Home Gaming E3 2016: Gears of War 4 Hands-On – Teaching new dogs old tricks

E3 2016: Gears of War 4 Hands-On – Teaching new dogs old tricks

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Throughout its successful time on the Xbox 360, Gears of War as a core exclusive franchise did little to change between iterations. It evolved, refined itself and grew bigger, but the core experience of cover-based shooting and intense, bloody close-quarters combat stayed true to itself from the word go. With new developers The Coalition behind it, Gears of War 4 has the choice of radical reinvention or clever side stepping, and I kind of wish they had picked one.

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Sitting down to play a lengthy demo of the game’s single-player campaign, Gears of War 4 felt immediately familiar. Being thrust into the boots of Marcus Fenix’s son, JD, muscle memory quickly reminded me of the series’ tropes. Take cover, fire sporadically and never, ever forget an active reload. JD’s two companions offered up some relatively cheesy chatter to make the opening a little more engaging – at least until the Swarm made their presence known.

The Swarm are the new enemy type that this seemingly first entry in a new series will delve into, and at face value there’s little differentiating them from the past Locust threat. The first enemy I encountered spawned from what looked like an abnormally big larvae sack, but essentially mimicked the behaviour of Wretches from old. They were a little more nimble by being able to hop around from nearby walls, but a quick change to the classic Gnasher was the same way to deal with them in the most efficient manner.

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Later on this same enemy hopped into some infected patch of ground, which pseudo act as the game’s new emergence holes. Initiating a transformation process, the Swarm’s version of the standard Locust Drone emerged, picking up the new Lancer on the ground nearby and offering up the first bit of cover-based combat the demo had to offer. It felt as tight and exhilarating as Gears of War has in the past, but it didn’t feel all that different.

Gears of War 4’s aesthetic might have darkened itself a little, with a dreary storm and much darker indoor environment (made better by the small but effective flashlight JD had on the front of his Lancer), but the action remained the same until that point. The demo shuffled me from one combat scenario to the next, with the lobbing of grenades into holes and close up Gnasher finishers quickly turning into habit as it did so well in the previous trilogy.

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It drastically shifted in the closing moments of the showcase however, which suddenly piqued my interest in the direction The Coalition is attempting to take Gears of War forward. Throughout the demo JD and co. were chasing the silhouette of a rather large beast, which made its presence known in a big way near the end. The Pouncer, as the squad so astutely named it, was a completely different type of Swarm creature. And it forced me to rethink how I played.

Instead of letting me find solace in knee-high cover, the Pouncer, well, pounced around the circular arena I found myself locked within, forcing me to stay on the move to avoid its range of deadly attacks. When it wasn’t viciously trying to pin me to the ground and rip my jugular out, the Pouncer stood on top of nearby cover, using a ranged attack the was able to drop me to the floor with just  few hits. The temptation of rushing forward with a Gnasher was certainly there, but a few close calls (and required AI revives) quickly taught me that it was definitely the wrong way to go.

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Instead, flanking with sporadic bursts of damage did the trick, with my attention swung to avoidance rather than direct conflict – being a different approach to how I’ve traditionally play Gears of War. It worked as the Pouncer eventually dropped to the floor, only to introduce two more into the mix for a little more difficulty. I died at least twice trying to best the trio, although I wasn’t frustrated at the fact.

Instead the possibility of just one of many new enemy types forcing me to rethink how this treasured franchise works was all I needed to know about Gears of War 4, even if its opening segments gave a very different impression. It’s clear that The Coalition know what makes this series tick – as they should considering some of the veteran Gears of War developers they have on-board – but it’s just as refreshing to see risks being taken to shake up the standard formula.

How that carries through into the campaign will be seen later this year when the game launches, but I’m more confident now that this could be the start of the series needed to kick-start a new sort of history for Gears of War on the Xbox One. I just hope these moments of invigoration aren’t few and far between.

Last Updated: June 15, 2016

17 Comments

  1. Oh look, a gender and race inclusive Gears of Meh.

    Welcome to 2016, mother fucker.

    *insert Samuel L. Jackson meme*

    Reply

    • The Order of the Banana

      June 15, 2016 at 13:59

      I feel triggered by the lack of a blue-haired Asian, transsexual non-normative quadriplegic in a wheelchair mecha with missles…. WHERE’S THE REPRESENTATION GEARS?? WHY MUST YOU BE SO ABLEIST!!!?

      Reply

  2. Jonah Cash

    June 15, 2016 at 12:21

    This is the only game Microsoft owns that I would buy an Xbox for… Wait what do you mean it is coming to PC as well… Another one… What, all of them? My word my Xbox is truly redundant with the PC I have, but then again the PC ports aren’t always so stable so might still pick this up on the Xbox ONE.

    Reply

    • The Order of the Banana

      June 15, 2016 at 14:03

      Yeah, I really don’t know what they’re thinking, unless they’re banking on cross-play… it baffles my mind. Microsoft is a schizophrenic crazy person.

      Reply

      • Jonah Cash

        June 15, 2016 at 17:08

        But why would one cross play in any case? I don’t get remote play or cross play. If I want to play I put on my TV and play, or I switch on my PC and play. Won’t switch between them when it comes to games. I played The Division on PC and just linked it to my PC and used my Xbox remote.

        Reply

  3. Admiral Chief Maximum Effort

    June 15, 2016 at 12:25

    That one guy looks like STAR LORD

    WHO?

    Reply

  4. Admiral Chief Maximum Effort

    June 15, 2016 at 12:27

  5. Original Heretic

    June 15, 2016 at 12:42

    This is the only Xbox exclusive I’m going to miss… Damn…. Oh well!! God of War!!

    Reply

  6. Darren Peach

    June 15, 2016 at 13:57

    Meh. Cover mechanics are boring on their own.

    Reply

  7. The Order of the Banana

    June 15, 2016 at 13:59

    I hate to say this… but… Meh… :/ (This just doesn’t look good)

    Reply

  8. Gavin Mannion

    June 15, 2016 at 14:25

    No E3 award? FIRED

    Reply

    • The Order of the Banana

      June 15, 2016 at 14:28

      You can’t fire Sandy, he’s a member of the Banana Writer’s Union!!! We demand a 5 banana increase on our wages!!!

      Reply

      • Gavin Mannion

        June 15, 2016 at 14:34

        You can’t have an increase when you’re not paid in the first place

        Reply

        • The Order of the Banana

          June 15, 2016 at 14:34

          Hush you! In my mind I’m one of your most faithful and loyal employees

          Reply

          • Gavin Mannion

            June 15, 2016 at 14:42

            Good point… after all this hard commenting I hereby grant you a 300% increase

          • The Order of the Banana

            June 15, 2016 at 14:43

            Wohooo!! Now I can get beer and hookers!!

  9. Francois Knoetze

    June 15, 2016 at 16:13

    Still getting this. Playing through all the Gears games for the first time and I am seriously in love with the series. Looking forward to 4.

    Reply

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