Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

Intense overall intensity
Highest flag: Mutilation / body horror — player performs it
HorrorSci-fiShooter

What's in it

Violence graphic & gore
High

Sustained realistic firefights against humanoid Locust enemies with heavy blood spray and exploding bodies as the core loop.

Mutilation / body horror player performs it
High

The signature Lancer chainsaw bayonet cuts enemies in half with sprays of blood, and executions and heavy weapons dismember or reduce foes to chunks.

Language strong
High

Frequent strong profanity in combat banter and cutscenes, including f-words.

Dark themes intense
Moderate

The story centers on the near-extinction of humanity, mass casualties, and a grim wartime survival struggle against a subterranean enemy.

Horror & psychological frightening
Moderate

Dark tunnel sequences, monstrous enemies, and set-pieces against a hulking Berserker create a tense, frightening atmosphere with sudden ambushes.

Who can reach your kid

Voice chatChat with strangersDirect messagesStranger friend requests

What it is

This title updates a 2006 shooter, played from behind the character with an emphasis on ducking behind barriers during firefights. The story follows a military unit battling to preserve what little is left of the human race against hordes of grotesque subterranean beings known as the Locust. Combat is bloody and central: while sheltered, the player shoots rifles, shotguns, and lobs grenades, and one rifle carries a mounted chainsaw that severs opponents, alongside up-close finishing moves; kills spray large amounts of blood and make foes erupt into viscera. Its atmosphere is bleak and somber, unfolding across a landscape wrecked by war, and it features menacing creatures plus dim, murky spaces. Characters swear harshly and often. It contains no sex, nudity, or use of drugs or alcohol. A ranked online mode against other people permits unfiltered spoken and typed messaging.

How it's framed

Combat here is cast as courageous struggle to endure a war: the character battles to shield people from an extraterrestrial menace, and savage takedowns such as chainsaw finishers register as rewarding hits during play rather than something the game criticizes or lingers over. The ruin of the shattered setting supplies emotional heft and stays within the bounds of an action-hero story instead of being celebrated past that.

Details

Developer
The Coalition
Publisher
Xbox Game Studios
Released
2015
Metacritic 82critic score (third-party) · out of 100

Similar games

We built this because we needed it

Balanced Play pools your kids' game time into one budget across Steam, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and more. We're taking 100 founding families — free for life.

Claim a founding spot →

Free for life for the first 100. No card, no spam.