Gears 5
$90 | PC, Xbox One | www.gears5.com
IT’S 2019, AND no matter how hard it tries, Gears of War is still a third-person shooter. This latest instalment, rebooted without the “of War” and predominantly starring Kait Diaz of Gears of War 4 fame, adds a lot of features that feel novel for the series but fairly rote by modern videogame standards.
For instance, Gears 5 has its share of wide open levels. They’re not quite “open world” in the Far Cry or Grand Theft Auto sense, but they stretch in all directions and serve as a spacious antidote to the cloistered ruins most of the series has been set in until now. The player’s first encounter with one of these spaces will likely make an impression: not only is it spacious, it’s also bright, and Diaz moves around it on a high-speed motorised skiff. It’s about as blunt a statement of intent as you can get.
Still, does have its fair share of cloistered ruins, but there’s a deliberate move towards colour and away from brown. Meanwhile, Kait and co are now trailed by a loyal flying robot called Jack, which can be upgraded using items found throughout the game’s semi-sprawling maps. Jack is a fun addition, though it hardly changes the game: it can set traps,
