Gears Of War 4

Platform(s): PC, Xbox One
Genre: Action
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: The Coalition
Release Date: Oct. 11, 2016

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'Gears Of War 4' (ALL) Celebrates Valentine's Day with In-Game Event and New Maps

by Rainier on Feb. 7, 2017 @ 9:29 a.m. PST

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde.

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.

The Gears of War 4 February update adds a week-long Valentine’s event, new Gear Packs to collect, two new maps and further improvements to the game.

Gears has always embraced the Holidays, and this Valentine’s Day is no different. February 10th marks the beginning of over a week of Valentine’s Day celebrations, with new Gear Packs to earn, daily Valentine’s themed bounties, another Craftable Character to collect, and the much-requested return of Torque Bow Tag (with a Cupid-style twist!). Stay tuned for more news on Valentine’s Day events later this week!

New Multiplayer Maps

Impact Dark

After we released Gears of War 4, the multiplayer design team had the opportunity to look at our launch lineup of maps and wonder – how could we have made those maps play entirely different? Those discussions birthed a new type of map design that all begins with ‘Impact Dark’, a remixed version of Impact that completely re-imagines the combat dynamics of the original.

The new nighttime setting for Impact doesn’t just bring a new ambience. For the first time in Gears of War Versus, visibility is permanently reduced by smoke that has settled over the battlefield, forcing you closer to the action. Every weapon swap has been changed to alter the flow of the map – Snipers are now replaced with Boltoks, Dropshot replaces Torque/EMBAR and the Overkill now sits where Incendiaries used to. 

The result is a new version of Impact that plays completely differently to its original brethren. The combination of close range weapon swaps and reduced visibility ups the pace for a more intense version of Impact, where players need to stay on their toes to win. Support players will need to take bigger risks to impact fights and reduced visibility will make reading the battlefield tougher for even the most competitive teams.

War Machine

Loved by Gears of War veterans everywhere, the quintessential classic, War Machine, is back with a drastic new take on the setting. Moving away from the old abandoned train station locale, War Machine is now set in a new COG Settlement, standing out with its pristine appearance and gleaming grandiose features. Compared to the original, signs of life are everywhere – from the active DeeBee security bay, to the train sitting at the end of the platform ready to depart.

Despite this new setting, everything fans know and love about the map is still here – the frantic opening fight for the Sniper, the intense fight for Torque around the pillars and, of course, the ever-important turret to dominate enemies that stray too far into the open.

Both maps are available to play today in the Developer Playlist for Season Pass Holders, featuring TDM, Guardian and King of the Hill gametypes with Double XP and 20% Bonus Credits!

 Guardian Improvements

Speaking of Guardian, we’ve got new surprises in store for fans of the mode. Based on fan feedback, we’ve changed the spawning system from the original spawn swap solution to something entirely new – Leader Spawns. Now, you’ll respawn in a location close to your Leader adding a new tactical edge – Leaders now need to position themselves in beneficial areas of the map, while other players will have more opportunity to get back to their leader and come to their aid.

This new update to Guardian is perfectly suited to the intense low visibility combat of Impact Dark – try it out for yourself in the Developer Playlist this week! We can’t wait to hear what our fans think of this new approach to Guardian!

Looking Forward

Back in November, we announced we were working on a new feature based on fan feedback – a pre-game lobby system for Core and Competitive playlists to improve the ranked experience in Gears of War 4. Today, we are excited to share that Core and Competitive lobbies will arrive next month in the March update! We will share more details, news and first looks at this new system closer to release.

Late last week, we sent out our latest ‘Gears Feedback Program’ survey to fans which included questions related to playlists and weapon tuning.  We will be sorting through the feedback in the coming weeks and reporting on any changes that we may implement to help streamline and improve the in-game Gears of War 4 experience.

Following on the heels of Dizzy, we are hard at work bringing back more Legacy Characters by updating their voice work and character fidelity to make them right at home in Gears 4. Beginning next month, this work will turn into a steady flow of Legacy Characters for our fans - from iconic heroes of the past to the hotly demanded return of Locust Characters!

We also have some huge updates coming this summer to Horde:

  • New “Inconceivable” Difficulty (Campaign & Horde)
  • IronMan Mode (Campaign & Horde)
  • Level 6 skills for all class skills
  • More skills for existing classes
  • New achievements
  • And much more!

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.

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