A Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter producer has offered fightin’ words for Gears of War, saying the popular blockbuster "doesn’t bring anything new" to the genre.
Not everyone is a fan of the mega-hit, but surprisingly, the biggest critics are coming from within the game industry itself. Olivier Dauba, content producer for rival game, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, believes that Gears is a rather shallow game. He said of GoW, "…it’s an absolutely awesome ten minutes, but if you play 20 minutes it doesn’t bring anything new." Similar remarks were recently made against Gears by EA’s Alain Tascan, saying the game "brings nothing in terms of innovation to the shooter… Like, zero".
Dauba’s assessment of his own game, on the other hand, was much more favorable. "We try to go beyond that and making something that lasts for quite a few hours. It’s a different game maybe but in my opinion we’re aiming for something deeper and wider with a bigger scope. We’re designing our game as a more long-term experience."
In contrast, he described the gameplay aspects of Gears of War as simplistic and repetitive by stating, "…you take cover, you aim and basically that’s it. Ghost Recon in my opinion has a much deeper layer of tactical choices and the environments are actually different as well; Gears of War looks more or less the same to me–this type of destroyed city and destroyed environment."
Gamers and press alike oftentimes complain regarding the lack of innovation in games. Whether Dauba’s point is right or not, with over 2 million copies sold so far and great scores from most press outlets, it’s undeniable that the Gears development team did something right.