Gears 5 doesn’t launch until later this week, but scores have just dropped. So before you jump back into the The Coalition’s bombastic cover shooter series, it’s time to see what the critics thought.
In our own Gears 5 review, Griff came away fairly uninspired. He said that “flirtations with open-world game design, though at times visually beautiful, don’t change the experience in any meaningful way. And the temporary abilities your AI companion grants you just seem to add to the cacophony. Combat is undoubtedly tight, levels look gorgeous, and scenarios rarely outstay their welcome, but in the end, the three-year wait demanded more. Reliably punchy combat and some well-intentioned new ideas don’t lift Gears 5 from its usual, albeit dependable, routine.”
That uncertainty, however, doesn’t seem to have been shared elsewhere. At time of writing, Gears 5 boasts an average score of 84 on Opencritic, while over on Metacritic, that score drops a little to 79 on PC (85 on Xbox One).
Without further ado, let’s check out those scores:
Windows Central: 4.5/5
IGN: 8.8/10
Game Informer: 8.5/10
GamesRadar+: 4/5
Gamespot: 7/10
PCGamesN: 6/10
USGamer: 3/5
For the most part, it’s a fairly even spread, although there are some highlights on that list that suggest that Gears 5 isn’t without merit. It looks like fans of the series will find plenty to enjoy, but otherwise, there’s not too much to push the genre forward.