Maximum PC - UK (2019-12)

Space jocks find color, nuance, and orbital death rays

Gears 5

FOLLOWING ON FROM the decidedly earnest

Gears of War 4, Gears 5 drops half the

name and a lot of the seriousness,

because running into battle wearing half

a metal workshop and carrying a gun with

a chainsaw affixed should be fun, dammit.

This time it is. Half of the game plays

out the way the series always has, your

muscular team of largely interchangeable

protagonists hunkering down behind cover

that’s conveniently just the right height,

before letting rip with red-hot bullets at

monsters trying to do the same to you.

Kait is meant to be the lead character, but

it’s so easy to change her that we did it by

accident. Her slightly slimmer frame and

smaller armor may make her look like a

supermini surrounded by pickup trucks

on the freeway, but she’s an interesting

character supported by great voice acting.

The others, well, in a game about

sides of beef charging around

and whooping, subtlety is

a relatively new idea,

and the rest of the

cast are the same

meatheads they

have always

been, only this

time written

with an eye for

humor that was

So nice to see some color in

a game that’s traditionally

brown, brown, and brown.

Nasty little Juvies

still swarm in packs.

Turn off motion blur for

some sharp graphics.

We think JD’s meant to

be a blond, but it’s the

shiniest hair ever.

move fast through it, and lacks any real

sense of exploration, thanks to a radar

that points things out to you. What it gives

is a glimpse at what’s to come: Gears 7,

perhaps, becoming a more Far Cry-like

experience (with chainsaw bayonets).

All of this is playable in splitscreen

co-op, one of the more generous

implementations we’ve seen recently, and

with co-op-friendly multiplayer modes—

such as old friend Horde and the new

Escape—to underline just how much

more fun it is to play with a friend.

That’s not a new idea, but most of what’s

in Gears 5 is either new or refreshed.

Sure, there’s active reloading and swingy

grenades and chainsaws, just like in 2006,

but with its renewed emphasis on big

dumb fun, it feels distinctly 2019. Which is

a good thing. –IAN EVENDEN

missing before. Even the robots have

some amusing things to say.

Graphically, it’s pulled ahead of the

pack. The "destroyed beauty" aesthetic

has always been strong, but Gears 5

takes it in new directions. It throws you

about, never keeping you in a location

long enough for it to get boring. And while

there are some glitches, it’s the best-

looking and most colorful Gears to date,

and runs very nicely on moderate setups.

Downloading the Ultra textures is

wor th it if your graphics card is recent and

has an “80” in the name; it’ll even run at

4K 60fps with them. An intelligent scaling

system keeps it simple for everyone else.

Jack, your flying, often invisible, robot

pal, now gets upgrades in the form of

“components” left carelessly lying around

for you to collect. They all look the same,

but can enhance any of four sets of

abilities, meaning you can build a specific

damage-dealing bot, or opt for something

that can handle multiple tasks. He’s also

now a playable character, if you fancy

something different.

Get far enough into the campaign—

there are four acts, none of which outstays

its welcome—and things change. It starts

experimenting with an open world,

sending you off on a strange contraption

pulled by a sail. It’s too empty, but you

Gears 5

CHAINSAW Freshens up the

series with great graphics,

performances, and humor.

COLESLAW Occasionally glitchy; lunk-

headed characters; AI slow to revive you.

RECOMMENDED SPECS Core i5 Skylake/

Ryzen 3; 8GB RAM; GTX 970/RX 570.

$60, http://gears5.com, ESRB: M

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VERDICT

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90 MAXIMUMPC DEC 2019 maximumpc.com