Gears 6 will be announced later this year, and with it will come the end of the saga of Kait and JD in their fight against the Swarm. The Locust can’t be an excuse to keep developing the Marcus Fenix story, so the Coalition will have to find new stories they can use for a Gears of War game.
For me, and for many in the community, there is no debate, Gears of War should explore a prequel based on The Pendulum Wars. If you’ve followed the narrative of all the games, you may have realized that before a fight with the Desert Locust, there was a human-to-human conflict akin to what is called “USA vs. Russia”, where they faced the COG (Coalition of Orderly Governments) and URI (Union of Independent Republics) for control of natural resources to dominate the energy on the planet of Sera.
The Pendulum Wars
This more politically oriented war story is very interesting, especially since there was already an exploration in Gears Judgment with Baird and his trial in the middle of the war. But not only that, well we got a taste of this war in Gears of War 4 in its prologue. For this reason, I think this possibility should be explored.
Gears of War Rebirth should be a prequel, not a reboot
I have three reasons why I think the saga should not take a back seat at Microsoft, and especially after the current “crisis” that the industry is going through. Gears can’t disappear as the main game of the Xbox brand, it has so much to give that one bad step can easily mean its end; so the reasons are so easy to explain, but not so obvious to the Coalition.
The community wants to play and have content, not watch eSports
eSports in Gears has done relatively well in the Americas, due to its essence, it’s a fun competition to watch and with plenty of viewers in each region; but that was the nail in the grave for Gears 5 and that needs to change for the next installment. As gamers, Gears of War has impressive and highly technical gameplay, which, along with content-rich and balanced multiplayer, can last for as many years as they want.
Take the example of Gears 4, a game from 6 years ago that today, and after a sequel, continues to grow with a strong player base. The reality is that The Coalition has sought to prioritize the arrival of many new users, forgetting its current base, going through a need to keep the competition in the public eye.
For all of the above, a game that focuses on the story before all the events of the current narrative would be ideal, as a change in aesthetics and pacing would do the saga good. Also due to the community clamoring for fun multiplayer away from extreme competition and its urgent need for new players.
Pressing a story into the future will have very serious consequences for the saga
Let’s face it, the Swarms are no better antagonists than the Locusts. Este cambio de enemigo fue una transición que no va a dar para más después de Gears 6, incluso ya lo estamos viendo, pues el regreso de los Locust está más cerca de lo que parece con el reencuentro de la Reina Myrrah y el origen biológico de the same. But there is a past story that has always been more interesting and relevant that deserves to be explored.
I want to demonstrate this with the DLCs that have been released in games ranging from less to more. In Gears 5 we had the Hive Busters, a campaign DLC that introduced us to an alternate team with all-new characters. Not only was the universe expanding, but we could see new interactions with a healthy dose of fan service to complete.
In Gears 3 we had the Shadows of Raam DLC, where a team led by Kim explained the origin of certain characters, as well as the inclusion of comics as a priority in a video game. This DLC was spectacular, it was a “prequel” to the original Gears story and expanded the legend of Raam with Kim’s leadership and motivations.
But that’s not all for the third installment, where we had “Repercussions”, with the expansion of the events of the campaign, with another vision in Baird’s team and his meeting with Garron Paduk, an important man for the events of the video game suite.
Gears 4 has a prologue where we manage Dom in this war against the URI. This demonstration is a stage that must be replicated and which, perhaps, should have been the best of this video game.
Finally, and for me, the perfect example of what would be a success is Gears of War Judgment. Despite poor reviews, its history is a clear example that visiting the past would be beneficial. Including new characters, weapons, and even mechanics would complete the perfect game. Comics are also an important source for this. I recommend you read the books Gears of War: Unsaid, Promise me and Aspho Fields, where they chronicle the war against the URI and give combat a human touch.
We want to see Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago back in action
Yes, nostalgia affects opinions, but it’s a combo you can’t miss. With the new and improved narrative building tools, being able to explore the past of these two heroes is something they owe us since the first game.
You don’t need to search for more, or create new enemies or aliens. Gears of War needs to see its debut and show it has a huge universe full of possibilities. So much so that even if we rush The Pendulum Wars, we can jump to stories like Gears Tactics or a reimagining of Carmine’s story.
In this industry, we have so many possibilities, that we know very well that Microsoft makes bad decisions by pressuring studios to create ephemeral and destructive things for players. We need better told stories and games that are diverse, exploring genres and justifying the large number of studios purchased.
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