Xbox’s entire best series is available on Xbox Game Pass

When it was released in 2001, Microsoft’s Xbox console provided us with some of the best moments in gaming history. From Halo: Combat Evolved, Jade Empire, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and more, this beloved machine of the green brand has provided memories that will last a lifetime. However, the series that is today’s topic of discussion never arrived until the next console generation.

The series in question is Gears of War which was originally developed by Epic Games and was released for the Xbox 360 in 2006. Perhaps in a similar way to how Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 inspired a flurry of games adopting the over-the-shoulder camera perspective in 2005, Gears of War did the same by inspiring the cover-shooter.

Check out the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition trailer below!

The story of Gears of War followed the tale of Marcus Phoenix and his bromance buddy, Dominic Santiago. “Mankind's desperate struggle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the planet's core,” reads the ominous synopsis of the game.

Despite featuring somewhat basic cover-shooting, the simplicity of the gameplay made Gears of War an easy game to pick up, but its campaign offered its fair share of challenging moments, especially on the higher difficulties. What’s more, as with every mainline entry in this series, playing the campaign co-op with a friend is an absolute blast. It was also perhaps more story-driven than many had initially assumed. Oh, and it features brutal competitive online offerings, including the relentless Horde mode, granting a quality alternative to the likes of Halo 2, Call of Duty 3 and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat which were all popular online shooters at the time.

The success of the original Gears of War would spawn several sequels from 2008 to 2019, the last numbered entry being Gears 5. We were also treated to a remaster of the first game with Gears of War: Ultimate Edition in 2015, as well as the 2013 spinoff, Gears of War Judgment. Developed by Bulletstorm studio People Can Fly, Gears of War: Judgement wasn't the most well-received entry in the series, but I liked it, especially as it gave popular characters Damon Baird and Augustus Cole their moment in the spotlight. Ignore some of the negative comments about this game, because if you haven't played it already, I urge you to give it a go.

The last actual game to be released in this beloved series is Gears Tactics, developed by Splash Damage. Much like Judgment, Gears Tactics was not only a spinoff but also a prequel to the series. However, where Gears Tactics differs from the rest of the series is that it’s a top-down turn-based strategy game. I’ll be honest, Gears Tactics wasn't my cup of tea, but with a solid score in the 80s for PC and Xbox on Metacritic, it’s certainly a favourite for those of the genre.

There have been rumours that Gears 6 will be on the way at some point, and why wouldn't it? After all, it’s one of Xbox’s most successful and popular franchises. Plus at this point, it’s been four years since the release of Gears 5, so we can hope that the big announcement from current developers The Coalition could be made anytime soon (I hope). While we wait, if you subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, we at least have one of the Xbox’s entire best series at our disposal. So what are you waiting for? Get those chainsaw Lancers revving and jump into the iconic series that is Gears of War.