I got my beta invite and jumped right into a social match. It has been a couple of years since I played any Gears, but I need not have worried. This is Gears of War Multiplayer just as i remember it from 9 years ago. Controls and gameplay are just as they were, but now looking better than ever on next-gen.The changes I noticed are very welcome, from the silky smooth 60fps animations to the blue or red glow that appears over characters as you see them for the first time to help distinguish friend from foe at a distance.
As I and the rest of my team roadie-run for the power weapons, it is clear I am playing with other experienced players. With the sniper rifle, boomshot and even frag grenades in our hands, It took me a couple of minutes to get a feel for the old girl but after my first Skull crush it all came back to me. we very quickly dominated the opposing team. After the opposing team used up all of its respawns, it was just a matter of clearing out the survivors. We finish the match in an embarrassingly quick time, and prepare ourselves for round 2. Once again, as soon as we take control of the power weapons, round 2 goes just the way you imagine it would. Feeling very proud of myself for having been able to get 6 kills with just one death, I decide to head into a competitive match. As I entered my first competitive match, things were a little different. Once again I ran straight for the power weapons, which because this was Canals happened to be the same spot that we had to control; the difference was that this time I was on my own. Our ‘team’ ran in all different directions and it was at this point that it hit me (and not just the expert sniper headshot from the opposing team which took me out at the capture point. What followed was the classic type of Gears match that I remembered from all those years ago, close matches that ebbed and flowed, where individual skill has to be combined with teamwork to win. All 4 of us stayed in the lobby, not just for one match, but at least 3 matches – and I absolutely loved every minute of it. I write this preview absolutely dying to get back into the game, despite having a few more heavily mismatched games. The Gears remake looks really good and is probably the second-best looking remaster that I have seen.The title still plays as brilliantly as it used to and the few tweaks that I noticed are very welcome.
