An extra layer of symbolism has been added to Gears of War Reloaded in its opening. 14 years after the apocalyptic 'Emergence Day', it sees imprisoned hunk of meat Marcus Fenix freed from confinement by his legendary bro Dom Santiago, and reinstated into the COG military (yes, that stands for Coalition of Ordered Governments, and yes, that's Gears' tone in a nutshell). Except this time around, Marcus Fenix has also been freed from the shackles of Xbox.
Within minutes, the PS5's DualSense controller is shaking in my hands as I unload steaming hot lead into hordes of locusts – the underground-lurking invasion force responsible for humanity's turmoil. Comms chatter about how to best squash these enemies comes out from the DualSense's speaker and, more delightfully, holding melee to spin up the lancer rifle's onboard chainsaw purrs from the device – it's like having an incredibly violent cat on my lap. It might just be the very first Gears of War that's leapt off of the Xbox and onto PS5 so far but no matter – Gears of War Reloaded is a reminder that this original outing is still the best.
