Gears 5

Gears 5 is a third-person shooter video game developed by The Coalition and published by Xbox Game Studios for Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Xbox Series X/S. It is the sixth installment of the Gears of War series and the sequel to Gears of War 4. The ultimate edition was released on September 6, 2019, while the standard edition of the game was released worldwide on September 10, 2019 to generally favorable reviews.

Gears 5
Developer(s)The Coalition
Publisher(s)Xbox Game Studios
Director(s)Rod Fergusson
Producer(s)Christi Rae
Designer(s)
  • Matthew Searcy
  • Ryan Cleven
Artist(s)Aryan Hanbeck
Writer(s)Tom Bissell
Composer(s)Ramin Djawadi[1]
SeriesGears of War
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleasePC & Xbox One
September 10, 2019[lower-alpha 1]
Xbox Series X/S
November 10, 2020
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

In addition to single-player gameplay, the game supports three-player local split screen or online cooperative gameplay.[3]

Synopsis

Gears 5 takes place months after the events of Gears of War 4 and focuses on Kait Diaz (Laura Bailey), an Outsider who is descended from Myrrah (Carolyn Seymour), Queen of the Locust Horde. As Kait, the player must uncover the origins of the Locust and the truth behind her family history. James Dominic "JD" Fenix (Liam McIntyre), his best friend Delmont "Del" Walker (Eugene Byrd), and JD's father Marcus Fenix (John DiMaggio) also return.[4]

Plot

JD, Del, and Marcus are officially reinstated in the COG Army alongside Kait. Reformed as the new Delta Squad, they travel to the ruins of Azura at Damon Baird's request in order to launch a Hammer of Dawn satellite and restore the Hammer of Dawn network. After doing this, they return to the COG capital, New Ephyra, where Baird informs them that he still cannot locate the other satellites. First Minister Jinn receives word that Settlement 2 is under attack by the Swarm and sends JD's squad to assist in the evacuation. It is revealed during the battle that JD, Del, and their former squadmate Fahz Chutani had previously been deployed in Settlement 2 to quell a riot, which resulted in civilian deaths and prompted JD and Del to go AWOL, and that it was JD who gave Fahz the order to open fire on the civilians, causing Del and Kait to lose their trust in him. As the Swarm threatens to destroy the evacuation convoy, JD orders Baird to fire the Hammer of Dawn prematurely. While the Swarm forces are annihilated, the Hammer of Dawn malfunctions and begins firing wildly, severely injuring JD.

Kait reveals her mother's Locust necklace to Marcus.

Four months later, Kait and Del go to an Outsider village located in the skeleton of the Riftworm to try to convince them to join the COG. The village chief, Kait's uncle Oscar, refuses, but they are suddenly attacked by the Swarm. Kait is captured by a Snatcher and experiences vivid visions of controlling the Swarm forces. She escapes the Snatcher but is unable to prevent Oscar's death which she witnesses through her visions. COG reinforcements then arrive to evacuate the village. Kait tells everybody about her visions, and Marcus recommends she head to the secret lab at New Hope to find answers, with Del joining her. At the lab, they find clues leading them to Mount Kadar, a former Locust stronghold.

Kait and Del reach another secret COG lab hidden beneath Mount Kadar. There, they find an AI construct of scientist Niles Samson, who explains that the Locust were the result of his experiments by hybridizing the DNA of Imulsion-infected children with the indigenous creatures of the Hollow. He also reveals that Queen Myrrah was originally a human immune to Imulsion, who could control the Locust due to her genetics being used to create them. However, when her newborn daughter Reyna, Kait's dead mother, was taken away by her father, Myrrah led the Locust to rebel against the scientists and gain their independence. Kait realizes that she is the next queen and demands to be separated from the Swarm's hivemind. Niles puts Kait in a special machine connected to a dormant Berserker called the Matriarch, which successfully severs Kait from the hivemind but also resurrects Reyna in the process, this having been Niles' true intention. Niles is destroyed by the revived Matriarch, and Kait and Del kill it before escaping the facility. Realizing that Reyna is now the Swarm's queen, Kait reaffirms the COG's need to reactivate the Hammer of Dawn.

A few weeks later, Baird takes the group to the Vasgar desert, where the Union of Independent Republics' secret space program was located. They meet Baird's former squadmate Garron Paduk, who reveals that the UIR had a rocket loaded with Hammer of Dawn satellites ready to launch. JD and Fahz arrive to help, with JD apologizing to Del and Kait for his previous deception and subsequent behavior. The squad manages to assemble and launch the rocket and acquire targeting beacons to help control the Hammer of Dawn, though they encounter a giant Swarm creature called the Kraken. The group escapes when Paduk picks them up in a Raven to fly them home.

At New Ephyra, Jinn attempts to arrest Kait, intending to forcibly connect her to the hivemind in order to find the central Swarm Hive. Before she can do this, however, the Swarm attacks New Ephyra. The Gears attempt to set up UIR targeting beacons to provide targeting data to the Hammer of Dawn, but the Kraken destroys them. The transformed Reyna appears and attacks Kait, JD, and Del, forcing Kait to choose to save either JD or Del, leaving Reyna to kill the other. Kait and the survivor fight their way back to their friends but are attacked by the Kraken. The remaining soldiers are soon overwhelmed until the squad's robotic companion, Jack, kills the Kraken by sacrificing itself as a targeting beacon for the Hammer of Dawn. In the aftermath, Marcus warns Kait that Reyna will return, with Kait remarking that they will find her first before discarding her mother's Locust necklace.

Hivebusters
Mac, Keegan, and Lahni from the Hivebusters campaign expansion.

Hivebusters is a DLC for Gears 5 released on December 15, 2020. It acts as a six-chapter secondary campaign for Gears 5. Following Team Scorpio — Jeremiah Keegan, Lahni Kaliso, and Leslie "Mac" Macallister — Hivebusters is a direct prequel to the Gears of War: Hivebusters comic book series which starts shortly after the events of Hivebusters ends. Supporting characters include Colonel Victor Hoffman from previous games, Hana Cole, the daughter of Augustus "Cole Train" Cole from Delta Squad and Tak, a King Raven pilot. The primary setting is the South Islands of Pahanu, Galangi, and Weilehi with Galangi having previously appeared in the novel series as the home of Bernadette Mataki.

Plot

En route to a secret mission, Team Scorpio's Condor crashes on the island of Pahanu. Scorpio sends out a distress signal and are rescued from Swarm forces by a King Raven helicopter piloted by Tak. As they leave, Scorpio witnesses the Swarm being killed by an unseen, acid-spitting creature.

Scorpio are flown to the island of Galangi where they meet with Colonel Victor Hoffman and Hana Cole, the daughter of Delta Squad member Augustus Cole. Hoffman reveals that Pahanu contains a Swarm hive beneath an old abandoned doomsday bunker and that he wants them to deliver a chemical bomb to it made out of the deadly gas recovered from the New Hope Research Facility in order to destroy the hive. Using Keegan's access codes as a member of the Onyx Guard assigned to protect Azura, Scorpio infiltrates the bunker. Getting fed up with a lack of progress, Mac impulsively tosses the bomb down a deep shaft, killing many of the Swarm forces but failing to completely destroy the hive. In the process, it is revealed that the gas is ineffective against heavier Swarm forces.

Returning to Hoffman and Hana, Scorpio reports on the failure of the bomb. Remembering the creature from the beach, Mac suggests using its venom against the Swarm and Hana realizes that combining it with the New Hope gas could create an effective weapon. Lahni recalls stories that her grandmother had told her of such a creature and suggests visiting her people on the nearby island of Weilehi to learn more about it. Joined by Hana, Scorpio visits the island, only to discover the village overrun by the Swarm and the people podded. Lahni finds information on the creature identifying it as the Wakaatu, a massive bird-like beast that spits a powerful toxic venom which the Weilehan use in a rite of passage known as the Awakening. Scorpio discovers that the Swarm were able to reach the island from Pahanu using lava tubes just before Hana is captured by a Snatcher. Scorpio chases the Snatcher through the lava tubes and rescues Hana, who is then airlifted out by Tak. Inspired by Hana's ordeal, Mac comes up with the idea of allowing themselves to be captured by Snatchers in order to reach the heart of the Hive and deploy their bomb. Scorpio are attacked by the Wakaatu, but they escape in Tak's King Raven.

Returning to Hoffman's estate, Scorpio learns that they are actually part of a rogue operation, Hoffman having been forced into retirement for disagreeing with First Minister Jinn's insistence that the DeeBees could handle the Swarm. Nevertheless, Scorpio and Hana dedicate themselves to the chance to stop the Swarm and save the human race. Returning to Pahanu, Scorpio follows the path of the Awakening and reaches the Wakaatu's nest. Scorpio battles the Wakaatu and wounds it enough to take a sample of its venom.

With the Wakaatu's venom, Hana is able to synthesize a new, more deadly bomb and create a way to protect Scorpio from the effects of the Snatchers so that they can emerge in the Swarm Hive and destroy it. Armed with their new venom bombs, Scorpio allow Snatchers to capture them, prepared to destroy the Swarm hive on Pahanu island from within.

Development

Gears 5 is developed by The Coalition as a sequel to Gears of War 4. Unlike previous games in the Gears of War series, the game is simply titled Gears 5 (without "of War" included in the title).[5] Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg explained that the new title was "cleaner" and that it was a natural change because most people had been ignoring "of War" for years.[5] For Gears 5, The Coalition decided to shift player focus from JD Fenix to Kait Diaz. According to studio head Rod Fergusson, "It was a natural choice. When you play through Gears 4, think of it as Mad Max: Fury Road. It was really Furiosa's story, and Max was the side kick. That's how it felt in Gears 4, the whole game is about saving Kait's mom, and really JD is there to help her."[6]

Marketing and release

Gears 5 was announced at E3 2018, along with Gears Pop and Gears Tactics.[3][7] The game was released for Windows 10 and Xbox One on September 10, 2019 as part of Xbox Play Anywhere.[8][3] It was revealed at E3 2019 that for the game, a crossover with the upcoming film Terminator: Dark Fate would have players control either Sarah Connor with Linda Hamilton voicing her character or a T-800 Terminator model as either a pre-order bonus or with Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.[9] Moreover, action movie actor Dave Bautista appears as a playable character in a limited release where he uses his gimmick as a WWE professional wrestler after expressing interest in portraying Marcus Fenix in a potential film adaptation of Gears of War. In addition to the standard and the ultimate editions, a Gears 5 Limited Edition Xbox One X Console bundle was announced to be released the same day as the game's release.[10] The bundle includes the Ultimate Edition of the game, a Limited Edition Xbox One X console, controller, headset, wireless keyboard, mouse from Razer (for console and PC), external hard drives from Seagate, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and the standard versions of Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, and Gears of War 4.[11]

The game will receive enhancements for the Xbox Series X upon its launch, including higher resolution textures, new visual effects such as volumetric fog, and running at 60 frames per second at minimum with potential to run at up to 120 frames per second.[12]

A single-player expansion for the game, titled Hivebusters, was released on December 15, 2020. The expansion features the playable characters from the Escape multiplayer mode: Lahni, Keegan and Mac. In the pack, the three characters embarcked on their first mission as a member of the Hivebuster program on the volcanic Galangi islands.[13]

Reception

Gears 5 has received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[14][15] Critics praised the gameplay, campaign, presentation and amount of content, but criticised the story and lack of innovation. Many critics praised the game for being a successful return to form for the series.[26]

Ryan McCaffrey of IGN gave the game a 9/10 in a raving review, stating: "It’s not surprising at all that Gears 5 is an excellent third-person action game. This iconic series has never really had a misfire, even when changing hands from original developer Epic to The Coalition, and the hot streak remains unbroken. What was unexpected is just how effectively it doubles down on story with a character-focused, consequence-filled tale that plays to one of the franchise’s most underappreciated strengths and backs it up with fun, welcome additions to both its gameplay formula and flow. And that’s just the campaign: add in a heavy-hitting multiplayer lineup of Versus, Versus Arcade, Horde, and Escape and it makes Gears 5 one of the best and most versatile action-game packages in recent memory."[24]

Andrew Reiner of Game Informer rated Gears 5 a 8.5/10, concluding: "Gears 5 is exactly what it needs to be. This old war vet still packs a punch. The open-world exploration has issues, but that isn’t enough to steal away the thunder The Coalition expertly deploys on the battlefield. The campaign is a fun ride that concludes with a shocker moment and a hell of a setup for a sequel. I’m already looking forward to that follow-up."[20]

Wesley Yin-Poole, deputy editor of Eurogamer recommended the game with a 4 star rating out of 5. He concluded: "The campaign really is great. Perhaps even better than great, the more I think about it. All the new things about it - the open world stuff, Jack's powers, the light RPG elements, the side quests - all this stuff was done better years ago by other games. But those other games weren't Gears of War, which has actual decent third-person shooting, actual interesting things happening, and a story that doesn't try hard to win awards. But while Versus, Horde and even Escape are, ultimately, fine, they're let down by the party pooper progression system. The hope is The Coalition tweaks how the battle pass works, because as it stands, Gears 5's grind is depressing."[19]

Phil Hornshaw of GameSpot rated it a 7/10, praising the "open areas" within the campaign and the "character moments" within it. However, he was critical of most of the campaign feeling "inconsequential" after the second act and the campaign feeling like a "rehash of earlier games." He concluded that "Gears 5 is very much a return of those best elements of Gears of War, but with a focus on making the game feel somewhat more adaptive to your particular ways of playing. Whether you want campaign or co-op, Competitive or Quickplay, there's an option for you in Gears 5, and plenty of stuff to reward you for time spent and skill gained. Gears 5 might suffer from some of the same storytelling missteps as its predecessors, and it might not venture far out of the past, but the new ideas it brings to the series are all good reasons for fans to return."[27]

Justin Clark of Slant Magazine gave a rating of 4/5, writing: "Escape stands out in particular because of just how much work has gone into making Gears 5 otherwise accessible. The Gears of War series has been broken of its worst habit: trying to put up the front of being better or harder or more stoic than the rest, allowing the deeper implications of its lore to come to the forefront. Despite dropping “of War” from its title, Gears 5 is the first time the series has made the brutality of its combat feel not only bloody and cathartic, but also captivating and disturbingly intimate on a human level. The quintessential dudebro shooter has evolved with the times, and the world is so much better for it."[28]

Sales

The game was played by 3 million people in its first weekend. It marks Microsoft's most successful first-party launch since Halo 4. Though sales in the UK were less than its predecessor, which sold 4.5 times better at launch.[29] The game became the biggest launch for Xbox Game Pass, with more than 3 million players playing the game during its launch week.[30]

Awards
YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2019 Game Critics Awards Best Action Game Nominated [31]
Best Online Multiplayer Nominated
Gamescom Best Xbox One Game Won [32]
2019 Golden Joystick Awards Xbox Game of the Year Won [33][34]
Ultimate Game of the Year Nominated
Titanium Awards Best Action Game Won [35][36]
Best Spanish Performance (Olga Velasco) Nominated
The Game Awards 2019 Best Audio Design Nominated [37]
Best Performance (Laura Bailey) Nominated
Best Action Game Nominated
2020 47th Annie Awards Best Character Animation - Video Game Nominated [38]
Visual Effects Society Awards Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project Nominated [39]
23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Action Game of the Year Nominated [40]
NAVGTR Awards Control Design, 3D Nominated [41]
Game, Franchise Action Nominated
Use of Sound, Franchise Nominated
16th British Academy Games Awards Performer in a Leading Role (Laura Bailey) Nominated [42]
18th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards Best Cinematic Cutscene Audio Nominated [43]
Best Dialogue Nominated

Notes
  1. The Ultimate Edition for the game was released on September 6, 2019. The standard and collector's editions were released on September 10, 2019.[2]

References
  1. Fergusson, Rod (June 10, 2018). "E3 2018: Tripling-Down on Gears with Gears 5, Gears Pop!, and Gears Tactics". Xbox Wire. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  2. Thier, Dave (September 5, 2019). "'Gears 5' Release Day: What Time Does Early Access Start For Xbox One And PC?". Forbes Media LLC. Forbes. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  3. "Gears of War 5 features local split-screen or online co-op – out next year". VG247. June 10, 2018. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  4. Carter, Justin (June 13, 2018). "E3 2018: Opinion: Gears 5's Tone Reminds Us of God of War in a Great Way". IGN. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  5. Makuch, Eddie (June 14, 2018). "E3 2018: Why It's Called Gears 5 And Not Gears Of War 5". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  6. Sliva, Marty (June 11, 2018). "E3 2018: Gears 5 Director Compares Game to Mad Max: Fury Road". IGN. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  7. Watts, Steve (June 14, 2018). "E3 2018: Gears Tactics Is Another New Gears Of War Game". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  8. Gillian, Ryan (June 10, 2018). "First Gears 5 trailer shows off a darker story". Polygon. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  9. Shanley, Patrick (June 9, 2019). "'Terminator: Dark Fate,' 'Gears 5' Crossover Unveiled". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  10. Gattis, Jeff (August 6, 2019). "Bigger than Ever: Gears 5 Limited Edition Xbox One X Console & Accessories Available for Preorder Today". Microsoft. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  11. Watts, Steve (August 7, 2019). "New Gears 5 Xbox One X Limited Edition Announced Alongside Lots Of Other Hardware". GameSpot. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  12. Gurwin, Gabe (March 16, 2020). "Gears 5 Is Coming to Xbox Series X With Improvements, Possible 120 FPS Support". GameSpot. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  13. Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 12, 2020). "Gears 5: Hivebusters campaign expansion included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
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  20. Reiner, Andrew (September 4, 2019). "Gears 5 Review – Holding The Line". Game Informer. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  21. Ashworth, Mack (September 4, 2019). "Gears 5 Review - The maddest world yet". Game Revolution. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  22. Hornshaw, Phil (September 13, 2019). "Gears 5 Review - A Beneficial Mutation". GameSpot. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  23. Epstein, Mike (September 4, 2019). "Gears 5 review: "New mechanics to polish the old make the whole game shine"". GamesRadar. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  24. McCaffrey, Ryan (September 13, 2019). "Gear 5 Final Review". IGN. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  25. Ahern, Colm (September 6, 2019). "Gears 5 review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  26. Wakeling, Richard (September 4, 2019). "Gears 5 Review Roundup - See What The Critics Are Saying". GameSpot. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  27. Hornshaw, Phil (September 13, 2019). "Gears 5 Review - A Beneficial Mutation". GameSpot. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  28. Clark, Justin. "Review: With Gears 5, the Quintessential Dudebro Shooter Series Grows Up". Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  29. Bailey, Dustin (September 17, 2019). "Gears 5 sales are bad – it is also the most successful launch in series history". PCGamesN. Retrieved September 18, 2019. On 10/17 NPD group gears rank no 7 best selling game in September 2019
  30. Sinclair, Brendan (September 16, 2019). "Gears 5 tops 3 million players in first week". Gameindustry.biz. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  31. Nunneley, Stephany (June 27, 2019). "E3 2019 Game Critics Awards – Final Fantasy 7 Remake wins Best of Show". VG247. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
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  33. GamesRadar staff (October 25, 2019). "Vote now for your Ultimate Game of the Year in the Golden Joystick Awards 2019". GamesRadar+. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  34. GamesRadar staff (November 15, 2019). "Here's every winner from this year's Golden Joystick Awards, including the Ultimate Game of the Year". GamesRadar+. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  35. "Titanium Awards 2019". Fun & Serious Game Festival. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  36. "Ganadores de los premios Titanium del Fun & Serious 2019". Generación Xbox (in Spanish). December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  37. Winslow, Jeremy (November 19, 2019). "The Game Awards 2019 Nominees Full List". GameSpot. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  38. Giardina, Carolyn (December 2, 2019). "Annie Awards: 'Frozen 2,' 'Missing Link' Lead Year of Surprises and Snubs". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  39. Hipes, Patrick (January 7, 2020). "VES Awards Nominations: 'The Lion King', 'Alita: Battle Angel', 'The Mandalorian' & 'GoT' Top List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  40. Chalk, Andy (January 13, 2020). "Control and Death Stranding get 8 nominations each for the 2020 DICE Awards". PC Gamer. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  41. "2019 Nominees". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  42. Stuart, Keith (March 3, 2020). "Death Stranding and Control dominate Bafta games awards nominations". The Guardian. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  43. Wilson, Kelly (February 13, 2020). "Game Audio Network Guild Announces 18th Annual G.A.N.G. Award Nominees". The Hype Magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
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