The Coalition is going bigger than ever with Gears of War: E-Day, and the studio has the receipts to prove it.
In a new interview with IGN, the developers of the upcoming Gears of War game revealed that its campaign length should be around 14 hours. Previous entries have typically landed around the 10-hour mark, with Gears 5 stretching to 11-12 hours. The team also packed in more collectibles than any prior title in the series, a choice the developers say is meant to reward repeat playthroughs.
There will also be new enemies, according to brand director Nicole Fawcette. "Because the world goes so downhill in the original trilogy, we're able to do some new stuff that we were okay with, if you didn't see them in the original trilogy, it was okay. The world lost so much," she said.
One of the biggest changes will stem from the movement mechanics that have been an iconic part of the franchise since the beginning.
"There's a whole bunch of reasons [for the change], but a lot of it has to do with the variety we have on traversal spaces," creative director Matt Searcy said. "We have small and large spaces, and this just lets you play with the battlefield so much more. You can see what's going on. You can move a lot more naturally."
To be even more specific, a major change coming to movement is the switch-up in how “wall bouncing” works, sadly for fans of the preexisting system.
"We have forms of wall canceling in there, but you won't be able to do [wall bouncing] the way you've done it in the past," Searcy explained. "There are lots of other things you can do. There are [ways to] play with it, it's not entirely gone. We think we found a balance in terms of how that really feels. … If you come back expecting it to play exactly like a previous Gears game, it won't be that way. [It] will probably be an adjustment, but it is also built around the same mechanics."
Gears of War: E-Day launches October 6 on Xbox Series X|S, PC via Xbox Play Anywhere, Game Pass Ultimate, and Steam. An open beta opens August 6, with early access for pre-order customers.
