Gears of War: Reloaded
The Coalition · Shooter, Horror, Action
Overview
Experience the origins of one of gaming’s most acclaimed franchises like never before, faithfully remastered and optimized for PC.
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WHAT IS GEARS OF WAR: RELOADED?
Crush the Locust threat in the iconic original third-person cover shooter that started it all.
14 years after an invasion of ruthless subterranean monsters, the planet lies in ruin. An inmate named Marcus Fenix – once left to die – is freed by his best-friend and former squadmate, Dominic Santiago. Outnumbered and outgunned, Marcus and Dom must work together with the other members of Delta squad to defeat the Locust threat and save humanity from utter extinction.
Experience the legendary story solo or with a friend in online co-op. Fight on in Versus to experience a variety of pulse-pounding PvP multiplayer modes.
THE DEFINITIVE RELEASE
The Original, Remastered: Powered by Unreal Engine, Gears of War: Reloaded is a remaster of the blockbuster first Gears of War, now fully optimized for the latest generation of gaming platforms.
All Included: Gears of War: Reloaded delivers all post-launch content for the original title, including a bonus campaign act, multiplayer maps, plus characters and cosmetics, at no additional cost.
Refined Controls: Newcomers can choose a modern, streamlined control layout, while veterans can relive the classic feel they love.
BUILT FOR BROTHERHOOD
Campaign Co-Op: Crush the Locust threat together through campaign online co-op. Fight on with your squad in Versus multiplayer running at up to 120fps with unmatched clarity and visual fidelity.*
Cross Play: Gears of War: Reloaded supports cross-play across all platforms, allowing you and your friends to squad-up, regardless of where you play.*
Cross Progression: Jump from one platform to another and your campaign saves as well as multiplayer progression will come with you. Signing in with your Microsoft Account required is for cross progression.*
OPTIMIZED FOR PC & HANDHELDS
Beautiful on any screen: The iconic original now looks and plays better than ever with 4K assets plus remastered textures, lighting, shadows and reflections, ultrawide support, HDR and Dolby Vision, 7.1 surround sound, variable refresh rate as well as up to 144 FPS in multiplayer.*
Optimized for PC & Handhelds: In addition to stunning remastered visuals, Gears of War: Reloaded also delivers PC-first features such as ultrawide support, a benchmark mode, variable refresh rate, mouse and keyboard support, FSR3.1 and DLSS3.5 Super Resolution support as well as controller remapping.
*4K, HDR & 144FPS: requires capable display.
From the game's Steam store page.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT2,974 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
Reviewers who talk about the 2006 campaign mostly say it is still a good game: tight cover shooting, the chainsaw Lancer, memorable set pieces and a cast people quote from memory, best played in co-op with a friend. Some bought Reloaded as their first way to play the original Gears on Steam, on a Steam Deck or with friends on PlayStation, and memories of the Xbox 360 original run through the positive reviews. The trouble is the release itself. Players describe it as the 2015 Ultimate Edition shipped again with few changes, and they weigh that against the $40 price they mention. Launch-week reviews describe a badly broken PC version: the game crashed after a settings change or a Microsoft account sign-in, and split-screen co-op, which players say the store page had advertised, was missing. Squad AI and campaign bugs, players add, survived from the earlier versions or got worse.
Reviews are split, and Steam's own label is Mixed. Reviewers on both sides give the same advice: if you want the campaign, buy it on a deep sale. Reviews grew more positive once players reported the launch crashes fixed. Later reviewers, many of whom mention buying during a sale in August 2026, mostly came for the campaign, and their complaints are about the AI teammates and the value for money. The versus multiplayer divides players most sharply: veterans enjoy the old wall-bouncing Gnasher duels, while others report inconsistent hit registration, lopsided lobbies and a shrinking player base.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
The original campaign still holds upHigh
The campaign is the center of the praise (17% of reviews mention the campaign or story), and what players praise is the 2006 design itself: short, linear acts, varied set pieces like the Kryll night sections and the train finale, satisfying active reloads and headshots, and squad banter. One player wrote that "Gears of War still has a solid campaign after 20 years", and another that "the campaign is so tightly paced and fun". Several first-time players liked its length, around six to ten hours, at a time when many games run much longer. Negative reviews often separate the campaign from the port ("Good game, Bad port."). How well it has aged is disputed: some say it "still holds up", while others find the level design repetitive and the story thin.
Nostalgia for the 360 originalHigh
About 9% of reviews talk about childhood, the Xbox 360 days or memories of playing it years ago. For these players Reloaded is a way back to a game they loved, now on PC with high frame rates. "It's like putting on an old pair of shoes" is how one long-time fan put it. Some of the same veterans are the ones who notice what changed, such as the brighter lighting, weaker AI and missing split-screen, and a few conclude the original was better.
Co-op with a friend is the best way to playHigh
Several reviewers tell solo players to bring a partner. "Co-op Campaigns need to come back to gaming." wrote one, and another: "Bought at a 75% discount. Worth it for the coop campaign with a friend." Some reviewers single out cross-play, which let them run the campaign with friends on Xbox and PlayStation. Co-op draws its own complaints too: launch-window connection drops and desyncs, the missing split-screen and the lack of public campaign matchmaking (all covered under frustrations).
Smooth performance and Steam Deck play once it runsMedium
Players who got past the launch crashes and comment on performance often describe high, stable frame rates on modest hardware, and some compare it directly with the old PC port: "Reloaded is miles ahead of 2015's Ultimate Edition on PC which was a miserable release locked to the Windows Store." Steam Deck owners mostly report it running well, with one calling it "Hands down the BEST game I've played on the steam deck." Others report traversal stutter, slow texture streaming and frame drops even on high-end PCs, and a few handheld and Linux setups would not launch at all.
A first chance for newcomersLow
Players who say this is their first Gears game mostly describe it as a good place to start and judge it on its own terms rather than against the 360 version. "I never played a gears game before, this was fun!" is typical. Several newcomers say they liked the new look, and several warn other new players away from the versus mode.
Where players are split
Versus multiplayer suits veterans more than newcomersHigh
Opinion of the multiplayer is sharply divided. Veterans enjoy the faithful 2006 feel, the crunchy sniper headshots and the high skill ceiling. Critics describe a different game: inconsistent Gnasher shotgun damage and hit registration ("shoots marshmallows half the time and nuclear warheads the other half"), desync on some servers, no ping display, and lobbies that pair new players with max-level squads. Hit registration comes up most among players with long playtimes. Others report long queues outside Team Deathmatch, no bots to fill empty slots, cheaters (a few name Cronus devices), and grindy multiplayer achievements that they fear will become impossible as the population falls.
Brighter visuals versus the original's gritHigh
The remastered look divides players. Supporters say the sharper textures, HDR and lighting make Sera look better than ever, and some are glad "the mud and piss filter was removed". Critics, mostly players who know the 360 version, say the brighter palette, cleaner character models, reduced blood and lighter rain strip out the horror tone: "Night time does not feel like night, everything is over-illuminated." Several point to Act 3 and the Kryll sections as the clearest losses, and a few redesigned faces (Anya, Dom) draw specific complaints. Some players lowered the brightness to get closer to the old look.
Worth it only on saleHigh
Price comes up in about 11% of reviews, and the usual view is that $40 is too much for a re-release of a ten-year-old remaster with a short campaign. Reviewers who paid $10 to $20 on sale often call that fair for the campaign alone, and a fifth of the reviews written from August 2026 onward mention a sale or discount. "Don't buy for $40, god no, but for $10-20 go for it!" sums up the middle ground. Even at the discount, opinion divides: some call $10 a steal for the campaign, while one reviewer, citing bugs and a thin story, said it "Wasn't worth ten dollars".
Clunky, dated controls: charm or choreMedium
About 9% of reviews call the game clunky, janky or dated, and they disagree on whether that is a problem. One fan wrote it "Feels as clunky as it did back then and its awesome", while a critic said "Gears of War 1 has aged like milk." Specific complaints include sprint, cover and roll sharing one button, slow turning, cover snapping, enemies that soak bullets on higher difficulties, and radio-call slowdowns that leave you exposed. Several returning players say it feels sluggish next to Gears 3 or Gears 5.
What frustrates players
The same Ultimate Edition again, and still no Gears 2 and 3High
13% of reviews call Reloaded a re-release, a reskin, lazy or a cash grab, and about as many ask for Gears 2 and 3 (or a collection like the Master Chief Collection) instead. Players who own the 2015 Ultimate Edition see almost no difference beyond frame rate, HDR and cross-play: "The game is a lazy port of a 10 year old remaster." The trilogy request appears in positive reviews too ("This should have been a MCC style collection."). A few reviewers note that Ultimate Edition owners got Reloaded free on Xbox but not on Steam.
Launch crashes and broken settingsHigh
13% of reviews mention crashes, failure to launch or an unplayable game. Launch-week reviewers say changing graphics settings or linking a Microsoft account made the game crash at the "connecting to services" screen on every restart, and they traded workarounds like deleting the WarGame folder in AppData or starting Steam offline. "The game just crashed when it connects to the service!" reads one launch-week review. Players report that early patches fixed the main crash, and mentions of crashes and launch failures fall from about a fifth of reviews in the first two weeks to about 4 to 5% afterwards. Black screens on campaign load and sign-in loops still turn up in scattered later reviews, and a few reviews from late January 2026 say the anti-cheat was kicking players from games, with one unable to play single-player at all.
Campaign bugs and softlocksHigh
11% of reviews mention bugs or glitches beyond launch crashes. The recurring ones are softlocks where a squadmate will not open a door or an encounter will not end, checkpoints that fail to load, enemies stuck in walls or spawning beside you, falling through the map in the Junker section, audio cutting out, and a final RAAM fight that some could only finish by exploiting a stuck boss. One player summed it up as "Far too many softlocks causing constant checkpoint restarts." Most of these can be cleared with a checkpoint reload, but they wear on players, and several note the game had seen no meaningful patch since launch.
Squad AI that hurts solo playMedium
About 8% of reviews complain about Dom, Baird and Cole: allies who stand still, run into enemy fire, block doorways, fail to follow commands or get stuck and teleport in at the next checkpoint. "Dom alternates between getting stuck 3 rooms away from any enemies or running directly at the troika." Players single out boss fights such as the first Berserker and RAAM, where a downed partner can fail the encounter. Players argue over whether this is new: some insist the AI was always bad, while others who replayed the 360 version say "The AI of the team mates does not suck nearly as much in the original Xbox 360 version as it does in Ultimate/Reloaded." The complaint became more common over time, reaching about 16% of reviews written from August 2026 onward, when reviewers mentioning a sale brought in more campaign-only players.
Split-screen co-op advertised, then missing on PCMedium
8% of reviews raise the missing split-screen co-op. Players say the Steam page and trailer advertised local co-op, which they say exists on Xbox and PlayStation, and that it was removed from the store listing shortly before or after launch. "Turns out, 13 days before launch, they pulled the local co-op tag from Steam." Some of these reviewers bought it to play on the couch with a partner or family member, and some refunded. About a quarter of them call it false advertising. A few push back that split-screen is rarely used on PC.
Microsoft account sign-inLow
About 5% of reviews mention the Microsoft account prompt. At launch it caused crashes; later complaints are about repeated prompts, failed linking on Linux and Steam Deck, and needing the link for cross-play. Opinion is split here too: one player liked that you "Can play without a Microsoft account, which is a huge plus", while another wrote that the sign-in "does not save and will be required frequently" and that a Microsoft server outage locks players out. Others report single-player working fine without it.
No Horde mode or bots, and little support after launchLow
About 4% of reviews wish for Horde mode or offline bots, accepting that the original lacked Horde but expecting more from a third release. A smaller group says the game was left behind after launch: "this game was ported for a promotion and left in the dirt to rot and die." Some point to fan projects such as the Redux mod or Gears Delta Online as better-supported alternatives.
Audio mix and a deafening introLow
About 3% of reviews raise sound problems: footsteps louder than gunfire ("Delta squad sounds like 4 battle-tech ATLAS's mechs stomping around."), weak gun and grenade sounds, voice lines dropping out, an intro logo far louder than the rest of the game, menu narration on by default, and no in-game choice of audio output device, so headphones and speakers fight each other.
Missing PC optionsLow
About 3% of reviews list missing PC features: no way to bind cover, roll and sprint to separate keys on mouse and keyboard ("please let me bind roll and cover to different buttons, i hate rolling into a gnasher"), no FOV slider, ultrawide support that crops or stretches although reviewers say it was advertised, 30 fps pre-rendered cutscenes, and no unlocked frame rate option. Competitive keyboard players feel these most.
3. The player conversation
Much of the argument is about the release rather than the game. Long-time fans set the tone: many open with how many times they have played Gears since 2006, and they are the most critical of the art changes, the AI and the multiplayer feel. Newcomers tend to judge it as a short, solid cover shooter.
Who raises what depends on how far players got. Reviews from players with under two hours are dominated by launch failures and split-screen refunds; crashes come up in these far more than in reviews from longer sessions. Players with 2 to 25 hours, roughly a campaign or two, talk most about squad AI, bugs and value. Players with 25 or more hours, mostly versus regulars, are the ones raising Gnasher consistency and hit registration.
About half of all reviews arrived in the first two weeks after launch, driven by crashes, sign-in failures and the split-screen removal. Reviews from the following months add complaints about desync, cheaters and a game players felt had been left without updates. From August 2026, a new wave of mostly campaign buyers arrived, many mentioning a sale (a few at 75% off). These later reviewers tend to call it a good game worth buying on sale, best played with a friend because of the AI.
4. What the developers could do
- Add split-screen co-op to the PC version. Players say it was advertised on the store page and exists on console, and its absence drives many negative reviews and refunds.
- Clear the remaining campaign softlocks and load failures. Doors that never open, encounters that never end, black screens on load and failed checkpoints keep forcing restarts long after the launch crash was patched.
- Fix squad AI pathing and combat behaviour. Allies that freeze, block doors, ignore commands or rush enemies draw steady complaints, and they come up more among the players who arrived later for the campaign.
- Price it closer to what players say it is worth, or bundle it with Gears 2 and 3. Several reviewers put the value at $10 to $20 for a re-release of the 2015 remaster, and many ask for the rest of the original trilogy on PC.
- Make Gnasher damage and hit registration consistent, and show ping. Versus regulars describe shotgun fights as random and say they cannot tell lag from misses.
- Add public co-op matchmaking and bots for versus. Players want to join random campaign partners and fill empty or abandoned matches as the population thins.
- Give mouse and keyboard separate cover, roll and sprint binds, plus an FOV slider and working ultrawide. Keyboard players say they roll into enemies in close fights, and several say ultrawide support was advertised but doesn't work.
- Rebalance the audio mix. Footsteps that drown out gunfire, a very loud intro logo and no output device setting come up in several reviews.
