The Gears 5 campaign is getting an overhaul this time around. There are quite a few changes that I’m excited for, and should be getting others excited too.
The previous games have all been linear. You went from point A to point B, with little exploration in between. In Gears 5, they are changing that, and replacing it with a more open world setting. I never would have thought Gears deserved or even needed an open world, but it looks like that’s the route they are headed. At times, previous Gears games became a bit repetitive, and I found myself wanting to explore a bigger Gears environment. With Gears 5, I will finally be able to do that. The size alone of some levels are 50x compared to the other levels in previous Gears games.
These larger areas aren’t empty either. Exploring these new open spaces may net you a rare relic. These items are new to Gears and will help encourage players to search these larger areas. Relics can be rare weapons, such as a longshot that has two rounds in the chamber instead of one. The incentive to find these items helps to flesh out the open world, and give it more depth.
Thankfully, players have a vehicle called a skiff to travel the new environments instead of sprinting across an entire desert or tundra. While on the skiff, your partner Del will call out certain points of interest. If you decide to go explore, it could lead to something Gears hasn’t seen before, side missions. So if you find yourself wanting to take a break from the main story, you can always go explore and do some side missions. I know I’m excited to see what side mission elements they will incorporate, and if any of them are connected to the main story. Gears 5 will also have three person co-op with Kait, Del, and JACK being the playable characters. Jack adds a bit more depth to the gameplay.
He is able to change the flow of the fight, and provide variety to how you can play. Jack has a slight RPG element to him where you upgrade him to have new abilities. We’ve never seen anything like this from Gears, but it should help to spice things up a bit. Personally, I think adding Jack as a playable character is fine. He can help the team out, and offers a different experience to play the campaign. Jack isn’t the only change to how combat works in Gears 5.
This time around, Gears gives the player more options on how to handle fights. You can play a more stealthy approach since enemies are not immediately aware of where you’re at. You can assess the situation and see what you have to work with before going in guns blazing. With that being said, you can still rush in with a Gnasher and turn your enemies into paste if that’s how you want to play.
These kinds of changes are the reasons why I’m excited to get my hands on Gears 5, and why you should be excited to. The choice to go with open world versus linear is a trend we are seeing more and more. Gears is just advancing with the times and trying to do it in the smoothest way possible. I don’t see any downside to making Gears open world.
All it will do is make the game bigger, and possibly last longer. One concern could be that it will be empty, but I don’t think that will be a problem. If the environments are lacking, you can just bypass them with the skiff to get straight back into the main story. Giving the option for players to slow down for a minute, and enjoy the game is always welcomed. I am eager to get out in the world of Gears, find relics, and complete side missions to help me take down the swarm. The other Gears games were all fun to play, but I think it was time for a change, and The Coalition looks to have done just that in a big way.
Gears 5 is available on September 6th if you own Game Pass Ultimate or September 10th on the standard release date. Gears 5 is playable on Xbox and PC.
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