But beneath or even in parallel to that aspect, there’s always been consistent themes of friendship, of relationships of support and camaraderie that would seem corny in most other games but, somehow, work in Gears of War for a passionate fanbase. And it’s not that those observations are wrong, exactly - the characters have always been larger than life, the men in particular wide and heavy, and the violence of the series has always been extreme and enthusiastic. Gears of War as a series has dealt with accusations of hyper-masculine excess and an emphasis on gore and violence since it was first announced more than ten years ago. Note: portions of this review previously appeared in our pre-review check-in with Gears of War 4 in September.