Having sacrificed their last stronghold in their bid to destroy the Locust, human colonies are now scattered, struggling for survival. The Gears are taking residence on a large ship when Marcus receives information confirming that his father is still alive and is working on a way to save humanity. Since the other games in the series lacked story, newcomers could just jump straight into this game.
Graphically, the game is even more colourful than Gears of War 3. It looks great but is a larger departure from the dull greys found in the original; it doesn't really look like a Gears of War game any more. The character models also look more realistic, slimmer builds, more animated facial expressions, and more detailed hair.
The dialogue is a mixed bag. The majority of the time, it's full of action movie cliché, but can be quite humorous at times. There's plenty of banter going between the squad members, especially with the inclusion of females Anya and Sam. The story-telling is much improved too. Cole reminisces about his time as an athlete on his emotional return to his home-town, Dom struggles with the death of his wife and Marcus is on a quest to reunite with his father. Overall, you have a much richer understanding of the main characters, and there's much more emotion shown making the world more believable. It's not just the main Gears, the surviving colonies show their struggle and bitterness towards the situation.
For the most part, you control Marcus and have at least one AI controlled team-member to assist you. As usual, your team-members chop and change as the story progresses. A surprising addition is that you take control of Cole during his foraging mission in his home-town, giving you a break from purely controlling Marcus. Your AI controlled members are competent soldiers and can be relied to chip in with their fair share of the kills. You can also signal them to target a specific enemy which is the only squad command you have.
The Lambent (a mutated variant of the Locusts) have grown in number, have mutated further and become a stronger force. Some Lambent transform when killed and some even attack when all that is left is their head. Instead of emergence holes, the Lambent emerge from stalks which spring from the ground. You can prevent them from spawning by shooting the pods. The Locusts no longer spawn from holes, instead they just leap from the dirt, although no explanation is given for this change.
If you've played any of the previous Gears of War games, you'll be very familiar with the core game-play. Pressing A will make Marcus crouch and back against a surface. From here you can pull away, or nip between cover. You can pop-out and shoot, or stay in cover and blind fire. Most surfaces are destructible, so hiding behind a pillar too long is a bad idea. Hiding behind cover allows you to regenerate your health. Your damage is indicated by a cog that appears in the centre of the screen, going from light red to dark to indicate the severity. Holding A will roadie run; a crouched sprint which has the visual effect of the camera shaking as it follows. Tapping A whilst moving can also dive. The 'Active Reload' feature remains intact, where you have the option of timing a button press for faster reload and extra damage. Mistiming means a long reload time, and not using it at all gives a standard reload.
There are many new weapons; Digger (shoots tunnelling grenades which pop out of the ground), Retro Lancer (machine gun with a bayonet; has larger recoil and stabs rather than have a chainsaw), Incendiary Grenade (causes a carpet of flames), Cleaver (an overly large sword with limited executions), One Shot (powerful sniper rifle), Sawed off Shotgun (powerful shotgun), and Vulcan (heavy gatling gun, operated by two people). Some weapons have been tweaked, and guns like the flame-thrower only make a rare appearance.
There are many sections that break from the main cover-based shooting game-play such as manning a turret to defend an area, piloting a Silverback (exo-suit) or even just walking around without much going on.
The campaign can be played co-operatively, and there's an 'Arcade Mode' which adds a point system so you can replay levels with the aim of achieving a higher score. Horde mode is also back, pitting you against waves of increasingly difficult waves of enemies. A new feature is that you can buy upgrades and place down barriers and turrets to assist you.
The Gears of War series has made improvements in each game, and the trilogy definitely ends on a high note. The graphics are brilliant, the story feels more emotional, and feels like there is more content.