Hey what’s up gears or should I say “groundwalkers!”
I’d like to talk about the possibility of the pve mode beast mode from gears 3 added to gears 5 through one of the new operations, I’m not asking for new pve modes every operation as its obvious there aren’t maybe as many unique ideas for such gamemodes and the versus formula is easy to manipulate hence FFA for operation 2 (Which I’m really enjoying btw, probably more hours on versus FFA than any of the other versus modes that came with the game)
I just think it’s fair seen as though pvp gets most of the attention with weapon tuning, updates and this recent FFA gamemode that players who prefer pve gameplay in gears get a taste of this extra content, so I couldnt think of anything better than something we already know about and are familiar with, the great part about this for the devs is that most if the content is already in like for example creature controls, example would have to be chapter 1 of the campaign ‘recruitment drive’ where a certain event happens that causes a certain character to have the ability of taking control over a variety of swarm enemies ranging from juvie to even the new enemy the warden.
The juvie gameplay starts at 2:18, the clip may also contain minor spoilers, you were warned.
This also isn’t the only instance we’ve been able to play as the variety of swarm creatures in the game, Jack’s hijack ability both in campaign and horde have even allowed us to play as sires and pouncers which really made me think whether TC is teasing us, because I really didn’t know how it worked but it did and it worked well, also pretty much every creature has its own execution on DBNO enemies which is very satisfying to see and do considering the original beast most only let the playable drones do executions.
So for those not entirely sure on beast mode or what it even is I’ll give you a rundown, it’s essentially a reverse horde except you are on the offensive as in this case for gears 5 for the swarm, the AI cog have preset bases built on each map and their defenses and forces get stronger as you progress through the waves with the final wave being the toughest as execution rules apply to a group of onyx guards and a jinn bot (In gears 3, it was chairmen Prescott, we don’t have a playable jinn… Yet so the bot is a great place holder) who’s artificial body is ready, progress through the waves by destroying cog forces and earning points/cash/credits to buy more powerful creatures from the swarm faction (in gears 3 it was locust ofc) creatures were unlocked in tiers through the amount of kills of points you earned and the tiers will unlock giving you access to said creatures, early waves will net you lesser cheaper creatures, but later waves will give you access to better ordnance and a brute strength be it a drones hammer burst or wardens breaker mace.
So we know what it is now so how would it all work gameplay wise, what weapons do YOU get and what weapons do cog have… we’ll start with the cog enemies.
COG GEARS
The gears, the front line protectors of seras human population, in beast mode for gears 5 they would spawn all waves with the mininum being 2 or 3 at waves 1-2 then later waves evenly increasing in number as waves progress, the gears are trained with there standard issue lancers and gnasher shotguns, for balancing I’d see it that the cog ai only get one of each in there loadouts, with shotgun wielders scripted to be aggressive similar to the swarm grenadiers and lancer users making use of cover and distance, but ofc if personal space becomes an issue they will always have a chainsaw bayonet, these enemies can be killed as easy as a few swarm drone or grenadier with no execution rules.
DEEBEE - Peacekeepers
Slower but deadly in groups the deebee bots provide support to cog allies and act as peacekeepers to cog settlements, in beast mode 2.0 deebees would spawn alongside cog gears in groups of 4 on waves 1 to then be disengaged on wave 5 to make room for more elite units and heroes of the cog, deebees would use there standard ai with the enforcers and slow movement speed
DEEBEE - DR 1 Protectors
Dr 1 protectors are a stronger more elite version of the peacekeepers, better armor, better weapons, weapons that range from tri-shot, salvo and overkill,
At wave 5 cog are reinforced with a pair of Dr 1 protectors using overkills to replace the peacekeepers, at wave 10 and later assist jinn at wave 12, the pair of Dr 1 protectors get upgraded to tri shots, for balancing I feel the salvo protector should be left out of the equation as players with weaker creatures will have trouble supporting there team on higher difficulties.
DEEBEE - sentinels/guardians
The flying deathmachines that suppress and destroy enemies of the cog, a tri-shot guardian will spawn at wave 5, with a single salvo sentinel spawning at wave 12 to replace the guardian and assist jinn bot and her onyx.
DEEBEE - Deadeye
The robotic marksman of the deebee army, keeping distance and dispatch YOU from a far, spawning after wave 1 in varied numbers and disengaging after wave 10.
SILVERBACK
After wave 5 gears are gonna need to pack a punch with the high tier creatures on there doorstep, heroes and or cog gears will get a single silver back to use against you to defend their base to the death, at wave 12 jinn bot will use the silver back with onyx and deebee support.
COG HEROES
They show up at wave 2, have more health than regular gears and MUST be executed, headshotted or exploded, wave 2 only reinforces the cog with 1 hero, but numbers increase as players progress the waves until wave 11, at wave 12 its just jinn bot and onyx guards reinforced by the more elite deebee units, onyx guards possess hero traits such as better weaponry, health and also cannot be executed
HERO - Marcus Fenix
Marcus fenix’s loadout consists of his custom lancer alone and bolo grenades.
HERO - Kait Diaz
Kaits loadouts consists of a retro lancer and incendiary grenades
HERO - Cole Train
Cole trains loadouts consists of the boomshot grenade launcher
HERO - Clayton Carmine
Clayton carmines loadouts consists of a mulcher on spawn (but if knocked DBNO he will have dropped the mulched) and a torque bow
HERO - Garron Paduk
Paduk’s loadouts consists of the markza and smoke grenades
HERO - Damon Baird
Bairds loadouts consists of EMBAR and shock grenades
HERO - Del walker
Dels loadouts consists of the gnasher shotgun with flashbangs
HERO - Fahz Chutani
Fahzs loadout consists of a long shot and a talon pistol
HERO - JD fenix
JDs loadout consists of lancer GL (I’ve never seen an ai use the GL alt firemode, if it’s impossible to do, probably best just having him use the primary fire mode for the fire rate) and smoke grenades
HERO - Lizze carmine
Lizzie carmines loadouts consists of… Really not sure, I’m torn between enforcer or dropshot, because balancing… Let me know what you think guys.
HERO - Samantha Byrne
Sam’s loadouts consists if the ‘claw’ light machine gun
HERO - Jinn Bot
Jinn bots loadout consists of a overkill and a silverback
HERO - Onyx Guards
The loadouts of the onyx guards consists individually of every other hero before wave 12,once wave 11 is over jinn not and her onyx guards take over.
This is just a rough overview as balancing and what spawns on what wave and what creature tier unlocks at the correct amount points earned, now over to the playable creatures, most of the creatures that aren’t drones are pretty self explanatory because they don’t require in game weapons or loadouts, for balancing my main focus is the drones and scions
SWARM DRONE
Loadout is hammerburst, slow melee attacks (As if you were using hijack of a swarm drone ai in campaign)
SWARM DRONE ELITE (And no I don’t mean the swarm soldier elite with the claw)
Loadout is mk1 lancer with bolo grenades, slow melee speed, but has a chainsaw… sooo.
SWARM GRENADIER
Loadout is gnasher shotgun and bolo grenades, slow melee speed.
SWARM HUNTER (Not elite hunter specifically)
Loadout is Markza, fast knife melee speed.
SWARM ELITE SNIPER
Loadout is EMBAR and shock grenades, slow melee speed.
SCION BOOMSHOT
Guess what his weapon is.
SCION SPEAKER
Loadout is buzz kill and the ability to buff or heal the other creatures (apart any creature that’s better than them or other scions) if we don’t want a complete kantus clone, just change it to a small timed health regen to be new.
And that is my best explanation of what beast mode 2.0 could look like for gears 5, you’d only need look at the first beast mode for further consistency of the mode, I understand fortifications aren’t set at fixed positions and are neither tied to bases anymore, so I recommend just making preset bases for each map at least 2 or 3 so incase of fail or new round the base will always be in one of 3 spots on each map.
So thats a wrap let me know what you think of beast mode 2.0 and whether youd like to see it or not.
