Gears of the Unwinnable War.

Gears of War is infamously known as the award winning gritty third person shooting series exclusive to Microsoft. Upon its initial release all the way back in 2006, it popularised the mechanic of cover shooting, incredibly popular in the 2010s and even still valuable in the 2020s. The series stands toe to toe alongside Halo and Forza as one its best, with 5 mainline releases, 2 spin offs and a remaster to boot. But how has it reached some critical acclaim and popularity? With so many action shooters in warfare in the market, it is hard to stand out and stake your own claim. I believe that Gears is largely popular due to the engaging story alongside the killing and chainsawing. I’ll give a whistle stop tour of the world and franchise to get you up to speed. To begin, I’ll say its quite rare for me to delve into media outside of the game itself, unless I am a big fan of the series. Saying that, I read the prequel novel to the game that gives further insight into the conditions that influence the rest of the game as a whole. Now, this game takes place on a planet called Serra (pretty much the same as Earth) that is struggling due to a lack of fossil fuels and no conceivable energy sources. One day humans come across something known as ‘Emulsion’ for all intents and purposes an incredibly rich and powerful energy source. Without enough to support everyone, war broke out between two large factions, the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) and the Union of Independent Republics to take control of the resources. Ravaging the land and killing millions in the process, the COG won the war with stolen powerful technology. Now, just before you think at least things had calmed down, the human race was then attacked by Subterranean mutated humans. What follows over the course of the many games, is a plucky group of COG soldiers attempting to take the world back and destroy the Locust (the enemy) once and for all. Riveting right? Too often it is the case that all third person and first person shooters are set in the context of World War 1 or 2. I’ll stop gushing about the Gears games and now continue to say how it is a war doomed never to end, with both sides losing equally as much.

Whilst it would be notable to comment on the losses on the global scale, in the sheer amount of the lives lost both in the human made war, but also the losses from the various Locusts threats, but what drives this game forward is its characters. Delta Squad to be exact, made up of Marcus Phoenix, Dominic Santiago, Augustus Cole (Coletrain) and Damon Baird. Marcus Phoenix is our player character, and was imprisoned at the start of the first game, only called back into action as a result of the looming Locust threat. He was imprisoned for disobeying a direct order in a vain attempt to save his father instead of turning the tide in the war effort. Dominic was his brother in arms for all of the Pendulum wars, and they are close friends. Dom is searching for his wife Maria, which comes to a head in Gears 2. Cole is the comic relief of the group, performing crazy and outrageous feats of skill that would be impossible without his courage. He was a famous sportsman in his time before any major warfare, with many people recognising him. With our colourful cast of characters, Epic Games (the producers and creators of the series) successfully manage to connect us to these characters in a natural and meaningful way. However, the caveat of this is that we care what happens to them, I myself was emotionally invested in seeing them and the human race succeed. I won’t spoil who, and to prepare for the uninitiated, one of the character deaths in this series is ranked one of the saddest in all of gaming… so prepare yourselves.

Gears 1: Tons of Fun

The initial Gears of War takes place a number of days after Emergence Day (when the Locust sprung from the Earth) and has already killed a quarter of the population. Already on the back foot, the COG is on a suicide mission of sorts to acquire a Lightmass Bomb (powered by the super fuel) and venturing into their tunnels to explode it. Now of course I’m skimming over a lot of the journey of how Delta squad reaches the conclusion, but after killing General Raam (the highest ranking Locust general) and launching the bomb. This first game highlights the general themes and sequence of events for the games going forward. Things begin bleak, with very little chance of redemption until all odds are overcome to finally claw back a small feeling of hope. Although the game's time and after represents this as an ultimate victory, with every sequential game coming out you know that this sigh of relief is only temporary. Another key theme that is established in this game is the mistrust of the COG and the survival of humans outside of military protection. Over the course of the series you come across a multitude of Stranded that openly reject the COG and are often quite rude to them. For instance in this game, you come across a Stranded camp and request their Junker (a transformed military vehicle) but are almost denied despite the stakes the characters explain. However, now with the context of the wars prior and what the COG soldiers represent, I have a lot more understanding of the Stranded and their ambivalence towards the COG. Whilst the soldiers we are in control of are morally strong and helpful, the course of the series shows many others in positions of power that are downright morally bankrupt and cowardly. But now with the Locust threat squashed for now, what is next for Gears?

Gears 2: We're coming for you!

With 6 months after the Lightmass bomb implosion, things are cautiously optimistic as the Locust forces dwindle. This is until human settlements seemingly start collapsing into the earth by random. They’re back. This time with a Queen Locust guiding their actions alongside a giant worm that they use to sink the cities. With their eyes set on Jacinto, the last refuge of humanity, it is again up to Delta Squad to save the day… and the planet. The Locust now under new management has begun kidnapping humans, simply just to torture them or feed to larger beasts. Dom fears the worst for his wife, and detours from the main mission to attempt to find his wife Maria. Sadly, Dom does find her, now a husk of her former self, unable to speak and greatly malnourished. With little to no hope of survival, Dom cradles her in his arms for the last time and puts her out of her misery. With the death of Maria, Dom’s will to continue fighting is somewhat extinguished after this point. This moment is heartbreaking as we at first see Maria as Dom sees her, full of life and happy to see Dom, only to be brought back to crushing reality by Marcus. To add insult to injury, we run through multiple chambers with numerous captured humans in similar states of disparity. It begs the question, what are we really fighting for, to simply survive or to live? As the squad progresses, they realise they can use the Locusts’ original plan to sink Jacinto against them by collapsing it first. Whilst a moment of retribution in another realised attempt at trying to wipe out the Locust, it is very much a last ditch effort. All of the humans are evacuated from Jacinto, but it is still inevitable that the heart of human operations is being destroyed and is a significant blow to the war effort. Whilst our characters are alive, they are still weak and in a worse place than they have ever been. The Locust and the humans are actually more alike than we might think. Both are incredibly enduring and will sacrifice almost anything in order to aid their war effort. Now, things couldn’t get any worse now could they?...

Gears 3: Oh Deary Me!

Longer still, 18 months later after the events of Gears 2, the Locust are stronger than ever, and a new foe has emerged also. Known as the Lambent, it is some kind of infection that takes over the user into a monstrous explosive being. Humans and Locusts alike can be infected, proving to be even stronger than the original Locust. This is a real turning point for the series as a whole, the most depressive and low point for the human race. This is the case for most forms of media, as the weight of previous campaigns and events weighs on the characters until it becomes unbearable. I do understand that Gears outright is an adult game series, but I believe that the themes throughout are far more mature by the third game. Where Gears one is a light hearted military shooter among brothers in arms, Gears 3 is a story of humanity’s last stand and weight of past losses catching up with them. This game focuses far more on the communities of Stranded and the character of Augustus Cole. Largely the comic relief over the course of the subsequent games, Cole has a reflective moment on his past life as a celebrity. He is recognised by a lot of people at the stadium, and relives his memory of football when planting a bomb intended for the Locust. Whilst a fun moment on the surface, it's a future lost to time and the Locust. Instead of being a celebrity, he is now just a soldier fighting to get his and everyone else’s lives back. On the topic of ‘The Stranded’ they are uncharacteristically pleasant to Cole due to his fame of the past, despite his COG uniform. After this supply run, Delta squad reunites to reach a secret base constructed for E-Day. At an Immersion filling station, in the ensuing firefight Dom sacrifices himself in order to give Delta a chance to escape. This is a pivotal moment in the series, as the main cast of characters seem indestructible, so when one is threatened or even dies it is most baffling. It is to be seen that Marcus is incredibly affected by his death, and only pushes his feelings down to continue the mission. Marcus finds his father alongside many other revelations, the most important being the creation of a neutron bomb that could wipe out the Lambent and Locust altogether. He defeats the Queen finally, and sets off the bomb to the supposed end of the war, and mourns the dead. I think this is the perfect ending, that even in the light of the end of the biggest war and invasion humanity has ever known, the death of his father and friend eclipses it.

The Gears franchise has gone quiet since the slightly controversial Gears 5, being on hiatus for the last 4 years without even a murmur of a future game in the works. This is disappointing for a big fan as I’d love a new Gears, especially as Gears 5 left plenty of room for the next chapter in the universe. This aside, it may be bleak to focus on the more depressive and saddening elements of this universe, but I think this is what makes the game so interesting. Think about how different the game would be if the heroes were fully equipped to deal with the Locust threat, there would be no tension, no drama and no introspection. There are so many smaller elements that enhance the story outside of just a gritty shooting gallery, and it’s important to keep this complexity alive in the games industry.