You reference “Weather Maps” but you also mention a map with ‘Highway’-like Swarm hive background environmental activity, so I’ll assume you’re interested in less static maps in any form. I’m all for that.
My concern about a “weather” focus is it historically seems too easy to fall into the trap of the (IMO) lazy trick of a simple visibility reduction like Trenches dust, Artillery tornado, Harbor Haze, Icebound blizzard, etc. (recently had a game where that blizzard bugged and stayed in effect for 2 full Horde waves, sheesh, was that obnoxious).
Sightline reductions do alter gameplay when in effect, and I’m sure it’s a lot easier to design and test these than true map flow changes, but I find that technique pretty cheap and played out. And my largest complaint as a PvE main is that the cool environmental change stuff tends to be disabled for Horde (no Avalanche, no Thrashball scoreboard), except for these sight blockers (that don’t also alter the AI’s opportunities).
Icebound is perhaps interesting in this respect because they clearly did try to accommodate PvE, where for some bosses the breakable ice hazard freezes over permanently for the round to avoid the presumably bad interaction. But I’m sure that took more effort to make and playtest than a static map. I’m not especially surprised it’s rare.
So yes, I’d love to see large scale map layout changes (your ideas, Allfathers Arena’s layouts but on a timer or user action), giant backdrop set pieces like Highway, Overpass, the original Lift, or more environmental hazards like trains or the Forge incinerator. Heck, I’d even love to just get minor destructability back (chainsawing Mansion’s wooden furniture, the glass that flies off of GoW 3 Blood Drive’s signs when shot, pieces of wall breaking off and remaining there) or silly interactions like The Slab kickballs.
Gears 5 maps look good, but nearly always look the same way. Very few buttons, traps, or route alterations. Maps that could appear-- or better yet, play-- differently every time/within a match would extend their life.
