Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (PC) Review

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published on March 6, 2016, and has been lightly updated for formatting, spelling, and readability while preserving the original review, opinions, and technical context from that time.

Sometime last year, during E3 2015, Microsoft went on record stating that it wanted to get back to its roots and get behind the PC as a viable gaming platform while continuing support for the Xbox One. As one part of that initial push, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, the very same game that was released on the Xbox One, would also make its way over to the PC. This was not just a simple port, either, as it included several enhancements to set it apart from the Xbox One version.

Game Name: Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
Platform(s): Windows 10 / PC
Publisher(s): Microsoft
Developer(s): The Coalition / Epic Games
Price: $29.99

The re-release of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is perhaps the kind of push that the PC needs from Microsoft, as it shows that the company is willing to put some of its AAA titles on the platform. And while it is great to see this happen, there is also a bit of a negative, as the game is only available if you are running Windows 10. Even then, the title is exclusive to the Windows 10 Store, which may push some gamers away from making the purchase.

Sure, this can be seen as a step for Microsoft to get a foothold in the PC publishing arena, but many simply wish that the game was also available on other digital distribution stores, such as Valve’s Steam. Though this may never happen, and that is a shame, as Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is a really decent port, and any third-person shooter fan on PC should give it a shot, if they are on Windows 10, that is.

Perhaps the biggest draw of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition for the PC is the massive bump in graphical fidelity. I am not saying the Xbox One version was bad-looking, because it was simply amazing. A complete reimagining of the original Gears of War, with enhanced visuals and split-screen support, was a huge deal for the Xbox One. Likewise, the same can be said here, as the PC version trumps the Xbox One version in every way when it comes to graphics.

Instead of the locked-down 30 frames per second on the Xbox One, the PC version runs at 60 frames per second and supports resolutions from 1080p all the way up to 4K / 2160p. The textures were also treated to some high-quality updates, as they have all been up-rezzed to take advantage of the additional power of the PC platform. While the game still looks like Gears of War, with the dark color scheme that we all know and love, it looks a lot prettier. Per Microsoft and The Coalition, the addition of DirectX 12 is the reason why the game runs and looks as good as it does, though that comes at a price, as Windows 7 and Windows 8 owners are either forced to upgrade to Windows 10 or miss out on the game.

If you have ever played Gears of War on Xbox 360 or Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on Xbox One, then you know what to expect when it comes to gameplay. Thankfully, nothing has been changed on that front, and veterans of the series can easily jump in and feel at home, while newcomers will find their legs after a short time with the game.

The online gameplay also works well, though I did experience issues with disconnects early on. Those issues seem to have been corrected. Sadly, there was a missed opportunity here by not allowing Xbox One and PC gamers to play together online with Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. With the big push for cross-play titles such as Street Fighter V and Rocket League, it is clear to see that gamers are no longer interested in having a barrier that stops them from playing with others despite their choice of gaming platform.

Performance-wise, I tested this game on two different PC builds, and they ran decently. However, since I was not able to get a reliable read on the framerate, I could only go off what my eyes thought they saw. Microsoft recommends a PC with a GTX 970 or Radeon R9 290X, 16GB RAM or more, and a Core i5 or eight-core AMD CPU for an optimal 1080p experience. Both machines I tested the game on had that level of hardware, and during the in-game benchmarking, they both ran like champs.

The actual gameplay ran solidly at maximum settings at 1080p, as I did not have a 4K monitor to test it with and was not able to downsample it. The game does run very well at 1080p if you have the hardware to support it. That said, I did experience some stuttering every so often, despite having all my drivers updated.

Sadly, there is a slew of technical issues that plague this title. Since this is a Windows 10 Store game, there is a lack of customization and support for the game. Owners of SLI and CrossFire setups are simply not able to take advantage of their added power, as the game does not currently support SLI, and there is no word on if and when this will happen. You also are not able to take advantage of overlays such as Rivatuner, MSI Afterburner, or FRAPS, which means you cannot track the framerate.

This is a huge issue, especially for those who are not using top-of-the-line video cards and are instead using two mid-range cards in a dual-card configuration for double the power. If you are one of those gamers stuck between the war of AMD and Nvidia in regard to G-Sync and FreeSync-enabled monitors, you are also going to take a hit, as G-Sync is not supported in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition at all. I also would have preferred an unlocked framerate for those who have the power to take it beyond 60 frames per second.

Update: Rod Fergusson has stated that SLI/CrossFire support, as well as widescreen support, is being worked on.

In addition, since this is handled via the Windows 10 Store, this means you do not have direct access to the game’s executable file, meaning you are not able to use graphical injectors such as SweetFX Shader. Sadly, this also means that modding the game, a feature the PC is known for in countless games, is off the table as well.

And while I have not encountered this, as I run Nvidia cards in all my PCs, it seems there is an issue with AMD-powered graphics cards and getting this game to run at an acceptable framerate. It does look like The Coalition, the team behind the port, is addressing this issue and has made multiple statements about it and others in a forum post that can be found here.

Lastly, and this is perhaps a deal breaker for many couch co-op gamers, the local split-screen option that was present in the Xbox One version has been removed. I do not know if there was a technical reason for this, or if it was Microsoft holding on to the old and outdated stigma that PC gamers only play at their desks when it comes to PC games.

In fact, one of the main draws for Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on Xbox One was the split-screen ability. There is a huge number of PC games that are strictly local co-op, and I have played a large amount of them with friends and family in the comfort of my man cave while chilling on my couch and playing them on a 55-inch HDTV. Those are easily some of the best gaming experiences I have ever had, so it is pretty sad to see that this option did not make it to the PC version.

This review was conducted on two different gaming PCs equipped with a GTX 980 Ti, i7-5820K, and 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a Xeon E3-1231 v3, GTX 970, and 16GB DDR3 RAM. Your game performance may vary from what is described in our review.

Final Verdict

All in all, I am happy that the port came out as well as it did, as to be honest, I was not sure what to expect. It also worried me that there was not any advertising for this game at all, and while that seems to be the norm for strictly PC games, with minor exceptions, I feel that is a missed mark for Microsoft. PC gamers are still gamers, and we like to see the full support of the company pushing the game, so seeing a TV commercial or two, or even something on YouTube, would have been nice.

Hopefully, this has all been a test run for the main course, which would be a port of Gears of War 4 for the PC platform as well. At least one can hope that this is exactly what it is.