Gears of War: Reloaded was virtually unplayable for me — that is until a single setting changed the game entirely

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It feels like ages ago, but I first played the incredible game Gears of War back in 2006 when I was 21. The original game has been updated a couple of times since then – once as Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and more recently as Gears of War: Reloaded.

I definitely wanted to try the newest version, and I was lucky enough to get it for free with my Ultimate Edition Xbox subscription – which was a great perk!

Right from the start, this playthrough felt different. I hadn’t played any version of the original Gears of War since the Ultimate Edition came out, so it felt like I was experiencing it for the first time again.

I wasn’t feeling great, honestly. The way the camera was moving really bothered me, and I could only watch for a short time before I had to look away. It’s strange, because I don’t recall ever feeling this way before. I’m thinking it might just be a sign of getting older – my eyesight definitely isn’t what it used to be.

Thankfully, there’s a setting that fixes the issue. I didn’t notice it at first because it was hidden in an unexpected place, but my coworker, Samuel Tolbert, showed me, and now I’m enjoying playing Locust again.

Turning off camera shake completely changes the game

It’s hard to put my finger on exactly *why* this game feels so different now. I think it’s a mix of getting older, my eyes not being what they used to be, and the fact that I’m finally playing Gears of War like I always dreamed! Back when the game first came out, 30 frames per second was the standard, and we were happy with it. But now, in 2025, with my new NVIDIA RTX 5090, playing Gears of War: Reloaded is just…smooth. Way smoother than anything I ever experienced before – it’s a whole new level of frame rates!

The game runs incredibly smoothly, but I’ve been questioning if the faster pace is causing some discomfort. Instead of slowing it down, I disabled the camera shake, and it completely changed the experience. Now I feel comfortable, can concentrate, and can actually play for extended periods.

I feel silly that I didn’t find this sooner, but I was searching with the general display options. It’s actually hidden within the game settings, so if this is an issue for you, go there and turn it off – you should definitely notice a positive difference.

It would have been great to have an option to adjust the field of view (FOV), especially on the PC version. We’ve seen with games like the recent Borderlands 4 on consoles that a narrow FOV can sometimes make players feel nauseous. I understand this isn’t a complete remake, so adding this feature probably wasn’t a top priority, but many players would still appreciate the option.

Getting rid of the shaky camera really makes a big difference. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go cut a Locust in half.

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2025-09-16 17:39