The problem is Epic does not view a sequel as a "keep the things that work, change what doesn't" approach. Epic has the worst online implementation strategy when it comes to games. Let's take a look a the biggest offender, the manner in which multiplayer is set up.
Gears 1 was P2P, the biggest complaint was host advantage. This is accepted at the time as a necessary evil for a new IP.
Gears 2 was also P2P, so host advantage is not addressed in the slightest. Now let's add a gimped matchmaking system that apparently cannot queue up 10 players at a time looking for a similar game in a similar area. Then it took them three months just to circumvent using standby mode to ruin room after room, further killing the community. Then began the map packs, which fractured an already smaller community (and made matchmaking even worse, if possible). Finally, almost a year after the game released, did they finally release playlists with some semblance of sanity. (Non DLC, Inidividual DLC Players Choice lists, and a I Have everything list). Add the fact that public rooms could never choose difficulty in Horde. Usually finding good horde people was the result of going into a public horde game, asking people if they had mics and half a brain, creating a party, and recruiting. That's broken, and bad. To be honest, I didn't dislike Gears 2 the game, I hated the online system, which needlessly complicated the most basic of concepts, get me online to play execution. And while i'm on the subject, considering most of my Gears 1 time (hell, a majority of most rooms) were execution matches on Gridlock/War Machine/Fuel Depot/Canals with a 5 second DBNO timer, why did they ever change that. The community spoke, the 5 second timer made the game fast paced. Big deal you downed me, come and finish me off or i'm going to get up and stick a gnasher in your face.
Then along comes Gears 3. And guess what, they finally fixed the host advantage. Sometimes.....if you bought the DLC...and if you noticed they were up.... because EPIC sure as hell wasn't forthcoming about when you were on dedi or on P2P. So host advantage is finally fixed, 6 years later, sort of. Doesn't change them from fracturing the community again (though not nearly as bad as Gears 2) with their DLC. Then started the weapon tweaks to phase out the gnasher (which is a topic that has been harped on endlessly so no point for me to talk about it again). They also do something completely idiotic and piss off the achievement crowd and or migrate them offline to play versus bots to get Seriously 3.0 with the ridiculous onyx medal criteria (that still hasn't been tweaked to something a player who played the game for 5 years online competitively would be able to achieve). I will give them credit for the fact that they finally got to a point where the community found the game enjoyable and balanced. (IE Gnasher not phased out, SOS nerfed, and Rifles being viable support weapons)
But of course, we all know how Judgement turned out. More weapon balance garbage (this shit was fixed in 3, just keep it and balance the new guns). Remove Horde/Warzone/Execution? Seriously? Fuck symmetrical maps and territorial battles, let's add the ability to roll off of buildings but not climb up (who the fuck decided that btw?)
The game made the conscious decision to remove dieing as a penalty. They removed it from most of the scoreboards FFS. Every mode is a respawn game except execution. And even that has a ridiculously short timer. It's really not a surprise. There's no such thing as a clutch moment anymore, what the hell?
How they took a game that was designed around quick gritty battles with precision movements and aiming and turned it into a game where glow in the dark skeleton's and plaid glowy lasers just lancer you from high ground, throw down regen grenades, and come up gnashering you really is a testament to how you can fuck up an amazing concept over seven years. If I wanted a COD clone, I'd play COD. The reason I played Gears is because standoffs were circumventable. Map design made it so if 2 or 3 players wanted to take me out when I was by myself and they didn't break up, I could run away and pot shot one down, and eventually take down the team, or I could attack their weakest front. There's no such thing as planning a mode of attack, it's basically a go off and hope you see someone game now. And why Epic thinks I'd enjoy playing a blind developmentally challenged simulator like this is beyond me. But I get, people are idiots, and they have shorter attention spans, so if every second they have a controller isn't spent firing a gun, obviously something is wrong. But I think i've been burned enough times to know that for the next game (if there even is one at this point), i'm waiting for them to fix their shit and I'm picking it up for clearance rack prices.
TL;DR They are ruining this damn series.
I could tell that the melee was a result of him trying to slide around the corner...