Gears 5 Review (Beta Type Angeloid)
ONLY BUY IF IT'S ON SALE
Gears (of War) 5 is a fun game. The class-based Horde Mode feels rather fresh, compared to how it all began back in 2006; what currently feels like a lifetime ago. The story feels like a soft reboot of the original trilogy, so it's not really where the game shines. Instead, consider the campaign a tutorial, play until the Hammer of Dawn does its thing, and then, go into the bread and butter of Gears, the muiltiplayer.
If you're into PvE, this is the game for you. Horde, Horde Mania, Horde Frenzy, Horde Classic, Horde Frenzy Classic, Boss Rush, Escape... Even Versus offers PvE. There's also the Hivebusters second campaign, though I've never touched it. It's a separate purchase, and part of the reason why I say to only get this game when it goes on sale.
So much of the game is segregated by paywalls, however the majority of these things can be purchased with earnable in-game premium currency. Yes, you can buy it with real money, but you don't have to. Only a select handful of content is only purchasable with real money, and it's mostly things like promotional crossover cosmetics, like the Halo Reach add-on, two separate Terminator: Dark Fate packs, a pack of WWE wrestlers who promoted Gears on TV, in the ring, a select few character skins, and things like that. Worse, some content like emotes, skins, and a good handful of earnable premium currency is no longer available to earn; the real price of a game as a live service.
In the wake of Operation 8, there will be no further content added to this game, and all 8 of the prior Operations' special unlockables will be lost forever to new players. Because of that, and all of the paywalls, I can only say that the gameplay is fun, and worth maybe $20. If you want to play Gears for the story, get yourself an Xbox 360, and buy the original trilogy; great games. This? This is a party game that I got for $10 last year. Buy it on sale, and have fun.