Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Bundle

The Coalition is set to bring fans on a nostalgic journey with Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, a complete remastering of the original Gears of War title that spawned one of Microsoft's biggest gaming franchises. The game is slated for release this August, but it looks like Microsoft has even more plans for the HD remake - it'll be included as a free bonus in Xbox One console bundles as the holiday season approaches.

With remastered games becoming a hot-button topic in a market heavily saturated with them, the idea to include one of the most high-profile remakes as free bundle bonus content is sure to garner a lot of interest. It's a smart move from both Microsoft and The Coalition, as it'll introduce plenty of gamers who may not have played a Gears of War title yet to the franchise, which currently has Gears of War 4 building up hype as an upcoming Xbox One exclusive.

The bundle will begin shipping to stores in late August, following the release of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition itself. The bundle will run gamers a total of $350, which is the exact cost of the console in a standalone package. That means there's no reason for gamers purchasing an Xbox One not to get the Gears bundle, seeing as it'll score them the game at no additional cost.

Gears of War Ultimate Edition Achievements

The game will also include 5 campaign missions which were removed from the Xbox 360 version due to timeline restraints back in 2006, and were previously only available to gamers who played the original on PC.

The Ultimate Edition has already racked up over a million matches played in the beta alone, which is even more impressive when considering the beta was only open for one weekUltimate Edition will also present gamers with a chance to earn a cool 1,250 gamerscore as they complete the game, though this includes the infamous 'Seriously...' achievement, an admirable feat which should keep hardcore achievement hunters busy for no small amount of time.

Co-creator and studio head Rod Fergusson also confirmed today at San Diego Comic-Con that horde mode, a fan-favorite gamemode introduced in the second game, wouldn't be included as a bonus feature in the recreation of the first. Fergusson noted that the studio "didn't want to creep too much into Gears 2 territory", and the lack of a variety between enemies in the first game would ultimately hinder the feature as a crowd-pleasing inclusion.

Do you think the free inclusion of the game in future Xbox One bundles is a smart move? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will arrive for Xbox One on August 25, 2015, with a PC release scheduled to arrive shortly after.

Source: GameSpot