[3] The Lancer has had its ammo capacity, magazine size, and firepower constantly downgraded and upgraded throughout the series due to gameplay balance concerns.

[5] According to Cliff Bleszinski, Epic Games' original design director, the development team decided early in production for the first Gears of War that the default gun should be "very distinctive, multifunctional and, most importantly, fun to use", with inspiration drawn from The Evil Dead, Doom, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

[7] The Lancer is a popular subject for Gears of War merchandise, with replica models often offered as standalone purchases or in a retail bundle to promote the release of video game instalments.

[9] Other examples include 1:1 scale replicas of Lancers by TriForce Sales made from high density foam, fiberglass and polyurethane composites;[10] a yellow "Car No.

[14] The Gears of Wars series' popularity have inspired homemade toy versions of the Lancer using components like Lego blocks,[15] or a Nerf Longshot paired with a toy chainsaw,[16] The Lancer is and will remain the manliest weapon in existence until some invents a monster truck launcher, and then invents monster trucks built out of steak and hand-grenades.

[19] OXM staff included the Mark 2 Lancer in its list of "the 15 greatest guns in Xbox history" and called it their ideal "dystopian future-gun".

[20] Nicholas Bashore from Inverse ranked the Lancer as the best weapon in the series, and noted its iconic status in the franchise as well as the entire video game industry.

[17] Edwin Evans-Thirlwell from Eurogamer described the Lancer as "barbaric yet precise, a clownish torture device that doubles as an unpretentious assault rifle with a generous magazine".

Evans-Thirlwell recognized the Lancer's enduring popularity, calling it "one of the most recognizable video game weapons ever designed - an improbable hybrid worthy of Jekyll and Hyde", which he considers to be a summation of the series' "oddly persuasive mixture of styles and tones".