Gears 5

Between breathtaking cinematics, slow-paced exploration and blood-soaked gunfights, Gears 5 manages to scratch several gaming itches all at once, without becoming tedious and raw on the skin.

Mixed multiplayer and a depressing grind can't dim the light of a superb new Gears campaign. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The creative team for this series has changed a lot since its beginnings. The world around Gears has changed, too. Gears 5 seems like a reflection of those changes. It’s a game that further complicates its world and stars a more complex hero. It’s still a game with a chainsaw gun, but now, those chainsaw guns can have a grenade launcher attached. Sometimes, change is good.

At the end of Gears 4, Kait receives her grandmother's necklace from her dying mother. On that necklace is a Locust Horde symbol, and clearly there's some sort of strange connection between Kait and the Locust Horde. The way Gears 5 explores this is brilliant. It's inventive, it's surprising, and the method of delivery is wrapped up in a scary and enticing series of events that is delightfully gripping.

Gears 5 is personal, like its predecessor, and insistent in focusing on its characters. It’s thoughtful, and unafraid to stop the action in favor of slower story beats and sections focused on exploration. And those are the parts that I enjoyed the most. There’s often a little dab of fighting, followed by a light dusting of exploration.

Gears 5 is pretty damn good, huh? A campaign that dares to revitalize the series' formula, backed up by some classic multiplayer, Horde Mode, and all that nonsense. It's real good. It's gorgeous to boot, with great lighting, meaty effects, and an icy new environment with all the snowy fun it entails. I'm tired. I was up all night playing Gears 5. So tired.

Gears 5 is unexpectedly phenomenal.