Last night on the podcast I gave approval for more Gears of War in my life. I am still on board with more; but we need to talk about something.
Sequels, man…
Remember when stories had a conclusion? You’d experience something to a point and then it ends; and you\’re satisfied. You reflect on it a bit, and then move onto something else.
Not today, though.
As will happen until the end of time; Microsoft is completely invalidating the first story arc by following up with a brand new adventure. Gears of War 4 drops in October, and a new teaser was released to get some hype going. And boy, does it look like more Gears of War.
The trailer shows a retired Marcus Fenix. He’s hung his weapon to rest and traded in his bro-pack for an adoring family. He’s planting a tree; because… you know; I guess peace and trees go hand in hand or whatever. Unfortunately for Fenix, all is not well. A future scene shows a new (less roided out) protagonist running through the same set piece, while being chased by whatever horde of what lurks in the dark. The whole thing is set to a less cool version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.”
Great! If that’s not enough to get your feels engine revving then you’re probably dead inside.
… Or you were born before 2006.
I’m sorry Microsoft, but like the rest of what this game appears to be turning into, I’ve seen this before. Remember that other edgy commercial in which you attempted to get me to feel some stuff inside?
Suddenly my emotions feel like an old girlfriend. I’m not so sad anymore. I’ve moved onto sexier things with great legs and fun RPG elements. Stop trying to come back into the picture!
Don’t get me wrong here, I LOVED Gears Of War 2, but it came out a long time ago. It was a time where cover shooting wasn’t in every single game; it had a technical powerhouse of an engine behind it, and the introduction of Horde mode was truly magical.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, we live in a world of videogame parsitism. A world where a good idea is going to be replicated to every other game. If your decade old IP with a fan base who has largely outgrown you doesn\’t have anything new to offer, it’s going to fail faster than that one kid in school who tried out for the basketball team, but halfway through he remembers he doesn\’t actually have any physical prowess and should have stuck to being in the band.
Here’s my point.
See the new game, here:
Now see the last game, here:
Aside from the amazing Ice-T in your face; you might notice something.
They’re the same… Nothing is different
Where there is cash to be made, you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a old IP being milked for every recycled cent its publisher can muster. Gone are the days of fresh new ideas, and instead we get a plate full of 2’s and 3’s. Any seemingly fresh reveal at E3 usually turns out to be some sort of re-hash of another popular game. AAA dev culture doesn’t favor originality anymore; it now steers directly on the road of quick money with familiar systems.
Like an embalmed corpse, Gears of War (and so many other sequels today) looks great on the outside, but you can tell it has no soul left. It is decaying and fading into inevitable oblivion. Honestly, it’s no wonder so many players are flocking to indie titles. At least they have the balls to try something new. I hope this trend goes away. I’d love to see a renaissance of creativity from AAA developers again.
All that said, chainsawing dudes in half is rad as hell, and the beta for anyone who bought Gears of War HD starts April 18th.
See you there!
