Gears of War is now in the same position Halo found itself in just a few short years ago. Like Halo 4, this new entry in the now Microsoft-owned Gears of War franchise comes from a new developer, with the team at The Coalition essentially handed a blank slate on how to move the series forward.
In Halo 4's case, 343 Industries took Halo's iconic multiplayer formula and attempted to update it for the Call of Duty crowd with loadouts and the ability to call in power weapons directly. Longtime fans hated it, and almost none of the ideas from Halo 4 were carried over to Halo 5.
It seems like The Coalition took notes. Gears of War 4's multiplayer doesn't try anything new or drastic in that regard, avoiding the pitfall Microsoft's other iconic shooter franchise found itself in with its fourth installment. It also serves to undo some of the controversial changes to the game's multiplayer formula that appeared in Gears of War: Judgement. As a result, Gears of War 4 feels like classic Gears of War, and that's both a good and a bad thing.
Not much has changed from the days of Gears of War 3. Players still roll around symmetrical maps sticking to cover. Most battles still come down to close combat shotgun encounters, though the Lancer is still a powerful weapon in the right hands. Active reload is still an important part of coming out on top of any given skirmish.
All the tools made available in past Gears of War titles, like planting grenades and taking meat shields, return here, with the addition of one new mechanic in the form of Close Cover Combat.
If you've played Gears of War multiplayer, the following scenario will likely sound familiar. You post up behind on a piece of cover, only to have an enemy plant themselves firmly on the other side of it. You and your opponent peek-a-boo up and down trying to land a shotgun blast, until eventually one player decides to leap over or run away.
Now with the game's new CCC mechanics, players can actually pull an enemy from the other side of a piece of cover with the press of a button. The player getting pulled is then stunned, making them vulnerable to one of Gears of War 4's gory new knife executions. Players can also perform a similar maneuver by sprinting up to a piece of cover and vaulting over it. The two moves are yet another tool in the franchise's expanding gameplay toolbox, and it feels perfectly at home, even if it doesn't come up too often during matches.
That's about it when it comes to new mechanics. In the beta there is one notable new power weapon in the form of the Drop Shot, a repurposed industrial tool that fires explosive rounds that fly through the air before propelling straight down onto enemies. Think of it as a Boomshot that can go over to kill enemies and you have the right idea.
Aside from standard Gears of War style Team Deathmatch, players can try out the new Dodgeball game type in the beta. The gametype revolves around killing enemies so that members of your team can respawn, so there are unfortunately no actual balls. It's a fun mode that is reminiscent of VIP in earlier Gears of War games, in that both game types encourage players to play tactically. A good player can truly turn the tide of battle in Dodgeball, as scoring even one or two kills while the chips are down is enough to get their team back in the fight.
Being the beta, players won't get to see much of what Gears of War 4's progression system looks like. We know players will able to unlock new character and weapon skins through playing, but we unfortunately don't get a look at those systems in action in the beta.
Players do, however, get a taste of the game's new ranking and bounty system. Borrowing from Halo 5's playbook, players play a set number of placement matches in a given playlist in order to be placed in a ranked league. From there players can climb up the ranking ladder, moving up divisions within their rank and eventually moving up to a new rank after continued wins.
The bounty system in Gears of War 4 also looks to have come straight from 343 Industries' latest. Like in Halo 5, players can equip a challenge during a match that, when completed, rewards players with extra experience points to increase their in-game level. Most of these challenges require players to earn a certain score in a match or kill a certain number of enemies, though unlike Halo 5 these bounties aren't consumed if you fail in your attempt.
Notably missing from multiplayer this time around are two key loadout weapons from Gears of War 3 that added some much needed diversity to the moment to moment encounters: the Retro Lancer and Sawed-off Shotgun. Each weapon opened up new strategies and gave players even more options heading into each round. With neither available in the beta, Gears of War feels like it's reverting back to the days of the original.
That's likely intentional. The Coalition seems to be playing it overly safe with their first entry in the franchise. Everything plays well and looks great (the beta runs at a stable 60 fps), but it's hard to shake the feeling that something is missing. Gone are the loadout options of Gears of War 3. Gone are the power weapons like the mortar or gatling gun. There are no environmental map hazards to be found.
There are no truly groundbreaking new ideas here, just refinements of what worked in the original Gears of War with a few new mechanics from the sequels tossed in. It remains to be seen if weapons like the Sawed-off will make a return, or what other new gametypes The Coalition has yet to reveal. As it is now, six months before the game's release, Gears of War 4's multiplayer certainly has a "been there, done that" feel to it. That news will likely delight some fans, while it will leave others wishing for something more.
The Gears of War 4 open beta begins for all Xbox One players on April 25.
