Gears Of War 4 Review: 7 Ups & 7 Downs

4. Yes, There Are Microtransactions

Prior to Gears 4's release, there was a lot of concern about the game introducing microtransactions by way of "Gears Packs", essentially randomly-generated loot boxes that contain new skins, characters, emblems and other cosmetic flourishes.

While, to Microsoft's slight credit, they did release a patch to lower the cost of these packs and increase the amount of credits earned, the whole tacky system is still thinly-veiled gambling, as people are encouraged to spend real-world money to maybe, just maybe, get the cosmetic items they want.

Sure, the market dictates demand and this model is clearly serving an audience, but it's still an incredibly gaudy monetisation model, and is weighed heavily in favour of encouraging people to spend real money (even with this patch fix), which given the already considerable RRP for the game itself, is aggressively anti-consumer.