Gears of War: Reloaded

If a few years ago you'd told us we'd be playing the first Gears of War on PlayStation, we probably would have laughed. Out loud. Because until not long ago, it was literally unthinkable that Microsoft would let go of exclusivity—even bringing one of its biggest IPs to the other side of the fence. And now? Things have flipped. After a period of testing, even Redmond's biggest brands are showing up on Sony consoles. Forza Horizon 5 was a significant step. But Gears of War Reloaded? This one feels like it's officially ushering in a new era. So what is Gears of War: Reloaded? First, let's clear something up. Calling it a new game is technically wrong. It's not a remake of the original Xbox 360 title. This is essentially an updated version of Gears of War Ultimate—the one that hit PC and Xbox a few years back, much to the joy of fans—but bringing that version to PlayStation today would've felt lazy, because it had a locked framerate, lacked support for tech that only recently became standard, so Microsoft went back in, polished it up, slapped a new name on it, and made the upgrade free for anyone who already owns Ultimate. So if you wanted, you could call it a remaster of the remastered. Which is... something. And if that kind of double-dipping makes you hesitant, buy cheap PS4 games instead—there's plenty out there that'll give you that same gritty satisfaction without wondering how many times they've been touched up.

Meatheads in Metal, Bonds That Stick

Delta Team to the rescue. Gears of War: Reloaded drops you onto Sera, a planet where humanity found a home and this substance called Imulsion, a fuel source that basically promises infinite energy, and everything’s fine until E-Day—the day of emergence—when everyone realizes there's a whole alien race living under the soil, armed to the teeth, and they corner humanity fast. The game picks up years into the war. Marcus Fenix is in prison for reasons. The situation outside is a disaster, and a war veteran like him is exactly what they need, so they break him out, toss him into Delta Squad, and the mission kicks off. Look, the plot isn't deep. The characters are thugs who go from flexing on each other one minute to high-fiving as brothers in arms the next. But despite all that? These meatheads in metal manage to hook you. Spending five chapters with them ends up being a good time. You build a bond. Hopefully, the rest of the series makes it to PlayStation eventually. Even Judgment. Which People Can Fly got a lot of heat for. Until then, if you're looking to fill that co-op-shaped hole in your library, buy cheap PS5 games with that same buddy-action spirit—there's more out there than you'd think, and it won't cost you a wait.

What Defines Gears, Still Cutting Deep

The king of the wall-splitters. So the story isn't memorable—it's maybe the part that's aged the worst—but it’s great at throwing you into new situations: the almost-horror of the Glowing Ones, scrambling for light to escape the Kryll. It keeps things fresh without breaking the core loop, which is third-person cover shooting, the series’ trademark, where your character sticks to walls like a magnet pulling on his metal armor. And from that angle? Gears of War: Reloaded plays like not a day has passed since it first dropped. It’s exceptional. Easily outclasses most modern third-person shooters. The weight is the thing. You feel heavy. Which makes sense. The guy’s wearing a ton of metal. He’s not exactly a featherweight. The guns are designed to never be perfectly accurate. You have to think about your fire. You can shoot blind—maybe to clear an enemy half a meter away—or you can duck behind a wall, aim for a moment, and hit them square. And the beauty is, every option works. Even blind fire, which in most shooters is just a pointless flourish, here it saves you when a pack of those damn Husks is swarming, and you need to hose them down with the Lancer before it’s too late. And the Lancer itself. That’s the one with the chainsaw. Melee weapon. That sound? It’s become a death knell. For the Locust getting hacked in half. All these mechanics—the cover, the Lancer, they’re what define Gears.

A Cleaner Classic, Worth the Wait

And active reloading. Which sounds like some tedious gimmick. But it gives you this little hit of satisfaction. Like a pat on the back for nailing it. You can just hit reload and let it fill, but that’s not how you play. It’s a minigame. Press the button, a bar scrolls, press again, and you either speed it up, get a damage bonus for part of the mag, or jam the gun. Over time, you stop thinking about it. You’re chaining perfect reloads between kills. It becomes part of the rhythm. The heartbeat of the game. Complete package. We couldn’t test the online multiplayer. Empty servers. But we played the beta, and our impressions there still hold—some balance tweaks to the Gnasher shotgun, nothing major. No microtransactions. All skins unlock just by playing. You’ve also got two-player co-op. Split-screen or online. And the whole package includes the extra story chapters. So it’s full. More complete than ever. Graphics and DualSense. As we said, this is built on Ultimate Edition, just tweaked for better visuals and fluidity. The devs worked on shadows and lighting, plus HDR, so the end result isn’t a revolution, but it’s cleaner. The models and environments are untouched, but they benefit. On PS5 Pro, which we tested, you get high resolution and a rock-solid framerate. 60fps mode, or 120Hz for multiplayer—if your TV can handle it. No difference in fluidity between the Pro and base PS5, but the pixel count jumps. 25% higher. Resolution mode is 1440p on PS5, 1620p on Pro. Performance mode is 1080p on base, 1440p on Pro. And they use PSSR on the Pro, FSR on the other consoles. The DualSense? It feels... Gears of War: Judgment is the best way to experience Marcus Fenix’s story. Now on PS5. On Pro, you get even more options on top of an already excellent package. The only catch? Once you finish the campaign—solo or co-op—you’re going to want more. And waiting for E-Day? That’s going to be a long one.