Gears of War 4 is a 2016 third-person shooter game created by The Coalition and released by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One. It is the fourth main game in the Gears of War series and the first main game in the series not made by Epic Games. The story happens 25 years after the events of Gears of War 3. Players can experience the story alone or with a friend. The game follows James Dominic "JD" Fenix, the son of Marcus Fenix, as he and his friends fight against the Swarm, a new enemy connected to the Locusts.
When it was released, the game received mostly good reviews. Critics praised the fighting, graphics, and special scenes, but they had some problems with the story and writing. A sequel called Gears 5 came out on September 10, 2019.
Gameplay
The game includes many features from earlier versions, along with new additions. One new weapon is the Dropshot, which shoots explosive drills, and the Buzzkill, which fires bouncing sawblades at enemies. Players can perform a quick shoulder charge that moves them a short distance, pushing enemies off balance. Enemies can also pull players out of hiding places and perform their own attacks. The game includes four types of weather: light wind (which causes trees, leaves, and dust to move), and stronger windstorms that can reach powerful levels and affect how players fight and use weapons.
As in earlier games, the story campaign can be played together with another player in local or online co-operative mode.
Story
Gears of War 4 takes place 25 years after the events of Gears of War 3. At that time, the Imulsion Countermeasure weapon destroyed all Imulsion on the planet Sera, killing the Locust and the Lambent. This weapon also stopped the use of fossil fuels, causing powerful windstorms called "Windflares" across the planet. To protect the surviving human population, estimated to be hundreds of thousands, the reformed Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) created walled-off cities and declared martial law to stop people from leaving. Some survivors disagreed with the COG and formed a group called the "Outsiders," who lived outside the COG's control and raided COG territory for resources.
The game's main story follows J.D. Fenix, the son of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud, and his friends Delmont "Del" Walker and Kait Diaz. They face a new threat to humanity's survival. First Minister Jinn, the leader of the reformed COG, celebrates the 25th anniversary of humanity's victory over the Locust. An elderly Hoffman, present at the ceremony, recalls past battles at Aspho Fields, Emergence Day, and Anvil Gate.
Meanwhile, J.D. and Del left the COG after disagreeing with Jinn's strict policies and joined the Outsiders, led by Reyna. To help their village, J.D. and Del decided to raid a nearby COG settlement under construction to steal a special fabricator. They were joined by Kait, Reyna's daughter, and her uncle Oscar, a former Gear and Locust War veteran. Though they fought the COG's new robotic DeeBee soldiers and faced an unknown person controlling some of the settlement's machinery, they successfully stole the fabricator and escaped back to their village. They were then confronted by Jinn (via a DeeBee), who accused them of kidnapping her people, before launching an attack on the village. J.D. and his friends repelled Jinn's forces and began repairing the village's power generator. However, unknown creatures attacked the village, capturing everyone, including Reyna and Oscar. Before being taken, Reyna locked J.D., Del, and Kait inside the power station to protect them.
The unknown attackers were named the "Swarm." J.D. asked his father, Marcus Fenix, for help. Marcus was angry at J.D. for leaving the COG and endangering himself but agreed to help after seeing evidence that the Swarm was not human. Marcus led the group to Fort Reval, where thousands of Locust corpses were buried. After escaping another attack by Jinn's forces, they reached the city, where a Snatcher captured Marcus. J.D. and his friends followed the Snatcher and found evidence that the Swarm was responsible for kidnapping COG citizens, whose bodies were being used to create more Swarm creatures. They hypothesized that the Locust did not die when hit by the Imulsion Countermeasure but instead underwent a long-term transformation over 25 years, becoming the Swarm. J.D. rescued Marcus, who revealed the Swarm operates as a hive mind and that Reyna was still alive, being held at another Locust burial site.
Determined to save Reyna, Kait insisted Marcus lead them to her. They traveled to Tollen Dam, where they discovered the burial site had been turned into a Swarm hive. The group fought and killed the Speaker, the Swarm leader who had captured Reyna, but he refused to share information about Reyna's location. Realizing the hive's defenses were too strong, they fought to a radio antenna, where Marcus contacted Augustus Cole, Damon Baird, and Samantha Byrne. Baird, now a famous industrialist and the creator of the DeeBees, had previously helped the group during the settlement raid and brought mech suits for J.D. and Kait to use in fighting their way into the hive. Inside, they learned Reyna had been forced into the hive's network, and removing her would kill her. Despite this, Reyna asked Kait to end her life, which Kait did. Kait then inherited Reyna's amulet, which resembled the symbol of the Locust Queen Myrrah, suggesting Reyna was Myrrah's daughter and Kait her granddaughter.
In a post-credits scene, Oscar, still alive, cut himself free from the Snatcher that had captured him.
Development
Gears of War 4 was first created by Epic Games. Some parts of their work were used in the game made by Coalition. At E3 2013, Phil Spencer, a leader at Microsoft Studios, said more Gears of War games might be made. On January 27, 2014, Microsoft bought the rights to the Gears of War series from Epic Games. A new game was planned for Xbox One by Black Tusk Studios, which later became The Coalition to show its connection to the franchise. Rod Fergusson, a former leader at Epic Games for the Gears of War series, joined Microsoft and helped lead The Coalition. Ray Davis from Epic Games said, "I’m confident Rod will do a great job with the franchise at Microsoft." On April 1, 2015, The Coalition’s producer, Allie Henze, said Gears of War 4 would not be released for Xbox 360.
Gears of War 4 was first shown during Microsoft’s E3 2015 event. Rod Fergusson said the gameplay shown reflected the game’s tone, returning to the franchise’s roots as a "monster game" with a "personal, intimate, dark, and mysterious" feel. The game’s setting was inspired by Northern Italy. The story takes place on Sera, 25 years after Gears of War 3, with JD Fenix, Marcus Fenix’s son, as the main character. Because people on Sera are rebuilding after the Locust war, the game’s new weapons are based on construction equipment. A new enemy group called "the Swarm" appears. Their "Drones" act like the Locusts from earlier games, "Juvies" move quickly and can burst enemy pods with their screams, and "Pouncers" pin players to the ground and fire quills from their tails.
The multiplayer parts of the game were made by Splash Damage, who also worked on Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. A multiplayer beta was released on April 25, 2016. People who bought Ultimate Edition could try the beta earlier, starting April 18, 2016. The campaign supports two players playing together locally or online. Gears of War 4 was the first game to use SGX technology to automatically animate dialogue. Rod Fergusson said Microsoft’s investment allows the team to plan for future games in the series.
Gears of War 4 runs at 30 frames per second in single-player mode and 60 in multiplayer mode, both at 1080p. The game uses Unreal Engine 4. Like Halo 5: Guardians, it uses a system to keep the frame rate steady by lowering and raising the resolution during intense scenes. Rod Fergusson said the Xbox One S has better hardware, improving the game’s resolution compared to the original Xbox One. At E3 2016, Microsoft announced Gears of War 4 would be released on PC for Windows 10. It is an Xbox Play Anywhere game, allowing players to buy once and play on both Windows 10 and Xbox. In August 2016, Ramin Djawadi, who composed the Game of Thrones soundtrack, confirmed he would create the music for Gears of War 4. He said the score would be different from Game of Thrones, using orchestral and percussion sounds.
On September 19, 2016, The Coalition announced the game had "gone gold," meaning development was complete and production had started. At E3 2017, Microsoft said several Xbox games would get free 4K updates. The Coalition’s technical director, Kate Rayner, said the team had worked with the Xbox One X console. Gears of War 4 will support native 4K resolution with sharper textures for characters, environments, and effects. The game also uses HDR colors and wide color support. Other improvements include fully dynamic shadows and better reflections. The update adds Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 sound for a more immersive experience.
Reception
Gears of War 4 received "generally favorable" reviews, according to Metacritic, a website that collects and summarizes game reviews.
Ryan McCaffery of IGN gave the game a score of 9.2 out of 10. He wrote that the game reminded him of The Force Awakens, a popular movie, because both were created by new teams and shared similar storytelling styles. He said the game was enjoyable in all its modes, including the main story, multiplayer battles, and cooperative challenges. He also noted that the game stayed close to familiar ideas but executed them well.
Mike Mahardy of GameSpot gave the game a score of 7 out of 10. He said the game had potential but had some problems, such as a weak main story and technical issues. He also mentioned that the multiplayer modes were creative, but these strengths were not enough to make the game great overall.
Arthur Gies of Polygon gave the game a score of 9 out of 10. He said the game was not completely new but was very consistent and well-made. He noted that the game offered strong options for solo play, teamwork, and competition, making it one of the best action games of 2016.
Critics had mixed opinions about the game’s soundtrack. Some fans were disappointed because the music was less heroic than the work of previous composers, Steve Jablonsky and Kevin Riepl.
In the United Kingdom, Gears of War 4 was the second most sold game in its first week of release, behind FIFA 17. In the United States, it was the third most sold game in October, behind Battlefield 1 and Mafia III. Overall, it was the twentieth most sold game in 2016.