Gears of War: Ultimate Edition has been covered rather closely here at WinBeta. We’ve reported on behind the scenes video promotions the game is receiving as well as the various perks Xbox One gamers can look forward to when they finally get their hands on a copy of the game. With just a few weeks until its official release, Xbox, and The Coalition are announcing further bonuses that await eager fans of the franchise.
Gamers who purchase Gears of War Ultimate Edition, or the Xbox One bundle, will now be able to unlock previous Gears of War games in their entirety. Unfortunately, for Xbox 360 gamers, unlocking the game catalog is exclusive to the Xbox One as it done by way of Backward Compatibility. Playing Gears of War Ultimate Edition with a Xbox Live account on August 25th through December 31st, 2015, will grant gamers access to Gears of War, Gears of War 2 Gears of War 3 and lastly, Gears of War: Judgment.
As we’ve reported before, rather than an opting for a next-gen graphics port, The Coalition has decided to rebuild the games from the ground up. Fans can look forward to a refreshed series of games that now include recaptures, rebuilt cinematics, and modernized gameplay. On top of the re-imagined gameplay, fans can also look forward to new maps, achievements, models, missions and even early access to Gears of War 4, in the form of a multiplayer beta.
As for the unlocking of previous Gears Xbox 360 games on Microsoft's latest console, the Xbox team assures fans that:
“All Gears of War titles will be supported on Backward Compatibility when it launches this fall publicly. This means if you own Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 or Gears of War: Judgment on Xbox 360, you’ll be able to play them on your Xbox One and utilize some of your favorite next-gen features like Game DVR, Snap, screenshots and more. You can even keep all your previously saved files, game add-ons, achievements and play with friends on Xbox Live no matter that Xbox console they’re on. For those of you in the Xbox One preview program who just can’t wait, the original Gears of War is available today in Backward Compatibility.”
Perhaps, Gears of War Ultimate Edition is a litmus test for future bundle deals coming from developers. For anyone who purged their Xbox 360 and their collection of games in favor of getting a Xbox One, grouping previous generations of games with next-gen sequels could become a new norm.