WEBVTT

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"Ok! Good meeting."

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"Oh, it's not over."

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"You two!"

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"Grab the fabricator and follow me!"

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"Carmine!"

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It's been 10 years since

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Marcus, Dom,

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and the other members of Delta Squad

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first shot and chainsawed their way

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across the planet, Sera,

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in a desperate attempt to defeat the Locust.

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And in some ways,

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both those characters and

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the gameplay we so strongly associate with them

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now feel like relics from another era.

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Gears of War 4 seems to recognize this,

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reinvigorating the series signature combat

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without reinventing it;

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and shifting the narrative focus

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from Marcus and his buddies

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to a younger generation,

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who have grown up without the threat

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of the Locust looming over them.

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Unfortunately, Gears of War 4 still

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plays it safe:

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teasing us with the potential for a story

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that could have taken the franchise

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in a fascinating new direction --

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before settling into yet another

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simple and straightforward

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fight against the Locust.

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The result is a solid, competent shooter;

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a decent game that could have been much better.

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Gears 4 gets off to a promising start,

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suggesting that the COG,

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the Coalition of Ordered Governments,

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that fought so valiantly for humanity

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in the original games,

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has become an oppressive, authoritarian force

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in a post-Locust world.

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The press conference that begins the game

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shows us how the government-controlled media

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glorifies the COG and its de facto leader,

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First Minister Jinn --

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presenting her as a noble figure,

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with humanity's best interests at heart.

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"It's a world of safety. Of family."

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The reality of Jinn's politics turn out to be

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more complicated, however,

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as people are required by law to live in

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fabricated cities;

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and women are required to participate in post-war

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repopulation efforts.

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Kait, the squad's one female member,

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understandably takes issue with this.

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"You got an issue with babies?"

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"No. I have an issue with being told

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I need to have one."

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And I'd hoped the game might explore

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this idea some more.

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But it's quickly dropped and never mentioned gain.

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The game play also starts off strong,

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before becoming more conventional

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and expected.

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As "Outsiders,"

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humans who have chosen

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to defy the government

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and live in their own settlements,

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the protagonists face off against

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the COG's robot army

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in the early sections of the game.

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During these encounters,

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the combat feels simultaneously

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swift and hefty.

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Spherical enemies called "trackers"

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can be kicked away like soccer balls,

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lending the combat a playful physicality.

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And the spectacle of robots being dropped

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into the environment by massive planes

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flying overhead

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makes these battles feel dramatic

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and desperate.

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It's also during these first few acts that

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we see far more of Sera's natural beauty

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than we ever have before.

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But soon, the game retreats into

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more standard and familiar territory.

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All the interesting early concerns about

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how the COG is misusing its

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military and industrial power

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go out the window,

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when the game once again pits you against

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the Locust,

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in the sorts of grimy, industrial environments

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that were so common in the original Gears games.

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The Locust continue to be an enemy

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with all the nuance of J.R.R. Tolkien's orcs;

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they're seemingly an inherently hostile,

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aggressive species that we can feel

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justified in slaughtering without

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any moral qualms whatsoever.

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Still, the interpersonal dynamics within your squad

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set Gears 4 apart a bit from its predecessors.

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The central character, Marcus Fenix's son, JD,

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isn't terribly interesting.

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He's the sort of blandly likable protagonist

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who might have been played by Chris Pratt

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if this had been a movie --

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and not the funny, quirky Chris Pratt,

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more like the Jurassic World Chris Pratt.

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But what is interesting is the difference between

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Marcus and the younger members

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of the squad.

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Marcus is as gruff, grizzled, and crusty as ever;

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but JD, Kait, and Del

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bring a different kind of energy to Gears.

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They're a bit more lighthearted than

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the men of Delta Squad were --

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joking and making wisecracks,

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suggesting that they've grown up in

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a more peaceful time

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than the previous generation did.

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"Looks like their ship just came in!"

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Unfortunately, Del, the squad's

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one black member,

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doesn't get to do much of anything

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but joke and make wisecracks.

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"Uh, how can someone be terrible

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at Rock Paper Scissors?"

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"Easily. Because you always pick paper."

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"...do I?"

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JD, Marcus, and Kait all have the suggestion

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of lives that extend beyond the battlefield.

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But Del's character arc begins and ends

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with being JD's warm, wisecracking buddy.

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Meanwhile, Oscar, Kait's uncle,

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is presented as reckless and drunk,

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teetering over into being a racial stereotype.

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"How about I call you hungover?"

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[laughs]

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"Oh, you got some tough, boy, don't you?"

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"Uncle!"

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It's also frustrating that the game employs

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a standard damsel-in-distress device,

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with Kate's mother, Reina,

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who is introduced as a strong leader,

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being reduced to a plot mechanism

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when she's taken by the Locust early on.

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Sure Marcus is also captured

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for a brief period of time,

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but it's not the same sort of overarching

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plot motivator that Reina's capture is.

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On the other hand,

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Kait is presented as a capable,

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and competent member of the team,

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with Marcus and everyone else

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treating her with respect and a sense of solidarity.

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"We'll be right beside you."

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Of course, not treating a female character terribly

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is hardly something we should celebrate -

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it's simply something we should expect.

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And ultimately, Gears of War 4 is all about

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giving us exactly what we expect:

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nothing less and nothing more.

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It's a solidly built machine that,

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10 years after the release of the original game,

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wants to convince us that this franchise

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can still be relevant.

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But if it's going to be relevant,

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it needs to take some chances.

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Gears 4 starts off suggesting that it

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might take us to new places,

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but then shies away from that.

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And in the end,

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it's yet another cover shooter

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that centers the experiences of its

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white male characters

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and has us fighting the same straightforward

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battles we've fought before.

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It could have been

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fun, and suprising, and special --

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but in the end, it's content to just be

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fun, and familiar, and predictable.