Several main concerns

Gears 5
#1

Hi, I was in the Testing and while playing around through what’s available, when i had a few things come to mind that seemed to worry me.

World/Lore: In the last game, it seemed like they’d taken the gears world and moved away from a lot of the core stuff. For example, The locust. I get that they’ve changed due to lambent and other reasons but with each title after the Coalition took over, they’re less Gears of War and more Generic sci-fi. I get that decades have passed for these characters but when they disappear or are killed out of game, it just cheapens their impact of previous titles. We’re still not getting any answers to questions set up in earlier games, like more locust history and origins.

Controls: I like that they’ve expanded on the controls but at times, that seems to be more a bane than a boon. For example, when trying to rev the chainsaw, i get stuck reloading instead, which kills you a lot in multiplayer. Having more options for cover and movement are great, until they don’t work. Trying to run from cover to cover is 50-50 between smooth transitions and just randomly taking a path to anywhere but where you were trying to go. I commented elsewhere, but being DBNO is a huge pain as the character gets caught up on too many things to actually do anything but get killed by the next shots. I like that there is more but when it doesn’t work reliably, it kills it for me. More so, when there are already clear PC Pros and aim bots in multiplayer matches.

Monetization: Going through the options on customization, it really seems like they’ve doubled down on lock boxes. Loot boxes killed the last game for me, multiplayer wise. I don’t want a “chance” at the items and gear that i want, I just want the gear. I don’t want multiple copies of trash items as a “Crafting” system. I get that they’re “just there for those who want it” but at the same time, for those who don’t, it can be a huge pain to get the few things we do want. I am all up for more options and customizations over our characters and load outs, but not if it’s stuck behind a pay or grind wall. With all the options there, like blood splatter?, it just seems like they’ve gone out of their way to add more loot boxes, rather than finding better solutions.

Direction: I fear the coalition has none. I don’t mean that as bad as it sounds but the games jsut kind of hop around and get more out there and loot boxy. It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of thought going into where this game is going until they need to make one. It’s “Hey, wouldn’t this look cool if we did this some time”, rather than “Hey, we’re building the whole series to this epic finale”.

TL;DR: I’m still curious to get into new modes and the new campaign but i just worry about the current state of the gears world and how the games are being handled.

I would love to hear back on if any body else is getting these feelings or feel free to voice your own concerns over the game, the testing, or such.

#2

Let me clear you up here : This “monetization” you speak of is there in two forms, Boost, and guaranteed paid purchase. Nothing else. This “loot box” system ONLY applies to the “Supply Drops” which are exclusively earned through playing the game, and the Tour of Duty system will allow you to earn things directly as well. Don’t believe me? Then just go and read this.

https://www.gears5.com/earning-content

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#3

This is a bit odd to me since the game hasn’t been released, and they’ve only teased story aspects at this point. Maybe it won’t have anything to do with the locust origins/story; maybe they’ll pull a “Hunt the Truth” on us, but it’s a bit early to believe it doesn’t.

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#4

To me, you lost me here… We have seen a small bite of Escape mode… And we have seen two maps and 3 game modes in the multiplayer arena. After one specific thing in the multiplayer demo that has me kind of excited is the voice for the swarm at the start/end of the matches… It’s freaking Niles man… Niles… The main guy from the New Hope facility, the guy who was part of Azura… Niles… Can you say twist?? And I say that because we have had so very little from the campaign shown to us (which to me is a good thing) only been told that this is the BIGGEST Gears campaign ever…

The loot boxy thing was answered a few posts above me… I think personally, myself… Holding judgement on what Gears is becoming and the direction it’s going deserves for us to wait until we get to fully experience it…

That’s just me though… :wink:

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#5

Are you referring to these audio recordings 343 made in relation to/prior to the release of Halo 5? Those were quite intriguing. Only to then get what we actually got in the game… disappointing.

Though I don’t think TC would just give nothing further to the Locust origin story, or I don’t see much of a point of sending Kait towards the New Hope facility(presumably was Marcus’ intention to have her go there). Or anything beyond it.

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#6

Just the fact that Niles is doing the voice for the swarm tells me we are going to be getting a good helping of Locust background…

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#7

There was also that two commercial juxtaposition with MC and Locke lecturing the other under rubble.

That’s the point; with what TC has been teasing (along with 4’s ending), I don’t think it’s likely that it won’t have more with the locust story. If it didn’t, it would be similar to the mistake of the Halo 5 marketing.

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#8

I’m actually glad to see that. I hadn’t before, so thank you for linking that for me. VERY glad to hear they’re dropping the loot box for more play earned and direct purchase. The supply drops sound interesting. I tend to do more of the PVE in multiplayer, so it killed me that i earned nothing in the last game, compared to the ranked and such PVP. Thank you, again, for linking that.

@diablo_vs24: More so, in regards to the last game and continuation of that angle of the story. I’m currently working my way through the novels, and there are a lot of things not being answered there. Plus, it just really seems like the author doesn’t play the games at all, which is a weird thing. I’m curious where the story leads this time but it definitely seems more gears 4 continuation, which kind of just boiled down to “Hey, we gotta get mom back.” without a whole lot of depth. Depth, which was set up in a lot of the first two games.

@gigidyimonaboat: kind of the same explanation as above. The last game seemed very shallow, focusing more on being “out there” and more sci-fi monsters and mutations. We’re not getting a whole lot of depth there and i’m hoping they don’t do that this time as well. I was wondering who that Voice was, so i’m excited to see that it’s Niles, as that is exactly the kind of thing i was hoping to get out of 4. The New Hope Facility was a lot of cool hinting at the Locust origins and Myrra. With the Gears 4 Myrra tie in, i really hope we get some more out of the grubs than “They’re weird and mutated now” without any other interesting aspect. Escape DEFINITELY has my interest though. Map builder is an interesting way to keep it from getting too routine.

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#9

You were expecting Locust Lore from a multiplayer tech test?..

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#10

no but from the last two games and several canon novels, yeah, it would have been nice, I’m hoping we get more in Gears 5, rather than just taking the known enemies and making them look weirder without adding more depth or lore to them. The only thing i was expecting from the testing was to have a good time and hopefully to leave some helpful feedback. My concern was that G5 wouldn’t really be story driven or have a whole lot to it, like 4 did. Even Ferguson admitted that gears 4 was primarily making sure the game worked. Not that we know it works, I was hoping to get more depth to the world and story telling.

#11

What are you…what?! Don’t say anything about lore until the game comes out, it’s just benine with the little amount of info we have.

And the games have less depth than before? Gears 1 didn’t even tell you why Marcus was in prison unless you went and read the comics. Not very in-depth. The old trilogy has a sense of depth altogether yeah, but other than 2&3 (the later games) there isn’t a whole lot of depth…so I wouldn’t expect much different from 4, since it’s the first game and only the beginning.

And Gears 5 is said to be the biggest one yet. Is that true? I think TC knows what backlash feels like so they wouldn’t lie. And we’re going to New Hope, so again…this point just doesn’t work…yet.

#12

There is a considerable amount of depth to the series. More so, in one and two. By three, we have a really intriguing setup for the horde, no out of game sources needed. There is even a thread on the forums which brings a lot of it together, though they DO pull in a few quotes from books. They even point out that there was enough in G 1&2 to really explain the grubs. Instead of getting more into that, though, we just got “Ohhh… they’re scary monsters that transform or explode… OoOoOoOohhh”. All the more reason i’m hoping that they DO delve more into the story and lore of the game. Of the story and game we DID get in 4, i’m curious to see where it goes. More so, after @gigidyimonaboat 's comment that the Voice you hear in the Lambent side of multiplayer is Niles. which, you know… was a great bit of lore.

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