Reviewed 2012-05-27 l Last update on 2023-08-26
I reckon we are looking at a bit of a mixed site here: exclusive and non-exclusive content perhaps (it's hard to tell), a mix of genres with older, horny bears and younger guys, jocks and even twinks, and a mix also of sites in the bonus list, including straight ones. Good value if you're after all round hardcore in many niches, but if you are a bear specialist then you may already know some of this content or some of these guys, and you may not approve of the younger, smoother boys.
Content count-wise you have lots of videos to view. When I clicked into the bears department of this collection of sites, and then chose Browse to view the content, I found 130 scenes, and within those scenes I found: bears, guys in chaps, policemen, hunks, threesomes, interracial scenes, slings, S&M, solos, some Latinos, smoother boys and lots of variety. Id say that this content was around 80% bear so that's just about ok, and then there is another bear site in your bonuses, but more about them later.
You can watch these movies online where you have a mid-range, Flash, streaming viewer to use. The quality here isnt tops, but that means it should play nice and smoothly on most connections, though full screen isn't terribly good. You do get good download options though with Small, Medium and High WMV files to take, and here you can collect the whole scene in one go, or take clips. There are then mobile Mp4 files, high and low and a HD WMV. The highest resolution I found was 1,600 kbps @ 640 x 480, not your classic HD but decent enough to allow for good viewing.
Another thing to bear in mind is that these movies appear to come from all kinds of suppliers, so the quality of filmmaking may vary. There were some scenes here that looked old, looking at hairstyles and moustaches, and these had less viewing options. Most movies ran for a standard 20 to 25 minutes, while others were shorter at around 15. You get a small write up with each one and a link to the actors other appearances, if they have made any. All in all, these are hardcore, older guys (mainly) bears and studs, full on and decent enough scenes to watch.
Some scenes, not all, come with galleries attached. In these cases I found various amounts of images, around 100 on average, and they were displayed beneath the video viewing options. The images I saw were screen caps at 640 x 480, so the quality was not wonderful and they were really just a guide as to how the action of a scene may unfold.
So, Id say this was a standard set up, your content is ok, the quality is usually fine, the viewing options are good and there are 130 bear scenes of the standard you find anywhere. What makes the membership more worthwhile are the bonus sites. You are actually signing up for an All Gay Pass here and that means you can access the network of 18 sites, plus the main hub. That's 18 + gay sites, there is also a long list of straight sites if you really want to go down that route. And the gay ones also include more bears, and guys with big muscles and big dicks. Plenty of variety and lots of general content.
Your membership also includes access to a set of feed sites for more variety with loads more content to view that is definitely non-exclusive, but nevertheless good fun; and a set of bonus videos that give you some extras to watch. There is a page of extras though these are adverts, and the chat and live cam promises and links are to third party up-sell sites.
Gay Bears Hardcore is also pretty good on interactivity and extra functions. It doesn't sit still. You find, right at the top, that you have links to help and support and feedback, and these links are alongside the access to your favourites area. You can add scenes and pics to this area and then come back to it at any time; it's a good way of bookmarking content when you are first browsing around. The bonuses and extra sites are all accessed from a simple drop-down menu at the top which comes next to a general search box. And the main menu is nice and clear and takes you home, to the videos, to the extras, and bonuses again and to a page of updates. It is here that you find upload dates, I didn't find any with the main bear content, and these updates are from across the gay network. There was something new being added here every couple of days, though not always to the bear department.
You are also able to rate content as you view it, navigating through the galleries is not a problem, and nor is navigating around the site generally. It has a logical design and each of the bonus sites operates in the same way, so it's easy to use all of them.
I liked Gay Bears Hardcore because it offered so much for you money: ok, not all of it is bear themed, not all of it is new or sparking quality, some of it may actually be quite old, and not all of the main content featured bears, but I still liked it. You should really see this membership as a way in to a great network with hundreds of varied videos, some of which star bears, that way you will not be disappointed and you will gain access to a lot of general, gay hardcore porn.
