Every Gears of War Game, Ranked Worst To Best

The best game will always come down to player preference, but it's inarguable that has always been a reliable hit for Microsoft's line of consoles. The third-person shooters feature football-sized men crouching down behind an inexplicable number of knee-high barriers and firing off weapons at glorified mole men who want to take over the surface, and somehow, lead designer Cliff Bleszinski made that premise believable and emotionally resonant, turning out a trilogy of great Xbox titles and leaving new developers The Coalition a blueprint for success when they took over in 2014.

No matter who the developer is, the series has retained a loyal fanbase, and it's not just because players get to chainsaw Locust goons in half. did for third-person shooting what did for first-person shooting, providing the framework that others followed beat-for-beat in the years after its debut. The Coalition has tried to inject variety into the formula, but it's still very easy to tell when someone is playing, and that reliability has kept players coming back for each entry.

Different weapons, gameplay tweaks, and newly introduced mechanics bring more depth to the sandbox, even if every game retains that basic loadout of a Lancer rifle, Gnasher shotgun, and a pair of grenades. With high-quality action, a ragtag bunch of playable characters, and intense shotgun duels in its multiplayer, the series has been a sturdy pillar of Xbox through good times and bad.

Gears of Wars comics and novels offer lots of great characters who have yet to appear in the games. Which should appear in Gears 6?

It's arguable whether or not counts as a true entry in the franchise, but the franchise has only had two spinoffs in its long history and deserves to be remembered after it closed forever in April 2021. Developed by developers Mediatonic, clones the popular gameplay of and combines it with Funko versions of the cast.

Missed out on playing the worst game before it shut down for good? Check out some