Gears of War: Ultimate Edition takes the groundbreaking cover-based shooter from Epic Games and breathes new life into it with improved visuals and enhanced gameplay.
For those who purchase the game and play online in 2015, it will also come with a digital copy of every Gears of War game — for free.
Not a bad deal, especially considering the series is one of the defining franchises for the Xbox 360. Keep in mind that none of the additional free games have gotten the remastered treatment. While they may run at a slightly higher frame rate as a result of being played off the Xbox One, these free titles will be the original games.
While it's a little disappointing Microsoft didn't go the extra mile and release a remastered Gears of War collection similar to what 343 Industries did with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the inclusion of free games, including the most recent title in the series, Gears of War: Judgment, is a nice gesture.
Microsoft announced the news today alongside the announcement that the entirety of the Gears of War franchise would be backwards compatible on Xbox One. The franchise joins a small yet soon-to-be-growing list of backwards compatible titles for the Xbox One. Microsoft has been surveying Xbox owners to ask what games they would like to see become backwards compatible first, with some of the games at the top of the list including Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Halo: Reach and Red Dead Redemption. Those in the Xbox Preview program can play the first Gears of War on Xbox One right now.
You can read our impressions on the remastered multiplayer coming in Gears of War: Ultimate Edition here. The game releases on Xbox One Aug. 25, with a PC release to follow. Players who purchase Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will also gain access to the Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta, coming in spring 2016.
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