It’s very telling of the times that we’re getting so many Xbox exclusives slowly making their way to PlayStation and other platforms, but one I didn’t expect to see or play anytime soon was Gears of War, one of Microsoft’s flagship first-party IPs. With Gears of War: Reloaded now gracing PS5 systems, PlayStation players are essentially getting the original Gears of War in this remaster of a remastered package that feels necessary to bridge that multiplatform gap and break down those crucial borders.



Gears of War: Reloaded is basically a remaster of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition which was already a remaster of the 2006 game, complete with a number of slight visual, technical and performance tweaks to bring it into the modern era. This time, co-developers The Coalition, Sumo Digital and Disbelief added better performance, 4K textures, a smoother framerate, enhanced lighting and overall sharper visuals to justify its existence, but you really don’t need more justification than “Gears of War is finally on PlayStation”, because that, in and of itself, is a massive win and step forward for the industry.



Usually this is the part of the review where we talk about gameplay but since Gears of War is almost two decades old at this point, it doesn’t need much of an introduction. The game is a third-person cover shooter following a group of commandos from the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) led by Marcus Fenix. Humanity is on the brink of extinction after E-Day, when alien beings called the Locust Horde invaded Earth and pushed humanity into survival mode. As Marcus Fenix, players battle through the Locust Horde to stop greater cataclysmic disasters from happening.

Gears of War feels perfectly at home on PS5 and Reloaded is a tremendous package for newcomers to the series.

Admittedly, playing Gears of War on PlayStation was a bit of surreal experience as my mind, after years of slaying Locusts, deeply associated the franchise with Xbox. That said, Gears of War feels perfectly at home on PS5 and Reloaded is a tremendous package for newcomers to the series. After Forza Horizon 5 launched on PS5 earlier this year, I was convinced that the move to PlayStation means you’d essentially be playing Xbox games in their best possible form. This remains true for Gears of War: Reloaded, though mileage may vary depending on your expectations.



Reloaded doesn’t bring anything new to the table. The core game here is as rock-solid as Marcus Fenix’s jawline and the gameplay is still blood-splattering moment-to-moment fun with enough adrenaline and raging testosterone to drown a Doom Slayer in. When it matters, the story really shines with some touching emotional moments as it does a great job of connecting you to these characters and their plights. Of course, knowing the eventual outcome of certain characters' fates in the sequels does make the first game a bittersweet experience to replay.

While the franchise’s later sequels made advancements to the gameplay, you’ll have to contend with some of the first game’s jagged edges and proudly 2000s-era mechanics that remain perfectly intact in Reloaded, for better or worse. Again, this is not a remake but a remaster (of an already excellent remaster), so expect to run into certain features or mechanics that haven’t exactly aged gracefully in nearly twenty years. That said, if you’re here to experience Gears of War in a shinier package, you’re going to get exactly that and no more.



The teams at The Coalition, Sumo Digital and Disbelief spit-shined Gears of War: Reloaded with noticeably higher framerates and it runs like silk on a PS5 Pro. The visuals have also been tweaked with enhanced lighting and sharper 4K textures here and there, but nothing really stands out that you can’t already get with the Xbox Series X-boosted Ultimate Edition. Don’t go into Reloaded expecting a Mass Effect Legendary Edition leap in fidelity, and you’ll absolutely have a blast with all that it offers.

Again, this is not a remake but a remaster (of an already excellent remaster), so expect to run into certain features or mechanics that haven’t exactly aged gracefully in nearly twenty years.

All of these modest technical improvements in Gears of War: Reloaded may not be enough to win over players who’ve already played Ultimate Edition, but if you’re a PlayStation player just hopping into the series (or generally a first-time player regardless of platform), Reloaded is honestly the quintessential place to start now.



This comes with a few caveats that don’t make this new package feel as exciting or as fresh as it could be. The Coalition really stuck to the book on this remaster, delivering pretty much the exact same punchy, satisfying experience with a better coat of paint. The lack of new features, modes or content is a little disappointing and I feel it could’ve really rounded out this new release and made it an enticing purchase for Xbox and PC players because as it stands, Reloaded is obviously targeting the PlayStation audience despite its cross-platform launch.

The Coalition really stuck to the book on this remaster, delivering pretty much the exact same punchy, satisfying experience with a better coat of paint.

I played Gears of War: Reloaded on PS5 Pro and briefly dabbled in it on a base PS5. Aside from a few more options to tweak the visuals and performance, there aren’t any major differences visually between the consoles, at least on the surface. It’s not an Assassin’s Creed Shadows night-and-day situation – you’re getting pretty identical experiences either way, with only some minor improvements and touch-ups that swing in the PS5 Pro’s favour. DualSense support with great haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are also welcomed and you’ll be surprised at how quickly your brain adjusts to the new controller layout. However, you’ll probably still be fixated on the fact that Gears of War is actually on PlayStation to look too deep into the finer details and that’s perfectly valid because, well, Gears of War is on PlayStation. That’s wild. Halo is going to be a shell shock.



I know I say it often about well-done remasters, but Gears of War: Reloaded is now the best way to play the game in its peak form. The move to PS5 is definitely its biggest selling point and first-time PlayStation players are going to get a kick out of how great the first game in the franchise still remains to this day. On that note, a lack of new content here isn’t going to give Xbox and PC players any reason to pick it up when the Ultimate Edition still delivers an exceptional modern revamp and a perfectly viable way to enjoy the first game today. What Reloaded stands for and represents is honestly the most impressive thing about this launch, and I can’t wait for more of those exclusivity walls to be broken down.

*PS5 Review code provided by Xbox Game Studios