There's a chunky sense of satisfaction to Gears 5. It's ludicrously over the top at times with blood and gore at a moment's notice. The complete antithesis of the likes of the Call of Duty franchise and its attempts at (very) loose realism, and a step away from the relatively sterile nature of the Halo franchise. The entire Gears of War series has been like that with every instalment – but nearly 20 years after the launch of the first game, it's Gears 5 that has aged the best.
It's not hard to play through the Gears franchise, whether through Xbox Game Pass, or physical copies (still easily found). I'm hanging onto the hope that the recently remastered Gears of War: Reloaded will lead to a full series of remasters. For now though, if you're new to the series, Gears 5 is the best place to start. It's a direct sequel to Gears of War 4 – I'm assuming the 'of War' moniker was lost in battle – but does a good job of helping newbies catch up with the story. Crucially, its game design is a ton more fun than the originals.
