By Sam Coles:
I know what you’re thinking “Sam why are you reviewing Gears
of War as a horror title”? Which I would respond to you with, it is actually a
hybrid of action and horror as that is what it set out to do originally before
it got over the top. The original Gears of War, was a war shooter, but it had a
lot of horror elements and in a lot of sections it switched gears and toned
down the over the top gunfights and replaces them with tight and dark corridors
with unseen horrors ahead.
Gears of War takes place on the fictional planet Sierra
where there is a war between the human faction known as the COG and the
underground creatures known as the Locust Horde. They have been at a war for
years since emergence day, where the Locust first emerged from underground
trying to claim the surface. You play as Marcus Fexix who has been thrown in
prison for treason, until he is pardoned and his friend Dominic Santiago breaks
him out of jail. To begin with the game’s story is your standard military
narrative, but once you get past the first act the game switches gears and
takes on a horror vibe and becomes a quieter game with nothing but the shadows
and horrors that reside within.
Gameplay is a third person cover based shooter, this is what
started off the trend during the 7th generation of consoles where we
had many games trying to cash in on Gears of Wars popularity with varying
degrees of success. Most of the time you’ll presented with a situation where
you can take many approaches, as there will be many flanking positions where
you can get the drop on your enemies and chainsaw them in half. Ah yes the big
selling point of Gears of War is the Lancer, which is an assault rifle with a
chainsaw bayonet, Epic Games had a lot of resistance from Microsoft with this
feature as they didn’t want it in the game.
Where does the horror element come into play? I hear you
cry, well after the first few chapters of the game Gears of War switches gears
(no pun intended) when the Krill are introduced. The atmosphere becomes tense
where you are shrouded in darkness where unseen forces can kill you in an
instant. After that you find an abandoned fuel station where glowing creatures
hide in the shadows letting off distant shrieks to warn you of their presence.
It’s these parts of the game where it catches you off guard, as you’re
expecting a bombastic over the top shooter, where it then throws into a tense
and vulnerable situation with enemies you’re not familiar with.
Considering that this game came out 11 years ago it looks
really good, they have nailed a world that has been torn apart by war with
burnt out cars, collapsed walls and corpses savagely mangled where they have
been smeared against the walls on the streets of Sierra.
The only issues I have with Gears of War is the frame rate
has habit of skipping during some of the busier sections, but it doesn’t happen
too often, I noticed it mostly at the start of the game.
Gears of War is a great game and has a surprisingly tense
horror atmosphere, which when I first played it back in 2006 I was not
expecting. You can pick the game up on 360 for an insanely cheap price these
days, or if you want a nicer looking version you can pick the remake up on the
Xbox One.
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