There’s no question that Gears of War ranks among the most influential video game franchises of all time. The Microsoft shooter helped popularize Unreal Engine, which is still widely adopted to this day. Its snappy cover mechanics were practically inescapable for a generation, and ultimately influenced series like Uncharted and The Division. Gears of War 2 and its spectacular set pieces may well be one of the best action games ever made, and it’s difficult to imagine a world without Horde Mode. Would we even have games like Fortnite were it not for Epic Games’ success with Gears of War? But if there’s one aspect of Gears of War that’s never gotten its due, it’s active reload.
Most shooting games ask the player to periodically replenish their clips, but Gears of War turned reloading into a minigame. Tap reload once, and your hulking soldier will play out the reloading animation in full. Reloading never takes more than a couple of seconds, but you also have the option to reload a little faster. Gears of War denotes this with a line that spans through the reload animation. That part of the UI has a pip midway through the UI that tells the player when to press reload again. The timing is slightly different depending on what weapon you’re using, with some of your arsenal requiring quicker reflexes and some of them unfurling at a more leisurely pace. Tap reload at the right time, and your clip won’t just reload faster: it’ll also hit harder than typical bullets would. Miss it, though, and your character will jam their weapon instead.
Active reload is a small detail that’s easy to overlook, even after you do it hundreds of times in a playthrough. That’s part of what makes it brilliant. The mechanic offers an enticing gamble of risk versus reward — without ever interrupting the flow of the action. If you get it right, active reload becomes a power-up that satisfies a primal, compulsory need, much in the same way a fidget toy might. Missing active reload is frustrating, but not enough to deter you from trying again next time you need to reload.
Mechanics similar to active reload have popped up here and there, like in the Star Wars Battlefront remakes or Enter the Gungeon. But nearly 20 years after the original Gears of War, I’m perpetually shocked at how scarce the idea has become. In my mind, active reload is similar to the sweet-spot timing mechanics you’ll find in RPGs like Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 or the Mario and Luigi series. Every RPG doesn’t need to include a mechanic where the attack or defense will be slightly better when you press a button at the right time. But it’s also an idea that’s never fully fallen out of vogue, and with good reason. It’s fun! Why haven’t more shooter games kept active reload alive?
With an upcoming Gears of War prequel and the ongoing crisis at the heart of Xbox’s future, discussions about the legacy of the third-person franchise feel more relevant than ever. But while people debate the possibilities of modernizing mechanics like cover-based shooting or refreshing old gaming icons like Marcus Fenix, I’m sitting here hoping that more games will try and salvage an idea that’s as good in 2025 as it was in 2006.
