Gears 5 Review: The Best One Yet?

This biggest shake-up to the series by far is that of the two Acts that have an open-world structure to them. Yes, that is right, there are open-world elements in a Gear game and it actually, somehow works. Forever now we have come to expect tight and focused campaigns which direct the player from set piece to slow walking section, but for the most part here, that is done away with.

Now walking through these two massive sections of the game would be tedious and cumbersome, so because this is a video game, Gear 5 set Kait and Del off on their adventure with a skiff of all things. Shockingly this works incredibly well, with its controls like a dream. It is fast, the turning radius is very forgiving and very rarely is it a dull experience to drive. The areas the Coalition have built here are gorgeous, especially on an Xbox One X, but it is a shame that there is more to do on the skiff itself.

The world is large and beautiful, but it really only serves as a means to get from A to B as there frankly isn’t much in between. There is plenty of side mission to be done so that Jack can be upgraded, but apart from that, there isn’t much point to the skiff. It can hold to additional weapons, which can come in handy when you come across relic ones, although it would have been nice if it had a mounted turret, or something like that.

Saying that though, this is such a step up from some of the vehicle sections in games past! Let us never again be tasked with driving a Centaur. They were cumbersome and frankly, boring to drive. Even with a turret-mounted on them.

If you're going to play this campaign, personally I'd recommend doing so with a friend for the best experience.