Ok for the first time in the ranking game time for me to be harsh.
Gears of War was definitely a game I was psyched for (first 360 game I bought actually). And yet I have never come out more disappointed from a video game ever (mainly because I don't buy bad games). I do think the RE4 inspired setup and adapted/improved cover system made for a great experience. I also think visually the game was quite impressive for the time. But when that is all you have where do you go.
It almost feels with Gears of War that they created the medium to get something awesome but didn't put anything to link it up with. A pretty package with nothing in. For the borefest that was the single player I think the only reason I finished it was because it was only 5 hours. $60 for a 5 hour storyline. The problem with the game is it was firefight to firefight with nothing else. The game had some variation but never enough to make it a big deal. The night level may have been my favorite level and that was the shortest act of the game. The other problem with this gameplay was the story and characters were so unappealing and dull in every way that you could have had dummies in drab backgrounds and the game wouldn't have been any different.
Multiplayer, was fun, but definitely needed improvements. Just like the single player it felt like a work in progress and instead of giving you the work from the progression they stopped before the progress.
Gears of War is not a bad game by any standard but it is not a great game either. This game showed that Epic either didn't have the time to give a complete game or simply to early in "next gen" development to really improve on it. Luckily being a work in progress by the sequel they really created a wonderful and COMPLETE game with Gears of War 2. But with Gears of War 1 it just wasn't there.
Therefore Gears of War 1 is easily my most disappointing game of this generation and definitely my most overrated. For scoring I'm generally pretty harsh but I still recognize it as a decent game. Above average but great in no standards. Thus:
7.5/10
Game was just too much of a work in progress rather than a complete experience and that just can't be looked highly upon. Only reason I still give it moderate to good score is because the setup was there... just didn't build upon it right.
