I've been thinking about it lately and I'm pretty sure Gears of War is my favorite IP in gaming - my PFP here used to be Kait Diaz, actually - . It's really a remarkably consistent series in terms of quality. You have a series spanning 19 years, 7 games and 2 expansions and the lowest rated game in that group, the game Gears of War fans criticize to hell and back... still has an 80 on Metacritic - Judgment - . How many 20-year-old IPs with 7 entries can say that? It truly is remarkable. Mass Effect can't say that. Nor can Assassin's Creed, or Call of Duty, or Battlefield...
I think that Noah Caldwell-Gervais explains quite well why everybody should play these games. They have something for everybody. It's a franchise that adapts to your tastes. You can take them - quite like Cole Train does in the games themselves to cope with war-related trauma - like a mindless explosion of fun, skipping cutscenes, cracking jokes and just shooting monsters and not paying attention to the story or you can - like I do - replay them religiously analyzing the dialogue and the cutscenes, finding collectibles and lore and focusing on the story and the characters.
Both perspectives are valid and the franchise respects both the dudebro who is simply interested in cutting monsters in half with a chainsaw and the person who enjoys the games for their very good narrative work - like Noah and countless lore enthusiasts and video game essayists on YouTube - . This duality was even represented in the development of the franchise itself in Cliff Bleszinski and Rod Fergusson - the former was interested in the post-apocalyptic-but-gothic aesthetic, the designs of the weapons and the enemies and the multiplayer; the latter was interested in the lore, the story, the setting and the characters - and yet somehow, through some miracle... they made it work. It was truly a great example of creative synergy. And the series is still alive and kicking 20 years later.
So I'm thinking that since Reloaded is coming out this year, E-Day will most likely be launching next year. That's gonna be 7 years between 5 and E-Day. Kinda crazy for a franchise that's traditionally always put out mainline sequels every two years - yes I know Hivebusters and Tactics came out in 2020, but those were an expansion and a spin-off - . In that context it does make sense to release Reloaded this year, but the wait has really made fans feel nervous and even negative towards Xbox. r/Gearsofwar was on fire last year when it dawned on people that E-Day was not launching in 2024 lol.
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