Dancing With Shotguns: Hands On With The Gears Of War 4 Beta

The original Gears of War was one of the first real ‘wow’ experiences on Xbox 360, and it’s become a franchise that’s synonymous with Xbox gaming, so it’s no surprise that the first new Gears game on Microsoft’s latest hardware might cause some excitement. Though the game isn’t out until October, an early beta test started this week, allowing eager fans the opportunity to sample the multiplayer. Initially available for those who bought Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, it will become open for all on Monday, running until the start of May.

There’s a decent selection of content for us to sample, with three modes and three maps. Of course, there’s the standard 5v5 Team Deathmatch, but there’s also a variant of this that pits humans against “hardcore AI”. This mode might get more challenging as The Coalition tweak the computer-run opposition, but as of now it’s a slaughter fest that never sees the human team lose. Finally, there’s a new mode called Dodgeball, which starts at 5 vs 5 but only allows the respawn of dead teammates when your team picks up a kill. It’s meant to create a kind of tug-of-war system, but most of my games in this mode played like simple elimination, and could easily end in just a few moments.

The beta also gives us an idea of what the developers have in mind for skill-based matchmaking, as well as the all new bounty cards. Interestingly, you’re put through a series of placement games that are exclusive to each playlist, before giving you a rank and attempting to place you with people of similar rank. There’s also an XP system that sees you trying to complete ‘bounty card’ objectives as you play. You select one card before the beginning of each game and if you achieve the task tied to the card (8 kills in a match, earn 1,000 points, etc.) you get a nice XP boost. Nowhere in the beta does it signify how you’ll earn these cards in the full game, but they seem like a neat addition.

The game itself is very familiar, so you’ll likely already know whether or not you’re interested. The starting weapons are the same as before, the way the characters move is the same, and the prominent strategy is still to grab that gnasher shotgun and stick with your teammates. But the Gears franchise is in a bit of weird place in regards to how it goes about competitive multiplayer, because the core fanbase expects the same rolling shotgun strategy that has reigned supreme in all previous iterations. That strategy can be difficult to learn if you’re a newcomer, and straight up obnoxious if you don’t want to play with just a shotgun or power weapons.

Speaking of power weapons, there’s one new one in the beta called the Dropshot that allows you to launch a small drill through the air and land it on or near enemies before it explodes. It’s fun to use and extremely effective against groups, though the drill moves so quickly that it can be hard to defend against.

The three maps have a great feel to them, and are immediately reminiscent of some of the classic maps from the series. They’re largely symmetrical, with rotating power weapons that are usually an equal distance between the two spawns. The initial fight over control of those weapons is just as crucial as it always has been, and it often determines the outcome of the match. I will say that the beta had a very hard time with switching where the teams spawn mid-match, and its reluctance to do so led to my team being trapped inside our spawn for entire games at a time. This wasn’t an issue in previous games, so I assume it’ll be ironed out before launch.

One thing that stands out is how colourful the Gears 4 beta is. Jumping into the game for the first time was almost jarring, when thinking back to how grey and brown the old Gears of War games could be. While later iterations expanded to more lush environments, the Gears 4 beta is colourful in ways we’ve rarely seen before with this franchise. It’s also incredibly sharp, and only a few technical hiccups currently stand between it and perfect performance.

As Gears of War games go, the multiplayer in Gears 4 is shaping up to be another solid addition to the franchise. The maps are nice, it looks wonderful, and it plays well enough to please even the most hardened veterans of the series, but it’s also very similar to what we’ve played before and the beta leaves me wondering if newer players might be left out of the party when it launches this October. The style of multiplayer in Gears is tough to learn and have success with if you’re not already experienced with it, so it’ll be interesting to see if The Coalition can find a way to entice new players and expand the player base beyond just franchise veterans.