Gears of War is a 2006 third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It is the first installment of the Gears of War series, and was initially released as an exclusive title for the Xbox 360 in November 2006. A Microsoft Windows version, developed in conjunction with People Can Fly, was released in November 2007. The game's main story, which can be played in single or co-operative play, focuses on a squad of troops who assist in completing a desperate, last-ditch attempt to end a war against a genocidal subterranean enemy, the Locust, and save the remaining human inhabitants of their planet Sera. The game's multiplayer mode allows up to eight players to control characters from one of the two factions in a variety of online game modes. Gameplay features players using cover and strategic fire in order to win battles.
The game was a commercial success, selling over three million copies within ten weeks of its launch. It became the fastest selling video game of 2006, the second-most played game over Xbox Live during 2007, and one of the best-selling Xbox 360 games. The game received acclaim for its gameplay and visuals, and is considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made, winning over 30 "Game of the Year" awards in 2006 and helped popularize the use of a cover system. A remastered version, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, was developed primarily by The Coalition. Ultimate Edition was released for the Xbox One in August 2015, and for Microsoft Windows in March 2016. An updated remaster, Gears of War: Reloaded, was co-developed by The Coalition, Sumo Digital and Disbelief, and was released in August 2025 for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S, notably marking the original game's debut on Steam, and the series' first release on non-Xbox consoles.
Gears of War'''s success led to the development of a franchise including many sequels, starting with Gears of War 2 in 2008. In addition, it has also spawned adaptations for books and comics, and a film based on the series is currently in development.
GameplayGears of War is a third-person shooter that places emphasis on using cover to avoid taking damage while moving towards enemy forces. The game uses a number of weapons, but predominately featured is the Lancer Assault Rifle, which has a mounted chainsaw bayonet that can deal melee damage at close range. Playable characters can carry two primary weapons, grenades, and a smaller, secondary weapon such as the Snub Pistol. Weapons are reloaded with a tap of the RB button, and a second tap within a given time (active reload) rewards the player with a damage bonus. However, failing to perform the "Active Reload" correctly will cause the gun to become momentarily jammed while the player's character fixes it. When the player takes damage, the "Crimson Omen", a red cog representing the player's health gauge, will fade into the screen, becoming more defined with larger amounts of damage. The player or bots can seek cover to recover their health, but if they take too much damage, they will become incapacitated. Once this occurs, a skull will fill the center void of the omen. The player or bots can then be revived by a teammate, executed by an enemy, or remain incapacitated until they "bleed out", dying from blood loss.
The game features a five-act campaign that can be played alone or cooperatively with another player. The campaign focuses on COG Army soldiers Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago and their efforts in the Delta Squad to wipe out the Locust forces on their planet Sera. The player is joined by AI teammates that will help fight the Locust. Certain sections of the campaign feature two paths that can be taken as selected by the first player. If there is a second player, their character will automatically take the other. The campaign can be played at three difficulty settings in the first game. From easiest to hardest, these are "Casual", "Hardcore" and "Insane". The "Insane" difficulty is unlocked once the game is beaten on either the "Casual" or "Hardcore" difficulty.
Multiplayer Gears of War features up to four-on-four competitive gameplay, with teams representing the Gears or the Locust. Players must execute downed foes, otherwise these will revive after a time. In Assassination matches, the team's leader is the only one that can track the other team's leader and pick up new weapons, after which teammates can pick them up, with the goal to eliminate the foe's leader. An Xbox 360 patch added the "Annex" mode, which is similar to King of the Hill, in which players must try to control a shifting control point for a certain amount of time to win. The PC version of Gears introduced "King of the Hill", a mode not present in the Xbox 360 version, which uses a fixed control point but varies the conditions on which it is controlled.
Synopsis Setting and charactersGears of War takes place on Sera, an Earth-like planet where conflicting scientific and religious philosophies fueled a massive energy crisis. The discovery of Imulsion, a potent liquid fuel found in underground caverns called "The Hollow", led to a world-wide conflict between the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) and Union of Independent Republics (UIR). After the 79-year Pendulum Wars, humanity faced a new threat on "Emergence Day" (E-Day), when the Locust Horde emerged from the Hollow to initiate a genocidal invasion. Overwhelmed, the COG utilized the "Hammer of Dawn," a satellite-based weapon system developed during the previous war, to destroy their own occupied cities. The survivors were then evacuated to the Jacinto Plateau, the only region the Locust could not invade from underground.
The game's campaign primarily focuses on Marcus Fenix (John DiMaggio), a soldier who was imprisoned ten years after E-Day for conducting an unauthorized rescue operation, and his comrades in Delta Squad: Dominic "Dom" Santiago (Carlos Ferro), a close friend and teammate; Augustus Cole (Lester Speight), a former sports star; and Damon Baird (Fred Tatasciore), a skilled technician and former officer. Other characters include Colonel Victor Hoffman, the COG's main military officer; Private Anthony Carmine, a recent recruit for Delta; Lieutenant Minh Young Kim, a veteran officer, and Delta's squad leader; and Lieutenant Anya Stroud, a COG intelligence officer. The game's main antagonist is General RAAM, a powerful leader of the Locust Horde's armed forces.
Players take control of Fenix in the campaign; in co-op mode, the second player controls Santiago. All four Delta squad members are available for play during multiplayer games, along with Carmine, Kim, and Hoffman, in addition to various Locust characters.
Plot The game's plot begins 14 years after Emergence Day (E-Day), when the Locust Horde overran and killed many COG soldiers and civilians, declaring war against humanity. Marcus Fenix, a former COG soldier, is reinstated into the military after spending four years in prison for deserting his military post in order to make a vain attempt to save his father, Adam Fenix. Dominic "Dom" Santiago, Marcus' best friend and fellow COG, successfully extracts Fenix from the prison, and takes him to meet Delta Squad. The group seeks to obtain the "resonator", a device that will map "The Hollow", the caverns which the Locust inhabit and later deploy the "Lightmass Bomb", which will destroy the heart of the Locust forces inside the Hollow. Fenix and his allies recover the device, but suffer multiple casualties in the process including Anthony Carmine and Squad leader Kim. Fleeing RAAM's forces, Fenix leads the remaining soldiers through the ruins of Ephyra to claim a "Junker" APC, drive to a mining facility, and finally into the planet's depths.
Delta Squad successfully detonates the resonator, but the device fails to map enough of the tunnel network. They discover a larger map of the network that originates from Fenix's old home, specifically his father's laboratory. The group ventures to the Fenix estate at East Barricade Academy, where Fenix originally attempted to rescue his father. When they arrive, Delta encounters heavy Locust resistance. After collecting the data, the group fights their way past Locust forces and boards a train carrying the Lightmass Bomb. Fenix and Santiago battle their way through the train, and are able to kill General RAAM, before uploading the data. Fully activated, the Lightmass Bomb launches into the Hollow, and eradicates the Locust tunnel networks. In the game's final sequence, Hoffman delivers a victory speech as the tunnels collapse and explode, whereupon the voice of the Locust Queen promises that the Locust will continue to fight onward, despite their losses.
Development Design The first concept for the game was conceived around the years 2000 and 2001 as Unreal Warfare, which was much closer to the multiplayer-driven Unreal series than the game that would eventually become Gears of War. The original concept for the game featured character classes and mechs, being played in a closed arena against other players or bots. The game was put on standby as Epic focused on the Unreal Tournament series, and when the team went back to it, the industry had shifted towards single-player games and the aim of the game was changed.