Gears V took an alternate route at E3 2019 for a game releasing in a matter of months. Instead of showing an extended gameplay demo of the campaign, or even the new Escape game more, The Coalition and Microsoft opted for a CG tone-piece trailer featuring Kait, followed by a cinematic trailer for the new Escape multiplayer game mode. Fans were disappointed to not see gameplay for a game releasing on September 10th, but that doesn't mean gameplay details weren't revealed.
Here's a look at 10 gameplay details that have Gears of War fans excited for Gears V's September 10th, 2019 release.
10 You Can Play As The Terminator
At E3 2019 Rod Fergusson, Head of The Coalition, revealed onstage at Xbox's E3 Briefing that those who pre-order or play Gears V in the first week will unlock the Terminator as a playable character in multiplayer. Considering Gears of War is a franchise based on over the top violence, gore, and action it seems like a perfect pairing of the two properties.
Whether Terminator: Dark Fate ends up doing the Terminator series justice or ends up being another miss, the experience of playing as the Terminator with a chainsaw gun is hard to frown at.
9 More Melee Weapons
Gears of War as a franchise has focused for so long on cover-based shooting and gory chainsaw kills up close. In Gears V, players will have the ability to use a more melee focused approach when it comes to taking down the Locust invasion.
In the reveal trailer for the game, players were treated to the first look at a massive Locust mace that Kait could wield in an attempt to defeat enemies. Though we haven't seen them, it has been suggested that Gears V may offer the biggest selection of melee weapons that the series has ever seen.
8 Online Co-Op
People may be reading Online Co-Op and wondering why people should be excited about a feature that feels like it needs to be included in modern games, but we've seen co-op experiences become relegated to the indie level so nothing should be expected. The staple multiplayer and Horde game modes should have players itching to team up in some classic Gears of War co-op action.
On top of the returning favorites, Gears V is introducing players to their new Escape game mode which looks like a must-play for co-op partners up to four people.
7 Environment Variety
Gears of War is a series that's environments tend to focus on rustic and dark design with lots of reds, blues, grays, and browns as the primary color palette. With Gears V it seems like The Coalition wants players to experience all of the variety Sera has to offer. Just in the brief trailer from E3 2018 fans were treated to lush tropical forests, temperate wastelands, and icy tundras.
Having multiple environments for players to explore allows developers to add in unique gameplay mechanics and offer varied challenges for players throughout the campaign.
6 Cross-play Between Xbox & PC
When it comes to exclusives you know that there is a 0% change of cross-play with other consoles simply by nature of it being released on one platform. The great thing about Xbox is that all of their exclusives also release on PC, so if your friend only owns a PC and PlayStation 4, they still have a chance to run a round of Escape or try and beat your personal team record in Horde via cross-play.
It should come as no surprise, but at E3 2019 it was confirmed that Gears V would feature cross-play for both Xbox and PC.
5 New Focus On Speed
As a series known for its main characters looking like bricks of human flesh, you'd never guess that a new entry in Gears of War would want to focus on speed. As a series who set the standard in third-person cover-based shooters, slow and methodical has always seemed like the right approach.
The Coalition seems to be focused on delivering an experience closely tied to Kait and with that there's an emphasis on speeding up the gameplay. Without an actual gameplay demo, it's tough to understand what this actually means. Guess we'll have to wait until September to find out.
4 Can Run At 4K/60 fps
During E3 2019 it was confirmed that The Coalition would be targeting 4K 60fps gameplay at the top-end for Gears V. Now, they didn't offer any clarification on what setup or device would offer this optimal experience, but rather focused on the strive to pull it off.
Unless you're planning on getting Gears V on PC, own an Xbox One X, or are holding out for the eventual Project Scarlett upgrade, don't plan on seeing 4K and 60fps anytime soon. That doesn't mean that the game won't be worth playing on your Xbox One or One S though, so don't be afraid to jump in.
3 Local Split-Screen Co-Op
Many people once thought that local split-screen co-op was such a staple of the Halo franchise that only a lunatic would assume it wasn't included.
Well, in a post-Halo 5: Guardians world where local split-screen co-op wasn't included and due to fan feedback is returning for Halo: Infinite, it should come as a comforting surprise that Gears V will also be included the feature. On a local level, split-screen co-op does a lot for households who can't afford multiple copies of a game, or even a console.
2 Escape Mode
Escape is the brand-new multiplayer mode in Gears V that The Coalition hopes captures the attention of players the same way Horde did years ago. Escape focuses on a team of players infiltrating an enemy or Locust hive, setting off a bomb of some sort, then fighting your way to escape as the device destroys the hive.
It looks to offer a unique multiplayer or co-op experience where the primary objective is to get in and get out, and it's up to you how much you focus on taking out the enemies around you.
1 Focus On Narrative
Technically this isn't specifically gameplay, but a focus on narrative will have an impact on your moment-to-moment experience. Gears of War has always been great at delivering moments of awe sprinkled between montages of destruction, but an emphasis on the story will allow the hectic action-packed gameplay to breathe and could make for a more cohesive experience.
Can The Coalition entertain players with gameplay that doesn't revolve around shooting a gun? That will be the real test of Gears V.