Set on the fictional planet of Sera, the “Gears of War” series charts the story of humanity’s struggle against fearsome and brutal adversaries through a captivating tale of hope, comradery and survival.

After narrowly escaping an attack on their village, JD Fenix and his friends, Kait and Del, must rescue the ones they love and discover the source of a monstrous new enemy. “Gears of War 4” returns the franchise to the dark tone and intensity of the original and includes split-screen and online co-op, the next generation of five-player favorite, Horde Mode, 60 frames-per-second Versus multiplayer, and stunning visuals powered by Unreal Engine 4.

Starting today on the gamescom show floor, Microsoft are giving fans their first opportunity to play Gears of War 4 on Windows 10 PC.

Gears of War 4 is powered by a completely new rendering engine, with the Windows 10 version supporting comprehensive video settings, increased texture resolutions, dynamic resolution support up to 4K and more.

In this short gameplay demo through the “Rescue” chapter of Gears of War 4, our heroes JD, Kait and Del are chasing a large unknown enemy through an old COG fort. Along the way, they encounter two fierce Swarm enemies – Drones and Pouncers – for the first time, and have to battle their way through them before it’s too late.

PC System Requirements:

Minimum Specs:

• OS: Windows 10 Anniversary Update
• CPU: AMD FX-6300 / i5 3470 @ 3.0GHz
• GPU: Radeon R7 260X / GeForce 750 Ti
• VRAM: 2GB
• RAM: 8GB
• HDD: 80GB free

Recommended Specs:

• OS: Windows 10 Anniversary Update
• CPU: AMD FX-8350 / i5 4690 @ 3.5GHz
• GPU: Radeon R9 290X or Radeon Rx 480 / GeForce 970 or GeForce GTX 1060
• VRAM: 4GB
• RAM: 8GB
• HDD: 80GB free

Ideal Specs:

• OS: Windows 10 Anniversary Update
• CPU: AMD FX-9590 / i7 4790 @ 4GHz
• GPU: Radeon R9 Fury X / GeForce 980 Ti or GeForce GTX 1080
• VRAM: 4GB (6GB on NVIDIA systems)
• RAM: 16GB
• HDD: SSD + 80GB free

Key Features:

• New Story, Heroes and a Nightmare Reborn: The first chapter of an all-new “Gears” saga thrusts players into an epic and perilous journey through the wilds of Sera. Fight as JD Fenix – son of the legendary hero Marcus Fenix – as he embarks on a desperate mission with his friends Kait and Del to find their missing loved ones and confront a fearsome new threat.
• Never Fight Alone: Rev up your Lancer and fight your way through the Campaign with a friend over Xbox Live or via local split screen co-op, with the option to play as JD, Kait or Del. Cross Play lets Xbox One and Windows 10 gamers play together in cooperative modes like Campaign, Horde and Co-Op Versus.
• Shared Progression and Achievements with Xbox Play Anywhere across Xbox One and Windows 10: Cloud saves enable you to switch seamlessly between both versions of game, giving you the freedom to play where you choose. Both versions are included with a single purchase.
• Fight through a Dynamic and Deadly Environment: Brace yourself against ferocious windflares that blow away cover, bend your shots and drastically alter the battlefield, forcing you to employ new tactics. As the windflare intensity increases, each enemy confrontation evolves into a brutal fight for survival in this tale of Man vs. Monster.
• New Arsenal of Weapons and Combat Tactics: Pummel your enemies from cover with new close-cover combat moves like yank, vault kick and a bloody new combat-knife execution. Make use of dangerous new weapons, like the Buzzkill and Dropshot, to shoot around and over cover, raining destruction from all angles.
•  The Best “Gears” Multiplayer Experience Yet: Whether you enjoy powering through the co-op Campaign, fending for survival in Horde mode or testing your skills in frenetic Versus Multiplayer matches running in 60 FPS on dedicated servers, “Gears of War 4” is the ultimate game to play with friends.
  • Explosive Versus Multiplayer Action: Compete in intense multiplayer gametypes that reward social, competitive and professional players alike, including new modes like Dodgeball and the premier new competitive “Gears” multiplayer mode, Escalation. Track your progress with the new visible ranking system that drives online matchmaking and lets you stand out for your abilities.  
  • The Next Generation of Horde: Team up with up to four other players and weather the onslaught using class-based skills and dynamic fortifications. For the first time, you can build and deploy defensive weapons and fortifications anywhere on the map.
  • Play with Friends Against AI Foes: Fine-tune your skills in Co-Op Versus, where your match-made team of five squares off against increasingly punishing AI teams.
• The Complete “Gears of War” Collection: For a limited time, “Gears of War 4” (both digital and retail versions) will include the entire Xbox 360 “Gears of War” collection. Play through the original “Gears of War” trilogy and “Gears of War: Judgment” on Xbox One via backwards compatibility, amounting to over 50 hours of “Gears of War” gameplay.