Calum Petrie reviews Gears of War: The Rise of RAAM #1…
In this spin off series from the hugely popular Gears of War franchise, we see the series’ most iconic villain before he became the boogeyman to humanity. The events in issue one bring the Locust Horde into a new light – it strangely humanises the grunts and drones that many of us have spent hours, upon hours slaughtering in game.
The events in the issue show that RAAM’s vision is not just about the hatred of humanity, but rather it sets in motion the long game. Fans of the series will see hints of things that take part over the series, and the issue does a brilliant job at returning to the story and setting up events that players of the game will then connect, rewriting the overall original trilogy in players minds.
RAAM is the leader of the Bloodied Vanguard, which is a division of the Locust army that is tasked with fighting off the Lambent scourge. The fight rages on with ground being won and then lost in a constant cycle. RAAM can tell their fighting is in vain; rather than combat an enemy they know they will not win against, he lets his plans be known that he wants to head to the surface to eliminate the human population.
This story is a strange creature – it is released many, many years after the first Gears of War, and brings us back to character who only made a proper appearance as a story-driven figure in one game. Now I am not saying RAAM is not a villain to behold in the series, but it all just seems a bit odd that after no mention of the character in years, we now see a resurgence of him here, as the series lays out the backstory that we never knew about the character.
Rating – 6/10
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