Gears 5 is a 2019 third-person shooter video game created by The Coalition and released by Xbox Game Studios for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It is the fifth main game in the Gears of War series and continues the story from Gears of War 4. The game follows Kait Diaz, who searches for the origins of the Locust Horde, the main enemy group in the Gears of War series.
The Ultimate Edition of Gears 5 was released on September 6, 2019, and the standard version was released worldwide on September 10, 2019. Critics gave the game mostly positive reviews, praising the gameplay, story campaign, visuals, and variety of content. However, they also pointed out weaknesses in the story and noted that the game lacked new ideas compared to previous titles.
Gameplay
The game is a third-person shooter, similar to its earlier version. The player has three weapon slots, allowing them to carry one light weapon and two heavier weapons. They can also use explosives like grenades and melee weapons, such as the Lancer Assault Rifle, which has a working chainsaw attached as a bayonet. Players can use the environment to help them during gameplay. The game includes several linear scenarios and hub worlds that can be explored on foot or using a vehicle called the Skiff. Players can complete side quests and find collectibles and important parts needed to upgrade Jack, a robot that travels with Kait throughout the game. Upgrading Jack unlocks new skills, such as scanning enemies, hiding Kait and her team, stunning enemies, and blocking bullets with an energy shield.
The game allows single-player gameplay and supports three-player local split-screen or online cooperative play. Horde mode returns in Gears 5, where five players must team up to fight 50 waves of enemies. A boss appears every 10 waves. Players choose from many classes in four categories: Assault, Tank, Support, and Promotional (Scout). Each category has five classes, each with unique weapons and abilities. A new three-player cooperative mode called Escape is introduced. In Escape, the player controls a "Hivebuster" who is willingly captured by the Swarm to enter and destroy their hives with Venom Bombs. Players must work together and use each character's special abilities to escape and reach a safe zone. The game also includes competitive multiplayer modes like Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill, and Escalation. A new mode called Arcade is available. It is described as a simpler version of a hero shooter, designed for new or casual players.
Synopsis
Gears 5 is set on the world of Sera and takes place months after the events of Gears of War 4. The story follows Kait Diaz (Laura Bailey), a member of a human group called the Outsiders who oppose the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG), the main human government in Sera based in the city of New Ephyra. After experiencing recurring nightmares following Gears of War 4, Kait investigates the origins of the Locust Horde, a dangerous enemy that threatened humans years earlier, and uncovers her connection to Myrrah (Carolyn Seymour), the former Locust Queen.
Kait travels with her friend Delmont "Del" Walker (Eugene Byrd) and a robot named Jack. The first chapter of Gears 5 features JD Fenix (Liam McIntyre), Del’s best friend, as the player character. Other key characters include JD’s father, Marcus Fenix (John DiMaggio); Damon Baird (Fred Tatasciore), a former ally of Marcus and Jack’s creator; Fahz Chutani (Rahul Kohli), a former friend of JD and Del; and COG First Minister Mina Jinn (Angel Desai). By the time of Gears 5, Kait, JD, Del, and Marcus are officially part of the COG Army and form a new team called Delta Squad.
Delta Squad travels to the ruins of Azura to repair the Hammer of Dawn, an old weapon that can destroy enemies. After returning to New Ephyra, First Minister Jinn sends them to help evacuate Settlement 2. JD, Del, and Fahz had previously been sent to Settlement 2 to stop a riot, which caused civilian deaths and led JD and Del to go missing. Fahz reveals that JD ordered the deaths, causing Del and Kait to distrust him. When the Swarm attacks the evacuation convoy, JD orders Baird to use the Hammer of Dawn early. Though the Swarm is destroyed, the weapon malfunctions, killing Lizzie Carmine and seriously injuring JD.
Four months later, Kait and Del visit an Outsider village inside the skeleton of a Riftworm to persuade the villagers to join the COG. The village leader, Oscar Diaz, Kait’s uncle, refuses. The village is attacked by the Swarm, and Kait is captured by a Snatcher, experiencing visions of controlling the Swarm, guided by Myrrah’s voice. She escapes but cannot save Oscar, who dies in her vision. Kait shares her visions with Delta, and Marcus suggests she visit New Hope, a secret lab he once studied. There, Kait and Del learn the lab used children with a disease called Rustlung for genetic experiments. One child, immune to Imulsion’s effects, grew stronger, while others became mutated creatures called Sires. Clues lead them to Mount Kadar, the former Locust stronghold, where the scientists and subjects fled.
Kait and Del discover a hidden COG lab beneath Kadar. They meet an AI version of scientist Niles Samson, who explains the Locust were created by combining Sire DNA with the stem cells of Myrrah, who was immune to Imulsion. Myrrah’s stem cells allowed her to control the Locust through their hive mind. Myrrah had a human daughter, Reyna, who was Kait’s mother. Niles lied to Myrrah, claiming she died, which caused her to rebel. Reyna is now the Swarm’s queen, and Kait realizes she must be separated from the hive mind. Niles connects Kait to a dormant Locust called the Matriarch, severing her from the hive mind but also reviving Reyna. Niles is destroyed by the Matriarch, and Kait and Del kill it before escaping. Kait resolves to reactivate the Hammer of Dawn to fight the Swarm.
Later, Baird takes the group to the Vasgar desert, where the Union of Independent Republics’ space program was located. They meet Garron Paduk, who reveals the UIR had a rocket with Hammer of Dawn satellites ready to launch. JD and Fahz arrive, with JD apologizing for his past actions. The group launches the rocket and gathers targeting beacons to control the Hammer of Dawn, but they face a giant Swarm creature called the Kraken.
At New Ephyra, Jinn tries to arrest Kait to reconnect her to the hive mind and find the Swarm’s central hive. Before this can happen, the Swarm attacks. The Gears set up targeting beacons, but the Kraken destroys them. Reyna, now transformed, attacks Kait, JD, and Del. Kait must choose to save either JD or Del, allowing Reyna to kill the other. Kait and the surviving friend fight back to New Ephyra but are attacked by the Kraken. Jack sacrifices itself to destroy the Kraken by acting as a targeting beacon. Marcus tells Kait Reyna will return, and Kait resolves to find her before discarding her grandmother’s necklace.
Development
The game Gears 5 was created by The Coalition. It follows Gears of War 4. This game has a different name than earlier ones. It is called Gears 5, not Gears of War 5. Xbox's marketing leader, Aaron Greenberg, said the new title was simpler. He explained that most people had not paid attention to "of War" in the name for many years.
For Gears 5, The Coalition chose to focus more on Kait Diaz than JD Fenix. Rod Fergusson, the studio head, said this was a natural choice. He compared it to Mad Max: Fury Road, where Furiosa is the main character and Max is a sidekick. In Gears 4, the story was mainly about saving Kait's mother, and JD helped her.
The game got better features for the Xbox Series X. These include clearer textures, new visual effects like volumetric fog, and it runs at least 60 frames per second. It can also run up to 120 frames per second.
Marketing and release
Gears 5 was announced at E3 2018, along with Gears Pop! and Gears Tactics. The game was released for Windows 10 and Xbox One on September 10, 2019, as part of Xbox Play Anywhere. At E3 2019, it was revealed that the game would include a special partnership with the movie Terminator: Dark Fate. Players could control Sarah Connor, with actress Linda Hamilton providing special effects to make the character look like her and her voice. Alternatively, players could control a T-800 Terminator model as a bonus for ordering the game early or through Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Actor Dave Bautista appeared as a playable character in the game. His version of Marcus Fenix could be used in the Versus and Horde modes, as well as the Swarm and Campaign modes (with Campaign mode as an optional feature). His special move, the Batista Bomb, was added as an execution animation for the Gnasher weapon. The song "I Walk Alone" by Saliva played when Batista entered a match. These features were available in limited updates, where Bautista used his wrestling name, Batista, and his wrestling style, after he expressed interest in playing Marcus Fenix in a movie version of Gears of War.
A special bundle was released on the same day as the game. It included the Ultimate Edition of Gears 5, a Limited Edition Xbox One X console, a controller, headset, wireless keyboard and mouse from Razer, external hard drives from Seagate, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and standard versions of Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, and Gears of War 4.
A single-player expansion called Hivebusters was released on December 15, 2020. It is a story that happens before the Gears of War: Hivebusters comic book series. The expansion includes characters from the Escape multiplayer mode: Lahni, Keegan, and Mac. These characters complete their first mission as part of the Hivebuster program on the volcanic Galangi islands. Other characters in the story include Colonel Victor Hoffman, Hana Cole (daughter of Augustus "Cole Train" Cole from Delta Squad), and Tak, a King Raven pilot.
A digital-only Game of the Year Edition for Gears 5 was released on December 15, 2020. It included the base game, the Hivebusters expansion, a set featuring characters from Halo: Reach, and a "30 days of boost" pack.
Reception
Gears 5 received "generally favorable" reviews from Metacritic, a website that collects and summarizes game reviews. Reviewers liked the gameplay, story campaign, visual style, and amount of content. However, they criticized the game's story and said it lacked new ideas. Many reviewers believed the game successfully returned to the series' strong qualities.
Ryan McCaffrey of IGN gave the game a 9/10, saying: "Gears 5 is a strong third-person action game. The series has never failed, even after changing developers. The story focuses on characters and their choices, which is a strength of the series. The campaign is excellent, and the multiplayer modes, such as Versus, Horde, and Escape, make the game versatile and enjoyable."
Andrew Reiner of Game Informer gave Gears 5 an 8.5/10, stating: "The game is exactly what it needs to be. The open-world exploration has some problems, but the campaign is fun and ends with a surprising moment that sets up a possible sequel. The game is well-made and worth playing."
Wesley Yin-Poole of Eurogamer gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, saying: "The campaign is very good. New features like open-world exploration, character abilities, and side quests are not new ideas, but they work well in Gears 5. The multiplayer modes are okay, but the progression system makes the game feel tedious. Improving this system could make the game better."
Phil Hornshaw of GameSpot gave the game a 7/10, praising the open areas and character moments in the campaign. However, he said much of the story felt unimportant after the second part and that the campaign felt like a repeat of earlier games. He added: "Gears 5 brings back the best parts of the series and offers options for different play styles. While the story has some flaws, the new ideas are worth trying."
Justin Clark of Slant Magazine gave the game 4/5, writing: "Escape is a standout mode because the game is easier to play for everyone. The series no longer tries to seem more difficult or serious than others. The game's combat is more intense and emotional than before. The series has improved and is now more appealing to a wider audience."
Can I Play That?, a resource about game accessibility, praised Gears 5 for its features that help players with hearing difficulties, giving it a perfect score for deaf accessibility.
In the UK, Gears 5 sold about 4.5 times less than its predecessor and ranked second in sales charts. It placed fifth in Switzerland. In the US, it was the seventh best-selling game in September 2019. The game was played by 3 million people in its first weekend, making it Microsoft's most successful first-party game launch since Halo 4 and the biggest launch for Xbox Game Pass.