Gears of War multiplayer has always been a fun part of going online with the Xbox 360 back in the day. As one of the marquee game releases for the console and an original franchise for Xbox, many people believed it was a big reason to get the console and be part of Xbox Live. Since the game came out in 2006, the series has grown exponentially, with more than five entries being released across multiple Xbox consoles. Now that Gears of War: Reloaded is finally out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, even more people can dive into the gritty and harsh world of the Gears universe. But the multiplayer that began back then has changed very little since.

As much as I loved playing through the campaign of Gears of War alone or with a friend, multiplayer was always a major reason for me to boot up the game on my console. Matches were chaotic, bloody, and filled with tons of explosions and bullets flying through the air. It was a dark and gritty change of pace from multiplayer Xbox games like Halo, but one that was still just as fun, despite the many complaints I and others have shared over the years about it. And much of that hasn't changed with the release of Gears of War: Reloaded on current-day consoles, but I still manage to enjoy diving into it as much as I did back then. Here's how Gears of War multiplayer really hasn't changed at all, and that's OK because I still love playing it now.

The tone we love is still there

Even with color, Gears looks dark

The one aspect about Gears of War that has remained consistent with the series is how dismal and dark its tone has been since the beginning. The many sequels and prequel titles that have been released over the years manage to tell different stories with different characters, but the atmosphere of the universe has always remained the same. Even in multiplayer matches, where the plot of the games takes a back seat to squading up to chainsaw other players, the game manages to keep the same tone. Everything from the level design to the different characters you play in multiplayer exudes the grit that people love about this series. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The visuals may have gotten more colorful with Gears of War: Reloaded in ways that make things look better, but it still unapologetically looks like a dark game. The paths I take towards power weapons and use as flanking points against players still look intimidating enough to make me question if I should go that way. I never know when the shading of where I'm looking towards may actually be a player hiding in cover, just waiting to hit me with a shotgun blast. And the open area that might look safe at first may be moments away from a grenade being tossed over and hitting whoever is nearby.

Shotgun, and even more shotgun

And when you had enough, more of it

It's no secret that the balancing of multiplayer in the Gears of War series has always been questionable. The first game had many people gravitating towards weapons like the shotgun because of how strong it was in nearly every situation. Players who grabbed the powerful weapons, like the sniper rifle and boom shot, frequently stuck with the shotgun as their secondary tool when they had to switch tactics. For most people, including me, it got very frustrating to deal with. Even when you think you have someone dead with plenty of bullets from a lancer or another weapon, the dread of the shotgun can still catch you off guard, showing your character's body burst into pieces from one well-placed blast.

Gears of War: Reloaded doesn't really change that. A lot of the chaos and frustrating aspects of matches that turn into shotty skirmishes are still there in full force. For some Gears of War veterans, it's exactly what they've always loved, while others may wallow in the agony of being constantly caught with a shotgun blast to the face. But as annoying as this can get, it's still incredibly fun and exciting to be a part of. That same level of frustration from dealing with the balance of weapons in match-ups can just as easily be turned around and flipped onto the opposing team. It's not the same kind of multiplayer madness that other multiplayer games like Call of Duty or Halo so often morph into, but it's just as ridiculous as they can be sometimes.

Could Gears of War: Reloaded have tweaked some of the strengths of weapons and made multiplayer games feel more evenly balanced? Sure, it would've been something interesting to see happen for newer players playing the game for the first time. But would that have been authentic to the experience many people had with the first Gears of War game back then? Most likely not, hence why everything feels more or less the same as before.

The co-op vibes remain potent

Work together, fail together again

Looking at Gears of War multiplayer doesn't only mean the deathmatch game types online, it also includes the co-op multiplayer for the campaign. Gears of War is one of the first major titles on the Xbox to have a big emphasis on co-op multiplayer as part of its campaign experience. Like in the first few Halo games on the original Xbox, playing through the story with a friend can really feel like a totally different experience, especially on the harder difficulty settings. With two players taking on the roles of Dom and Marcus, sections of the game can feel like a real struggle for survival when both players need to depend on the other to advance forward, especially in vicious firefights where both need to assist the other frequently.

Back then, it felt like a real accomplishment to get over the grueling challenge that Gears of War's co-op on Insane difficulty presented. And it remains just as difficult, frustrating, and heartbreaking in some cases to play through, but still just as satisfying when you overcome the odds and reach the end. Trying to get past the emergence holes that show up together and spew out enemies who deal ridiculous damage to you and your teammate can be an exhilarating struggle, even though you may have restarted that same sequence a few times over. The coordination that was required to take out enough enemies fast enough and reach the next checkpoint had people shouting over at each other, and then cheering when a plan came together well.

All of that remains intact and exactly as I remember back on the Xbox 360. Taking on General RAMM at the very end, atop a moving train, wasn't just an overwhelming struggle for me and my teammate; it was a test of patience and teamwork. I had to fire my weapons at the right moment when the Kryll would scatter, and manage not to get shot by RAMM, so we could stay in the fight. Many times we would fail, and many times we would try again. And just like before in the original game, eventually all the coordination and shot calls would lead to victory for us in Gears of War: Reloaded. It was fun back then, and everything about it is still fun to go through now.

We all still love it

To many people, Gears of War is one of those marquee franchises for the Xbox platform that remains authentically twisted and fun. It has a dark and gritty tone that stands apart from other shooters, with a style of gameplay that never diminishes in how fun it can be. The multiplayer aspect of it, online competitively and cooperatively, hasn't really changed since everything began. And I'm OK with that being the case. Because like many other people, I still love diving into the mix of it, and getting down with how chaotic Gears of War has always been. It's still the same thing that many of us have complained about so much over the years, but we all still love it.