Well, finally got around to playing. Conclusion: This is a proper gears game, unlike 4. Only at the end of Chapter 2, and already know I will do more play throughs. The story has gone where I originally thought it would, before 3 left me scratching my head about the direction they took. There are some intense fights with some new enemies that are fun to throw down with. The mansion fight in the OG, Particularly on insane, is one of my favorite single player moments. And this game has already captured that feeling for me. Personally, the tweaks to gameplay are mostly welcomed. And give me a new tactical wrinkle to work with, instead of spending the whole fight relying so much on the cover mechanic. Flashing, shocking, and Armor shield, provide the opportunity to bum rush and melee more.
This game does indeed look fantastic. Nothing else to say about it, since hardware unboxed and digital foundry have provided great coverage of the eye candy and performance tweaks.
Despite being on PC, I use a wired 360 controller for a number of reasons. Most importantly, I put hundreds of hours into the series on 360 using it. Another important reason, is that the game feels dead with a mouse. E.G. Weapons have a feel to them, and gears is a series that uses the vibration so well, that it feels like more than a gimmick. And in single player, aiming with a mouse feels like cheating. I played Gears Ultimate with the mouse for a while and had to stop because of the above reasons.
Game pass is only $1 for the fist month, and $4.95 after that. Well worth it for me, since I am looking forward to playing Forza Horizon 4 when I finish this.