Gears 5, the tried on Xbox Series X: The Coalition action game more beautiful than ever
Of course, Gears 5 it will not be the only game already appeared on Xbox One to be compatible with new generation Microsoft hardware, but unlike most of the titles that will limit themselves to exploiting the capabilities of next-gen consoles automatically thanks to backwards compatibility, this it will be heavily optimized "by hand" in order to allow it to run at its best. We had the opportunity to try this new version of The Coalition game on the Xbox Series X and, despite some small imperfections in the process of being filed away, the upgrade can already be said to be portentous and perfectly successful. On the new console, Gears 5 runs at 4K and 60 frames per second without any hiccups, but in multiplayer mode it can be pushed up to 120 fps, a feature that we have not yet had the opportunity to try and of which we do not know any problems.
Technical leap
As with Gears Tactics, the revamped Gears 5 for the next gen is not very different from what has been possible for some time to play on high-end PCs, but after all what more could be done? Gears 5 is in fact already one of the most engaging games from a technical point of view of what will soon become the past generation, and pushing it to the limit makes it audiovisually speaking a game that is still very current. The only thing that separates it from a product designed exclusively for Xbox X Series and Xbox S Series is the absence of ray tracing, a feature that would have allowed the series to show off something it has never had: real-time reflections.But to get to this it would have been necessary to change the engine, an absolutely useless effort when the quality is already so high. From the PC version comes very high resolution textures, a new volumetric fog, an anisotropic filter and a better depth of field, a much more elaborate shadow management even at long distances, new graphic effects and much, much more.
The usual, thank you
We have no doubt that the series conceived by Epic today is definitely tired, and the counter-proof is provided directly by the sales data: the action version of Gears would deserve a some rest, if not a real reboot to become relevant again. At the same time, it would be really unfair to deny Gears 5 its undeniable qualities, all those features that make it the best chapter since the second game on Xbox 360 in every respect. Who has never played it, with Xbox Series X and Serie S will have the opportunity to get their hands on a rather spectacular title that can be played alone or in the company of one, two, three friends. Its campaign is long and exhaustive, the scenarios worthy of the best blockbuster, the positioning and coverage systems finished to the maximum, and all this shines with new light thanks to the 4K that make everything extremely crystalline, the new textures that give depth and enhance the details.Shooting is also much more precise and satisfying than in the past, thanks to 60 frames per second that never seem to stumble, even in the most demanding sequences. Gears 5 also introduces some open world areas to the series, a greater emphasis on exploration that affects the adventure, giving it a different breath from the usual, much more intriguing; there is also much more physics than in the past, with lots of elements filling the scene after an explosion and bodies flying with a specific weight that is finally greater than a SuperTele bought in a forgotten stationery shop.
A second chance
Despite the undoubted qualities, Gears 5 did not have a great fortune at the box office, but with the new generation at the door and many possible new users ready for a first leap into the ecosystem, The Coalition game could experience a second fundamental youth, and it deserves it! It will be very interesting to see him react to a Game Pass that is finally standard, on the front line, also because this will totally break down every previous barrier: convincing friends to face the main mode all together will no longer be equivalent to making him pay the full price of a game that could he also doesn't like it, and the same will be true for deathmatch and all the other competitive modes present. If you want to try Gears 5, like all Microsoft first party games, you just need a Game Pass subscription, start the download and wait, perhaps passing the time with a smaller game ready to start in an instant or two. It should be noted that Microsoft and The Coalition have already anticipated that the final version of Gears 5 for nextgen consoles will introduce some welcome news, and which they say will please long-time fans of the series. But while with Gears Tactics we already know all about these additions but we cannot reveal anything yet, in this case the copy we tested was still completely devoid of these bonuses, whose consistency and quality is still to be discovered.Already excelled in the Xbox One X version, Gears 5 on Xbox Series X takes a decisive step towards the next-gen. This is not new, but it will be and of top quality for the many who until now have been far from the Microsoft ecosystem.
