Home Gaming Why Gears of War avoided going the Halo Master Chief Collection route

Why Gears of War avoided going the Halo Master Chief Collection route

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Gears of War Ultimate Edition not another Halo Collection

Gears of War is, by a mile, my favourite Microsoft franchise. Which meant that Zoe had to physically constrain me to my chair during the reveal of not only Gears of War 4, but the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition during E3.

The remaster of the game that kicked it all off is out next month, and a handful of fans are a bit disappointed that the two sequels the game spawned aren’t getting the same treatment.

Developers The Coalition are too, but they have their reasons.

343 Industries spent a lot of time and effort remastering all four Halo titles for The Master Chief Collection last year (which still has some serious niggling issues), and it’s the type of effort The Coalition doesn’t have to spare.

Speaking at a panel at SDCC yesterday, a member from the newly named Gears of War studio said it wasn’t a matter of the team not wanting to do all three, but rather that it was just an insurmountable task for them.

It’s really hard work [to remaster an entire series]. It takes a long time. It took us in the end 16-18 months to do the first one, and to try and do three games… How many people would we need to have? It just wasn’t logistically or physically or technically possible.

In fact, the only reason a remaster was considered at all was to familiarise the new Gears of War team with the franchise, before they took on an even greater, riskier endeavour: Gears of War 4.

If there ever was a good reason for a remaster, this is most certainly one of a better ones.

We had a brand new studio which had never made a Gears game before, and having to go in and remaster–because we went right down to the studs of this thing–meant that everyone had to learn what it takes to make a Gears of War game.

 

It was sort of this on-ramp to the franchise to get ready for Gears of War 4.

Even though The Coalition features some Gears of War stalwarts, it is primarily a completely new team on one of the biggest franchises known to modern gaming.

So getting their footing with a remaster certainly sounds like time well spent – especially if it means Gears of War 4 will take more horror cues from the first game than the action-packed cinematic stylings of the final two.

That’s what made the iconic debut of Gears of War so memorable all those years ago, and another reason why I can’t wait to see more of it in action next month, at Gamescom.

Last Updated: July 10, 2015

25 Comments

  1. Calling it “Gears 4” is disrespectful to the franchise, and its plain silly.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      July 10, 2015 at 09:52

      They should’ve called it Ge4rs.

      Reply

  2. Hammersteyn

    July 10, 2015 at 09:52

    What they say : It’s too much work
    What we hear : We’re not selling all remastered games for the price of one.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      July 10, 2015 at 09:53

      lol, I was thinking the same thing.

      Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      July 10, 2015 at 09:56

      What they Say : It’s too much work.
      What I hear: Gamers whining and bitching about price.
      When they Say: Here. Have all 3. Pardon the 50GB day one patch.
      What I hear: Gamers whining and bitching about day one patches.
      So really. No matter what a dev does, gamers will always whine and bitch!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        July 10, 2015 at 09:59

        Is it our fault they release broken games?

        Reply

        • Dutch Matrix

          July 10, 2015 at 10:01

          No. But what I would like is, if a dev studio is as honest as these guys are, we go: Good on you, Guys!
          Come on. When Tomb Raider got remastered, did we moan and bitch that they did not remaster everything from Tomb Raider 1 to well, Tomb Raider?

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            July 10, 2015 at 10:06

            Well, no. But Halo set a benchmark. I was pissed that Sony only remastered God of War 3 and not the whole trilogy. Plus they have the gall to charge R500 for the single remaster so screw that, I’m not buying it. Halo showed it’s more than possible to release all games in a series in a neat bundle. Even Borderlands with the Handsome Jack Collection. So price depending this Gear remaster like God of War 3 could be a rip off, price depending

          • Dutch Matrix

            July 10, 2015 at 10:10

            As far as I know, Halo still got some serious issues they have to deal with. Look. If Arkham Knight told us anything, it is that gamers can now vote with their wallets. IF you do not like a game for whatever reason, simply do not buy it.
            If little to no one buys GoW Remake, so be it. It most likely will tank any plans for a future release.

          • Hammersteyn

            July 10, 2015 at 10:11

            I’d buy the Halo collection in a heart beat if I had a BETA MAX One.

          • Dutch Matrix

            July 10, 2015 at 10:13

            Those video tapes that were smaller than VHS? Huh????

          • Hammersteyn

            July 10, 2015 at 10:13

            XD

          • Ir0nseraph

            July 10, 2015 at 10:26

            I think what they are doing is fine, give one proper remaster to get me ready for Gears 4, and all they need to do is allow gears 2 and 3 to be available on xbox backwards compatibility program.
            I prefer all their resources being directed to the new Gears 4.

          • Hammersteyn

            July 10, 2015 at 10:09

            Also, 16-18 months on a remaster??? A game from almost 10 years ago?

          • Dutch Matrix

            July 10, 2015 at 10:11

            I don’t think a remaster is just slapping some new textures in there and boom let’s release. Even if that is the case, have you seen the amount of detail in a Gears game?

          • Hammersteyn

            July 10, 2015 at 10:13

            Far Cry 3 took almost the same time to develop from scratch.

          • Dutch Matrix

            July 10, 2015 at 10:15

            No wonder Far Cry 3 was such a yawn fest! I hear you. Time will tell if 18 months or so was worth it. If it gives me a stable game with no huge patches, then I will be happy. If, on day 1 I am tripped by a patch larger than 750MB?

    • Ir0nseraph

      July 10, 2015 at 10:24

      What they say : It’s too much work
      What I want to hear : Get Gears 2 and 3 for free with Xbox one backwards compatibility.

      Reply

  3. WitWolfy

    July 10, 2015 at 09:58

    Will prob get Ge4rs… Its just a damn shame that it looks more like a Gears 3.5…

    Reply

  4. Jonah Cash

    July 10, 2015 at 09:59

    Will the remaster be available on PC? I would love to play it on PC!

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief's Adventure

      July 10, 2015 at 10:01

      As would I

      Reply

      • Dutch Matrix

        July 10, 2015 at 10:03

        As would… no wait! I played all the Gears on Xbox 360. Years ago! PC Flabberrace is more like it!

        Reply

  5. Ty

    July 11, 2015 at 12:16

    “343 Industries spent a lot of time and effort remastering all four Halo titles for The Master Chief Collection last year”
    Except Halo: CE was already remastered years ago and Halo 3 and 4 were completely untouched in the collection. They realistically only remastered Halo 2 last year.

    Reply

    • The Ice Princess

      July 13, 2015 at 19:20

      Halo: CE still required a resolution and framerate bump, while shaders and some others things, in engine were changed for Halo’s 3 and 4 to bring out more detail . Not to mention, the two latter titles also received the framerate and resolution bump to 60FPS/1080p. They weren’t “untouched”.

      Reply

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    July 12, 2015 at 05:51

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