A good long multiplayer reveal trailer for Gears of War: E-Day has been released, hyping up the expanded Horde Siege mode and the latest iteration of the classic 4v4 Versus mode.
An open beta will be taking place in August with a pre-order early access weekend from 6-10th August and a fully open weekend from 13th to 17th August. The full game is then launching on 6th October for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
After the splashy opening trailer, The Coalition digs into more about these modes. Horde Siege takes the classic survival mode and multiplies it by three, featuring the biggest maps for this mode in the series, large enough to host three squads of four, all going about their business and tackling individual missions through the same stage.
There’s four classes that players can choose from – Assault, Breacher, Marksman and Medic – and they each have their own tactical gear and progressions to work through so you can tweak the build further. Assault is mid-range with a sonic pulse mine, Breacher is short range with a shotgun and adrenaline booster for self-healing, Marksman naturally thrives with long sight lines and the pulse detection drone, while the Medic…. heals people. It’s a medic class.
You’ll have main objectives to move through the map and then defend different locations, securing RIGs that are trying to map the Locust tunnel network, at the cost of making a lot of noise to draw them close. Secondary objectives can also pop up with quicker goals like eliminating a high value target, defusing bombs or delivering a power core. They’re optional but will boost your squad for that session as a reward, and also give your squad Energy to spend on other loadout upgrades and changes.
You can easily end up in a similar place to another squad while doing your objectives, but you’re actively drawn together for Invasion events when a big boss appears, at potentially any time during a mission.
At the end of it, you need to extract, holding out against one final wave to get to the chopper. You’ll get some permanent upgrades through this, including weapon mods. a first for the series. You’ll need those improvements as various modifiers can apply, such as only giving perfect reloads, adding friendly fire and more.
Over in Versus, it’s the familiar 4v4 set up. The base PvP mode is as classic as it gets with no mods, starting you all with the same loadout and rewarding map knowledge and control with weapon and gear pickups.
Five maps will be there for launch, with Battleship, Outpost, Precinct, Market and Skyward set in and around Colona. Team Deathmatch and Conquest are joined by Demolition and Crucible. Demolition is an expanded version of COD’s Search & Destroy, as you first fight to secure the bomb and then place it at an enemy site. Crucible then tasks you to grab and hold a power core with a shrinking battle field.
Importantly for a series that’s notoriously hardcore and tricky for newcomers, there’s various practice modes, a bunch of controller presets, and bot matches alongside the social and ranked playlists.
Post-launch, new maps and modes will be added with a bunch of favourites promised. While cosmetics are in the game, “nearly every single piece of customisation in E-Day can be earned just by playing the game”, they say. You have various challenges, unlocking achievements and earning medals in the returning system. Some things will still be premium and paid for, such as a premium edition content and a Metallica brand partnership.
Source: YouTube
