4 Things to Know Before Starting Gears 5

The Campaign’s Gone Open World… Kinda

As you might have read in the previews that recently dropped, Gears 5‘s campaign sprawls out farther than any entry in the series before it. During two of the campaign’s acts, players will be given free reign to explore the ice-cold Valley, and sandy desert hub worlds at their own leisure.

By doing so, players can find side missions that come in the form of crashed Condor sites that you can scavenge for useful upgrades for Jack, help out NPCs, and also find rare, unique Relic Weapons (more on those later).

The whole thing helps add a sense of scale to Gears 5’s narrative, with the effects of the war against the Swarm being far more clear now that you can see more of the world and the people that inhabit it.

That being said, Gears 5 isn’t a fully-fledged open world experience. There’s not a ton of side missions, and the open world can be a little bit barren in terms of things to do, with no enemies randomly spawning. Still, it’s a step in the right direction for the series.

It Follows on From Gears 4’s Story

If you’ve not played Gears 4’s campaign, chances are you’re going to be incredibly lost when it comes to following what’s going on in Gears 5.

The narrative tells two stories; one of Kait as she tries to uncover her family history’s mysteries (wayyyy that rhymed), and one of the all-out war against the Swarm following their resurgence in Gears 4.

A lot of what happens in Gears 5 stems from the events of Gears 4, so if it’s been a while or you’ve just never played it before, look for a recap video or play through it once again to bring yourself back up to speed.

Relic Weapons Are Hidden and Badass

One of the coolest random things you can find out in the semi open-world areas in Gears 5’s campaign are the Relic Weapons. These are unique, altered versions of the weapons you already know and love, such as the Torque Bow, Boomer, Longshot, and more, but with a twist.

Each one has a unique ability that makes it far more efficient in turning the Swarm to a deep red jam than their original counterparts.

For example, the Torque Bow Relic is capable of firing off non-explosive, deadly rounds at rapid speed, while the Longshot Relic can fire two shots before reloading following a successful perfect reload.

Thanks to the fact you can store these weapons on the Skiff, too, you can save these for missions where you think you might need a bit of additional firepower.

There’s Plenty to Do Outside the Campaign

While the campaign may be the place a lot of people dive into first in Gears 5, that doesn’t mean that’s all that’s worth loading up the game for. The Coalition has actually provided players with another three multiplayer modes to pour countless hours into, as well.

Horde is the classic 50-wave co-op mode that feels largely the same as it did in Gears 4. The Fabricator is back and players can build their defenses and purchase weapons from there with Power, collected by eliminating enemies.

Versus Multiplayer is the classic, fast-paced, aggressive PvP action that fans of the series know and love, now with an Arcade mode for casual fun, and Ranked playlists for those who want to get really competitive.

Finally, there’s Escape, which tasks you with making your way out of a Swarm Hive alive before the gas you just planted catches up with you. Again, this is a co-op mode, but players can even create their own Hives and share them with other players.