The good news is that Gears of War 4 definitely feels like a Gears game. On the other hand, the switch to a new development team can be worrisome, though, to be fair, Microsoft also managed to bring aboard Rod Fergusson, who played a key role in the first three Gears games. On one hand, fans of the series have been starved of a Gears of War fix for some time. This makes the arrival of “Gears of War 4” both a cause for celebration and potential concern. He then goes on to say that they don’t play as much anymore and he wishes that a new game in the series would come out so they could do so again. Case in point: I was reading the liner notes of this Japanese manga called “New Game!” and the author actually wrote a pretty poignant note about his experience with Gears of War and how he and his friends grew from hopeless noobs to good players while developing great camaraderie because of it.
For diehard fans of the series, the uncertainty following the less than spectacular reception to “Gears of War: Judgement” combined with Epic Games’ decision to shift its focus away from campaign-driven titles was a sad development.