I like this. But, think about it in a logical sense. The Coalition have already tried to do too much, what they did in Horde, Perks, Jack, Forge and Taps was a step too far, Escape was a giant step, it should not even exist in Gears, it seems a great idea at first, but implemented badly. Logically a Snatcher grabs you, and you think to yourself, what is the chance this will Pod you, or you die in its pouch/belly. The game makes out you are 100% going to survive, no attempt at the lore has gone in to Escape, for that reason, i think it is daft.
I like you idea of hunting, Escape could so easily be converted to this game type, you get a team, you enter one end of the building, seal the doors and go in to the depths of said building and plant a bomb, then you “Escape” out of the other end. Such a better story to it, and even more adventurous.
This base building thing is already a thing, you just got to expand upon the characters more, such as Engineers that only build and repair, and the other characters basically defend the Engineer whilst he or she builds. The enemies get tougher every so many waves, and you got yourself a great game. Of course it would still be Horde, just that the characters would be designed around their own specific Roles. Engineers build, Snipers snipe, Tanks create aggro and take ■■■■ loads of damage while the Scout runs around picking up Energy for the Engineer and the Sniper and the Heavies kill the enemies going after the Tank.
I have brought this up before, and yeah, i am a bit of a cracked record, but here goes anyway. The game consist of 6 Roles, Engineer who builds and repairs, starts with the weakest weapons in the game, because he or she does not need anything powerful, Tank that enters the field and creates aggro taking fire and distracts from the Scout whose job is to collect Energy. The Tank starts with Assault Rifle, Shotgun and Grenades, whilst the Scout is mostly Shotgun and some other close range weapon. Sniper, is self explained, no need to go in to that role. Heavy, also known as Heavy Ordanance Specialist will have all the explosive weapons and bonuses to things such as Rocket Pod and Tri-Shot. The last Role would be Medic, or Healer, this would be a good role for Jack, but also a new character, maybe the return of Sofia (here is hoping) and the return of the Stim Grenade.
Tactics for this new set up would be the Engineer builds a base for the team, the Tank enters the field and within a certain radius creates aggro where the enemy focus on the Tank, the Scout picks up Energy the is dropped by the Tank using melee or weapon kills, or the Heavy or the Sniper kills and the Healer has a special Heads up Display that shows the players Hit Points, and he or she can then throw Stim Grenades, of which they will be carrying two types, an instant heal, and a heal over time, the IH as it sounds will instantly heal for so many HP and the HoT will heal more HP, but over a certain time and in a certain area.
Skill Cards will consist of 2 Ultimates, which you can only choose one or the other, and the various greens, blues, Purples and Yellow, and there will be 6 slots for the Skill Cards too, so the player can decide what and how they want to build the character. Each Skill Card will reflect upon the Role of the character, and be meaningful too.
I would definately bring back the Scrap, and card packs, these are sorely missed.
There are so many options and choices available for an ultimate Gears game, above is just an idea. I am sure there are better ones out there.