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Gears of War Ultimate Edition
Much like 343's Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, The Coalition is totally remaking the original Gears of War with the Ultimate Edition.
Seeing the game in trailer form, it's easy to identify that the game looks much better than the original 2006 release, but I didn't realize how much had gone into making the game look better until a presentation from Rod Fergusson and other members of The Coalition detailed many of the game's changes.
It's not just a cleaned-up, higher-definition version of the original game. It has been rebuilt with totally redone motion capture throughout and new cinematography for all the cutscenes. Placing a few screenshots from iconic moments in the game beside the same moments from the original game show drastic improvements in the character models and environments, which you can see in the image above and below. Seemingly, the only thing that remains unchanged for the Ultimate Edition is the voice dialogue, which Fergusson said they decided to keep in order keep all the memorable lines and the tempo at which they were spoken. He also pointed out that the voice cast has aged a decade since the original game, so they would probably sound different.
A few gameplay changes are coming to the game, but The Coalition didn't want to pull too many mechanics from Gears 2 and 3 into the original. To do so would make it feel less like the original gears of War, and too much like its sequels. You will be able to revive teammates from cover without standing up, and you will be able to spot enemies like you could in Gears 3. You will not be able, however, to crawl when you're downed, Fergusson called out as an example, saying that specific mechanic would make it feel too much like Gears 2.
The PC version of Gears of War had five exclusive missions, and those will be coming to this version of the game. Those extra missions won't be treated as standalone and will be interspersed appropriately in the campaign's story. All the DLC multiplayer maps as well as the three PC maps will also be included, bringing the total map count up to 19.
The game will, as promised, run at 1080p and 60 FPS, will have remastered 7.1 audio, and its online play will have dedicated servers, even for private games. Private games will be more customizable than in the past, too, as you will be able to turn on and off certain mechanics like the bonus from an active reload if you want a purist multiplayer shooter experience.
The game will be available for Xbox One on August 25, and will be sold for a discounted price at $39.99. It will also be available on PC.
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