Gears of War is emerging whole for its debut on Xbox One, with the Ultimate Edition packing a free batch of downloads for the entire Gears of War franchise.
Though it’s only the first Gears of War getting an overhaul with new art, cutscenes and a complete multiplayer package running at 1080p and 60fps (the campaign is still 30fps), Ultimate Edition players can download the Xbox 360 versions of the entire stop-and-pop trilogy - plus one prequel.
You’ll have to play Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on Xbox Live sometime between its launch on August 25 and December 31, 2015 to unlock the bonus downloads of Gears of War 1: Not Even Remotely Ultimate Edition, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgment (the one developed by People Can Fly). The games should become available for play and download as soon as Microsoft rolls out the first wave of backwards-compatible Xbox One games this fall.
According to Microsoft, every Gears of War game will also be available separately via the backwards compatibility program, so you’ll be able to drop in the discs and play if you already have them. If not, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition just became especially adamant about catching you up with active reloads, roadie runs and the scratching of the grubs.
