Gears of War: Reloaded Looks and Runs Beautifully on the PlayStation 5 & PlayStation 5 Pro – Review

Suppose you longingly held off on enjoying this venerated franchise due to your platform preferences. In that case, you are in luck: Marcus, Baird, Cole, and Dom faithfully retell the story in Gears of War: Reloaded, in full next-gen graphics, with DualSense support for chainsaw-wielding glory. This review was based on 14 hours of campaign and co-op gameplay, looking and playing beautifully on the PlayStation 5 and the Pro model.

Developer & Publisher // The Coalition & XBOX Game Studios
Platforms // Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft Store, Steam, PlayStation 5|Pro
MSRP & Release Date// $39.99 August 26, 2025
Reviewed On // PlayStation 5 & PlayStation 5 Pro

Nostalgic Story & Characters

14 years after E-day, having been freed from jail for abandoning post by his buddy Dominic Santiago, you play as Marcus Fenix and join the Delta Squad to save humanity from the Locusts. But there’s history. A few games’ worth of history, actually, with a prequel to them all, Gears of War: E-Day, that is slated for release in 2026. 

The story hasn’t changed from the previous two refreshes. That is to say, it’s still a good story. Serviceable enough to facilitate the gameplay and make it compelling. Being a war game, Gears of War: Reloaded is gritty, gruff, and vicious. The gameplay fits the story very well. The original Gears of War departed from first-person shooters of its day, championing the cover-based combat system, lending itself to a gameplay loop that just feels good. It’s simple enough to allow the player to concentrate and enjoy the gameplay loop.

Refreshed Gameplay

The Gears of War: Reloaded features gameplay that consists of four core gameplay mechanics. The insanely fun stop and pop mechanics, roadie running to cover, the classic perfect reload mini game, and the iconic chainsaw melee attack.

Players don’t just walk around and shoot like other first-person shooters. In Gears of War: Reloaded, the player quickly learns that shooting behind cover minimizes exposure to damage, constituting a major departure from first-person shooters of its time. The stop and pop mechanic is supplemented by a lock to cover the surface; you can either lock to another surface if it’s close enough or pull free of the lock. Then you learn the magnetic pull that seems to occur at super speed, providing a greater evade window from enemy fire. These mechanics are synergized into a loop that consists of roadie running to a cover location, stopping and popping behind cover to shoot at targets, and doing it over again; it is satisfying as ever.

Nevertheless, there is still a certain level of clumsiness in executing the game mechanics. The melee attack, while very cool to pull off, has timing that prevents the user from being able to pull it off in twitch situations, limiting its usefulness. There were also issues with the run to cover mechanic, where the mechanic failed to connect to the cover, causing me to go to a cover location from different angles before it finally locked to the preferred cover surface.

The Multiplayer & Co-op Experience

Multiplayer settings are intuitive, meaning it’s very easy to set up a multiplayer game; very easy. All game selection screens show an invitation squad list that allows 9 players to be invited. If cross-play is enabled, players from PC and Xbox can be asked to join. Squad players will have an identifying platform badge next to their name as a result.

I played two full acts of the game on the PlayStation Portal while in co-op mode. I am happy to report that gameplay was steady, without any noticeable input lag or distortions. It’s amazing how well the Portal plays from a locally wired PlayStation 5. Being a father who has to supervise his child while they are eating/playing, the Portal is extremely handy when you have to grind some levels, because possibly mommy is watching her favorite show. Not only is it liberating from the couch, but co-op works well. Note, it might not be the best idea to watch your kids while gaming, because it is so immersive on the handheld, you might lose track of the kids, especially if you are playing co-op.

Console Graphics Comparison

The game looks beautiful. Yes, it’s a remaster of a remaster, and each successive remaster has looked better than the last. This includes the jump from Xbox 360 to Xbox One, to now the Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, and the Pro. This iteration is, of course, no different. The game successfully leverages the fidelity and visual improvements of the current generation enough to justify the reload (pun intended), and it looks good.

Gears of War: Reloaded on the normal PlayStation 5 leverages the usual FSR upscaler. There are differences, but they are hardly observable to the average player, unless you know what you are looking for. The specs indicate that there is a 25% increase in render resolution from the PlayStation 5 to the Pro. The cutscenes have updated polish, but they look like they were upscaled from the previous versions, and so they look like better, crisper versions of those cutscenes. Given the dramatic increase in graphical quality, actual gameplay looks good enough to be comparable and maybe even better than the cutscenes

The PlayStation 5 Pro also gets an increase in render resolution thanks to the new PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaler, with improvements in shadow quality and screen space reflections. Unfortunately, there isn’t an option to turn PSSR off on the Pro. Having a toggle would allow the player to choose whether they prefer the PSSR over the FSR. With all of this being said, the Pro obviously offers the best visuals, making it the de facto place to play for console players.

PlayStation 5|Pro Performance

Gears of War: Reloaded supports a 120 FPS (frames-per-second) mode for both the PlayStation 5 and the Pro model. The options are either auto or off, with the caveat that the display must also support 120 FPS for the device to output 120 FPS.  Upon cursory level testing, frame rates were confirmed to reach 120 FPS, though not locked. The Pro consistently stayed at above 100fps with dips in the 80s. The normal PlayStation 5 also hits 120, but not as consistently with dips into the 70s. The observable differences between the two versions are barely perceptible in this regard, but performance is always important in moment-to-moment gameplay.

Sound, Voice Acting & Music

The main characters are brought to life by the campy but excellent voice acting.  Some of the best delivered one-liners still had me laughing out loud. Like when Dom first meets Baird and Baird saying “yeah, that’s right a**hole, question is, who are you?” reminded me of the series’ humor even in its grimmer moments. While there aren’t any noticeable differences from the previous versions of the game, Dom’s familiar gritty voice and stoic perspective are brought to life in a way that still compels me to follow his lead in combat.

The music fits the mood of the game nicely. The main theme title screen is ominous and haunting, befitting a post-apocalyptic world, and sets the tone for combat. It also gets the heart pumping when the battles get going. Suffice to say, the music does a good job of complementing the scenes. This really helps with mood and supplements immersion. The music to me feels inspired by Star Wars and The Matrix, and these throwbacks enhance the cinematic experience.

Also worthy of mention is that you can trigger Cole’s rap song once the credits roll. This is an ester egg that remains after all this time, and it’s a real head bobber.  

Now Featuring DualSense and DualSense Edge Support

One of the best enhancements in Gears of War: Reloaded is the speakers of the DualSense. Certain game sounds are routed to the controller. This is new to Gears and is limited to both the normal controller and the Edge. One of the best enhancements in Gears of War: Reloaded is the speakers of the DualSense. Certain game sounds are routed to the controller. This is new to Gears and is limited to both the normal controller and the Edge.

Another noticeable change with the Dualsense integration is that the trigger haptics really feel like the player is squeezing a trigger. While not new to PlayStation 5 games overall, this is new to Gears of War: Reloaded. Experiencing the haptics while playing this version, having played all the previous Xbox versions, adds a new dimension and depth of experience to the different guns. For example, when shooting a shotgun, the trigger slips when you pull the trigger before the shotgun reloads; the player feels the trigger slip in the trigger haptics. It feels realistic as a result.

Accessibility, Innovation & Polish

Accessibility options provide subtitles, text-to-speech, screen narration, flash reduction, and the usual sound effects, dialogue volume sliders for sensory control.

As a remaster, Gears of War: Reloaded doesn’t push any boundaries, but it doesn’t need to. The game was so good that it was remastered for the Xbox One generation. They then remastered it again for this generation, and here we are. With this many iterations, they merely just updated the coat of paint, as even contemplating changing any aspect of the story would be a huge disservice to the fans. The game does look beautiful, and shines through the PlayStation Pro as it displays its ever gorgeous image on screen.

Final Verdict

Overall, I had a great time playing Gears of War: Reloaded. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to preview it on the PlayStation 5 and the Pro. Playing through these levels took me back to 2006, almost 20 years back in time. Because the gameplay remains the same, the muscle memory makes embracing the controller very comforting.  The graphics were great, the gameplay was great, and the music, cinematic.

Final Score: 8.5

Pros

• Graphics and framerate are updated to current gen, and the game looks beautiful and feels buttery smooth.
• Nothing has changed, in terms of story and gameplay, paying service to old-time fans.
• The addition of the DualSense controller adds a deeper level of immersion.
• Cross-play and cross-platform achievements are supported (if you log in and connect).

Cons

• Framerate never really hits a locked 120 on both base and PS5 Pro.
• Cross progression is not supported.
• Can’t turn off PSSR on PlayStation 5 Pro.
• Since nothing has changed from the base game, other than getting a fresh coat of paint, the lack of improvements to the sometimes clunky gameplay might be disappointing to new players to the franchise.

Disclaimer – The publisher provided a key for this review.