—have similarly short campaigns.
Over those five acts, you will mow down hundreds of enemies, most of them who basically look like lizard men with armor and high-powered weapons. You cycle through four weapons, including grenades, that you can carry at one time. The variations in loadouts are impressive—it took me a few acts to find exactly what fit my gameplay, which arrived at a longshot rifle to get enemies before they got anywhere near me, and then a shotgun or pistol for close quarters. The two breakthrough elements of combat that remain thoroughly entertaining are the cover design, which continues to influence games to this day, and a clever reload maneuver wherein you can press the R1 button at just the right time to replenish your ammo more quickly.
As for the former, some of the cover mechanics are still a little clunky—it’s often unclear when you are and are not in the line of fire, and some things that look like they should provide cover just don’t. There were also a few occasions wherein enemies would basically glitch out of the way, jumping left or right when I shot, although that could be patched out. And the truth is that every bit of glitchy gameplay is brief, overcome by how many things the game does very well, including not just combat but an immersive, detailed setting. The game’s sound and level design in the “Reloaded” edition may not win awards, but it’s consistently engaging, giving you a sense of danger and destruction around every corner. The score is particularly fantastic.
The “Reloaded” edition also includes all 19 multiplayer maps, many of which were previously offered via DLC, but everything is now unlockable through progression. There are 8 PvP game modes: Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill, Execution, Warzone, 2v2 Gnasher Execution Assassination, and Annex. The game also supports cross-play for the first time, both in multiplayer and when tackling the campaign via co-op. There’s probably no greater sign that the console wars are over than the thought that Sony and Microsoft players will be teaming up as soon as this weekend. As for enhancements, the PS version makes excellent use of the DualSense Controller, sending some of the chatter that Marcus hears over his headset to the speaker, using the adaptive triggers to enhance the gunplay, and other immersive tricks.
When I think of Xbox exclusives, the first two that come to mind are “Gears of War” and “Halo,” the real right and left hook of the console. Does releasing “Gears of War: Reloaded” on the PlayStation diminish the Microsoft brand? That’s a better question for industry experts, but anything that expands the reach of a franchise in today’s crowded market feels like a net positive to me. When what I expect will be a massive game in the 2026 comeback, “Gears of War: E-Day” is released exclusively on the Xbox next year, how many people who got hooked (or re-hooked) on “Reloaded” will find a way to play it? The story of the “Gears” legacy hasn’t written its final chapter yet.
The Publisher provided a review copy of this title.
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