BADCP - GPOW Tribute

Hive Minds

DATE:
25 YEARS AGO

GPOW 25TH
A N N I V E R S A R Y



XBOX ONE	BAD	GEARS OF WAR 4


			In fact, other than Midway's The Grid (which sadly never came home from arcades), Capcom's Spawn was the only game from the 128-Bit era I can remember that resembles what are called TPS (third-person shooters) now. I would credit Capcom's Spawn game with pioneering third-person arena battle games. Just like Gears of War 4, Spawn featured multi-player team battling. It may not have been called "Team Elimination", and it may have only been 2-on-2, but it was still the same idea of what team could kill more dudes. Of course, in gameplay Spawn and its dodging look primitive compared to Gears Of War 4 and its complex evasive maneuvers, but that natural growth of the genre was to be expected. Both games have the same rowdy, party-based battles that are as intense as they are annoying. Thankfully, Gears 4 features a comprehensive point system to make up for it and reward players to keep them coming back for more.

Though there was no such things as building fortifications back then, nor was there a mission-based "campaign" mode, one or two players could still go through the game from point A to point B with story bits in between. There were no heavy cinematic scenes in Spawn, however. Spawn did feature monsters, other mechanized monstrosities, and huge bosses like Gears of War 4, there just weren't as many of the big ones. Character variety and count in Gears Of War 4 reminded me a lot of Spawn, as well, with a good mix of both unique and palette swap-type choices. Like Spawn, there are a lot of unlockable characters in Gears 4. A player can choose a character that stands out, or one that is just a variation of another. Both games even allow the player to choose some boss characters (if they wish to try them out), and there are fan-favorites that players are eager to work for and use. Particularly in Gears 4, there are several shocking character unlocks from previous games that nobody expected, and unlocking them comes with a real sense of accomplishment. It took what seemed like an eternity for me to unlock my favorite Gears enemy (The Locust Queen) and her whole weapon set, but when I did, it was amazing! Moreover, this particular unlock showed that where Spawn's unlocks serve as an all-inclusive measure, Gears 4's unlocks seem to serve more as foreshadowing to how things might play out in Gears 5.

	11
	LUMBERJACK
	Like father, like son.

	12
	DECEPTIVE
	Don't let the cute patterns and colors fool you.

	13
	NEW WEAPONS
	There are more new weapons than ever.

	14
	TRAGIC BEAUTY
	The good ones are always damaged.

	15
	BIG DAMAGE
	Cool new weapons do more damage than ever before.

Both games have a variety of weapons at the player's disposal, including the standard-issue shotguns, explosives, and machine guns. I haven't done a count, but it seems like Spawn has the higher weapon count simply because there are some characters with unique supernatural weapons. The two games start characters out with weapons unique to their class, but Gears 4 does this mostly for Horde mode. All of these weapons dispatch their targets in accordance with their various methods in both titles, leaving torn torsos, chest chunks, and hollowed heads everywhere. Both games do a great job of showing the incredible power of the weapons in their respective universes, but Gears 4 adds an alluring sense of contrast to that with its weapon customization. The contrast comes in seeing Kait chainsaw an opponent using an argyle-patterned Lancer, Reyna decapitating enemies with leopard-print, or alpha male characters dealing death in hearts and floral patterns.

	16
	BLOODBATH
	Keeping tradition.

Spawn didn't have all the awesome weapon customization Gears 4 has, which is its biggest charm. Collecting all of the different weapon patterns and themes in Gears 4 is what has kept me playing the game consistently since release. Gears 4 offers tons of different designs that are essentially painted over its weapons to suit its user. Rather than players coloring and doing their own crappy designs, themes to match characters, elements, or seasons are provided. With the exception of the Peacenik series (which is dogshit), most of their designs are cool, wacky, or classy. There are GOG camo types, Locust skin types, rainbows, hearts, electric types, wood types, glowing types, and my favorite - teacup. These are all purchased with Gold, which is connected to your XP, and XP is connected to performance, which is connected to the tons of different ribbons for various accomplishments during battle. It's actually really fun seeing these things pop one after another!

	17
	BBRRAAAAP!
	The series always lacked a proper compact machine gun (until now).

	18
	HEARTS/WIRES
	There's a reason why some dudes can do pink (and some can't).

	19
	DEATH RAYS
	Ambient lighting throughout, thanks to Unreal Engine 4.

	20
	HATEBREED
	Marcus has a new Hatebreed-inspired costume.

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