The first three Gears of War games could be identified by their muscle-bound heroes, chainsaw weapons, and scaly antagonists. Gears 4 and 5, however, altered that last aspect. Instead of the Locust Horde, the titles put you up against a new type of enemy in the Swarm.
The fourth and fifth entries are still among the best in the series, but fighting these new creatures feels odd. Although, they're not entirely different from the Locusts as they share several similarities. It shouldn't come as much surprise since the Swarm originally evolved from those now-extinct beasts. Here are some of the most prominent parallels.
7 Ruled By A Queen
The leadership of the two species is very similar as they're both ruled by powerful Queens. For the Locust Horde, the one in charge was Myrrah, whose embryonic stem cells were used to create the Locusts in the first place. She had a strong influence over the creatures ever since they were subjects in the Mount Kadar Laboratory. And she served as their ruler throughout the war against humanity.
The woman also partially acts as the leader of the Swarm, although it's a little more complicated. Her body was killed by Marcus long before the Swarm surfaced. However, Myrrah's consciousness remains, and she controls the monsters. Under her influence, the Swarm hunted down her daughter Reyna Diaz and connected her to their hivemind. Not long later, Myrrah took over her offspring's body to become the Queen of the Swarm.
6 Hivemind
Throughout the Gears 5 story, it's mentioned on multiple occasions that the Swarm troops all share a collective consciousness. This is clear by how none of them show any individuality. It's what makes them such dangerous adversaries, as they're all working in sync.
Something players of the previous games might notice is that the Locusts were no different. Every individual in the Horde all strived for the same goal and did exactly what their queen told them. This is because these creatures also shared a Hivemind.
5 Troops
Along with the introduction of the Swarm came several new enemy types. Some of which aren't incredibly different from their Locust counterparts. For instance, both races employ Grenadiers and Snipers. And the drones on either side have similar fighting styles. Even Juvies are similar to Wretches in that they bounce up to enemies and try to physically attack them.
Visually, the troops on both sides are a little more distinct. The Swarm have partially crystallized bodies, whereas the Locust are more scaly.
4 Weapons
While building up their numbers, the Swarm didn't spend much time crafting weaponry. The creatures only designed a few firearms of their own. They mostly make use of those already in existence.
Many of which are the same ones that the Locust carried. Even the original creatures' signature gun, the Hammerburst, is a big favorite of the new species. And both races utilized a lot of the COG's firearms, including the Longshot and Gnasher Shotgun. The Swarm's unoriginality makes sense as these guns are some of the best in the series. Plus, the Locust nearly exterminated humanity with them, so why needlessly change things?
3 Kidnap People
Throughout the games, the two species kill most of the human beings they come across, but not all of them. Each race has also captured some of their victims. The Swarm does so using Snatchers, who pull people into their glowing stomachs.
The Locust, on the other hand, didn't seem to have a specific monster designed for abductions. Yet, anyone they did grab was put into a prison camp ready to be processed. Both races turn most of their captives into additional troops for their armies. Although the Locust also used several as slaves, or as food for their beasts.
2 Goals
There's plenty of interesting things to know about Sera (humanity's homeworld). One of them is that it's regularly under threat. During the Locust War, the bloodthirsty Horde's main objective was to take over the planet and wipe out the human population in the process. And the Swarm has virtually identical goals for their invasion.
Although, the reasoning behind each races' plans is slightly different. Queen Mryahh's troops didn't just invade the planet due to their hatred of people. They also did it to get away from the Lambent, who were wiping them out. The Swarm, on the other hand, seemingly only care about exterminating the people of Sera.
1 Enemies
Many of the best characters in Gears 5 are a part of the COG army. As humanity's primary defense force, they're the direct opponents to the Swarm. This military collective was also in charge of keeping the Locusts at bay when they surfaced.
Since there were roughly 40 years between each invasion, the exact Gears who made up the defending armies were slightly different. However, veterans like Marcus Fenix, Damon Baird, and Cole-Train have been involved in both conflicts. And Marcus, in particular, has caused the two species significant problems.