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The Gears 5 campaign is a little mysterious since its announcement in 2018. There were allusions to changes in the Gears formula, but we've never had a good idea of what it might be like. Developer The Coalition has kept the campaign close to launching Gears 5, but now that I've spent about five hours with it, I'm happy to say that I've been pleasantly surprised. I did not expect to explore open environments, perform side missions, improve special abilities and stealthily hide myself through whole encounters in a Gears game. These are not unknown activities in video games, but for the Gears of War series, it is a whole new territory. These changes may seem like an attempt to reinvent the 10-year-old series, but Gears 5 is rather an evolution.
My time with Gears 5 was divided between Acts II and III, covering two very different open areas: a snow-covered mountain valley and a scarlet desert. It all started in the typical Gears way: the main characters, Kait and Del, embark on a linear and cinematic mission, located in a village attacked by the Swarm. All this was nice and familiar, and fans of the show will feel like home. However, shortly after the last Swarm soldier hit the ground, I discovered the first open world of the game and the vehicle with which I used it, the Skiff driven by the wind.
Despite this new direction of the series, the Coalition was reluctant to call Gears 5 open-world. The open areas are great – director Rod Fergusson said that in some cases they were 50 times larger than the average level of Gears. However, The Coalition does not try to incorporate Gears into a Grand Theft Auto style mold; this creates environments that match the Gears mold and serve as open spaces connecting each mission and side area.
During my time with the game, an objective marker was always present to direct me to the next mission of the story; However, it was said that history would branch out at times and that things should not necessarily be completed in order. You also do not have to direct yourself to the next narrative mission, as there are many points of interest to discover in the world. I found the area of my first secondary mission, an abandoned railway tunnel, thanks to my partner in the game, Del, who reported it as we passed by. Gears 5 does not really draw attention to the fact that it is in an open environment. It took me a moment to realize that I was not locked into the main mission. What has made me aware of my freedom, it is one of the missions of history in the mountains of the second act.
He instructed me to enter a tower and look for a specific signal. I scanned several before finding the one we were looking for; However, each of the signals that I have decoded were locations for new points of interest. Yes, it was that kind of trick. Fortunately, you do not have to climb it like Assassin's Creed. I did not spend enough time with the game to see how open environments depend on these tours (I only found this one during this mission), but I was able to discover some side missions on my computer. own while exploring the world. I hope that the full game will not rely too much on the tricks, because reporting to Del the specific elements of the environment while driving near them was one way much more pleasant to discover the world.
However, during my time with Gears 5, there was not much to do in environments outside to visit new areas. I did not have any random encounter with enemies or characters on patrol. The only things I found in environments were occasionally an abandoned building, hiding a special Relic weapon. However, the two areas I saw were fun to ride, thanks to the skiff. The skiff is essentially a sled to which a large sail is attached. You will not have to pay attention to the direction or wind speed to get around, as it controls the same way as a car in any other game: right trigger to speed up , left trigger to stop and analog direction. Despite the similarities in control, it feels distinct from a gasoline vehicle.
Fergusson told me that the team was having trouble trying to master a sled equipped with a sail. Some members of the team even asked if they could move on to the more obvious choice for Gears: a big truck. The team persevered and it seems good that it was the right choice. It was very nice to take tight turns, skid and breathe. I would probably have been able to participate in some other side missions if I had spent less time driving aimlessly to try to tip the Skiff. It's hard to say if the lure of driving from one place to another will remain present throughout the game, as the only thing to do between destinations was to listen to Kait and Del's conversations. Both of them have great chemistry and were a joy to listen to, but if there is anything that surprises you in these open environments, the journey of one place to each other could become a chore.
Fortunately, it's still Gears of War. Thus, each mission – be it a part of the main story or a secondary mission – showcases the classic style of heavy-firing Gears based on cover. In previous games, you entered a room and each enemy knew about you. In Gears 5, the player almost always initiates the fight. This means that you can monitor an area, see what you need to work with and commit to when you are ready. And yes, it also means that you can eliminate your enemies undetected – there is no stealth or crouch mode, but if you pay attention, you can escape without being spotted. Gears 5 offers players a lot of choices as to how they want to approach situations. In one section, I've eliminated all enemies with carefully planned stealth attacks – it seems like you can even get away with some cautious attacks with sniper rifles and grenade shots if nobody do not stay alive to notice them. In another, I set up a trap and I managed to have an enemy pursuing me, electrocuting me and allowing me to finish them with a minimum of 1. " worry. And finally, in my personal favorite moment, I pulled the ice from under a band of Swarm soldiers' feet, plunging them into the deadly, icy water beneath.
Although you have more options than previous games, the fighting in Gears 5 never gave the impression that the Coalition turned the series into Deus Ex or Dishonored. These battle arenas might have felt comfortable in any previous game in the series, and despite the removal of "War" from its title, you will not be able to play through Gears 5 so not lethal. Each encounter always looks like the battle puzzles for which Gears is loved; you just have more options at your disposal. Although the environment definitely plays an important role, most of these options come in the form of the "good old boyfriend of the drone" series, Jack, who is reintroduced after being absent in the last game.
This time, Jack is a character directly involved in the fighting and can even be controlled by a third player in cooperation. He has three types of abilities: Assault, Support and Passive. Assault options include the blindness of your enemies, the placement of shock traps to avoid flanks, and the temporary hijacking of an enemy to fight with you. The support options, meanwhile, allow you to temporarily improve your health, search for enemies in the area and conceal yourself to sneak in without getting noticed. Jack can also be used to collect ammunition and firearms, as well as to revive his teammates. These passive abilities can be improved to be more effective.
I've had the opportunity to play Jack in the Gears 5 Horde mode, and although they're an interesting support hero in a wave-based survival context, I do not see in which case it is convincing enough that experienced players can play through the campaign like it- Although it may be a great starting point for less experienced players. Thankfully, whether you're playing as Kait or Del, Jack is incredibly helpful and exciting as a support character. He added depth to the fight that made me feel much less confined to the security of my blanket. As a person who has not always been comfortable with his enemies, for fear of being rushed, the ability Stim m has allowed me to play more aggressively. And being able to camouflage me and end small-scale encounters without being detected was a strange and satisfying contrast to Gears' traditional action. However, Gears 5 is still very Gears and in most situations, I was not able to go far with the stealth before a Swarm soldier saw me and the real battle started.
The upgrade of Jack requires components, which are often found by performing secondary missions. This usually means increasing the duration of some effects, but from time to time I came across an ultimate upgrade that added a new dynamic to one of its capabilities. A new assault-based utility has been assigned to support abilities in the form of increased damage to swept enemies or three times the melee damage as long as the Stim ability is active. You can also respec Jack anytime, at no cost, so you can refocus your abilities to better match your recent updates. This calmed my anxiety about the allocation of skill trees and made me feel comfortable going in the direction that I was just judging at. time. I was able to experiment with different configurations of abilities during my five hours. It's strange to talk about experimenting with different combat abilities and approaches in a Gears game, but I'm very happy to do that. I hope that I will be able to find and surprise more in the complete game.
Gears 5 does things that make me excited about playing the last game. The freedom to choose my dating approach and Jack's multiple abilities give the impression of being refreshing additions to Gears's third-person action. I hope that there are many more opportunities for combat experimentation that I have not discovered yet, because discovering that I could shoot at the icy surface of the ice. a frozen pond was awesome. Of course, my reservations about the open world remain, but the encircled areas will remain tense and exciting as long as they will maintain the high standard and combat design that I have seen in my overview. The changes and additions fascinate me as a fan of Gears and I hope that browsing the landscape and discovering new places will remain exciting after these five hours.
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