Why does it feel like I'm the only hardcore gears fan who loved most of the weapons equally (until gears 2/3 where it became more of a mixed bag with all the new stuff).
Gears 1 was always a shotgun fest but I felt I could stop it with any weapon with enough skill and intelligence in how you position yourself. Literally any weapon could stop a shotgun rusher. It was when teams of shotties rushed you and your team mates weren't able to retaliate adequately that shotguns dominated.
Gears 2 nerfed the sniper to point where it's almost useless. Torque bow, rockets, digger, hammerburst, lancer, were all awesome .pistols deadly in right hands too.
I never felt shotguns were the most fun or most skilled aspect of the game and I went through a phase where I could shotgun roll with the best. Gears is great cos of the variety and how the maps change strategically depending on weapons.
I remember that staircase level with snipers battling it out at top and bottom, the foliage and scenery was so well thought out sightline-wise. Rushing either territory was fun and defending was tricky but neither felt impossible. But it was set up as a sniper battle with people rushing, sneaking and flanking while snipers were zoomed in. Replace snipers with torque and it changes completely.
When they made weapons rotate and started pushing out maps that didn't have that degree of thought I started to wonder if it was all a happy accident.
