Gears of War 4 at Gameplanet NZ

Gears of War 4 review

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 12:15:00 +1300

[i]Gears of War 4[/i] is a confident offering across campaign and multiplayer from The Coalition. There's hours of fun to be had here, especially in the updated Horde mode.

It’s been 25 years since the Locust War, and the scars of that conflict are still very apparent. Humanity is rebuilding, both within the confines and security of COG governance, and outside of its militaristic regime.

The latter – "Outsiders" – live on the fringe, in townships almost completely devoid of the advanced technology the COG is built on. They are forced to resort to scavenging and occasionally outright stealing from the COG in order to survive. It’s not an easy or all that safe lifestyle, but it is how life is lived if you want to be free of the COG yoke.

It’s also where we find our Gears 4 protagonists: COG deserters JD (son of Marcus) Fenix and his best friend Del Walker. The pair are the typically burley human tanks that Gears games love so much. The third is Kait Diaz, an Outsider by birth. She's not as beefcake, but she's no less deadly than the massive slabs of meat she chooses to associate with.

Gears of War 4 – Weapons and Enemines trailer

Mon, 10 Oct 2016 09:30:00 +1300

ChilledChaos breaks down the new weapons you’ll take into battle in “Gears of War 4,” and the foes you’ll be decimating with them. Gears of War 4 is available worldwide October 11 on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC as an Xbox Play Anywhere title. Buy Gears of War 4: Ultimate Edition and play four days early, starting October 7.

Gears of War 4 hands-on

Thu, 22 Sep 2016 17:50:00 +1200

Gears of War was one of those franchises that emerged almost fully-formed. A confident, ferocious co-op shooter set in a gloomy yet bro-tastic world where everything was a little outsized and a distorted guitar riff signalled enemy defeat, Gears was a hit. Many imitators equally obsessed with waist-high walls and ultra-violence popped up, but none could match the mechanics or heavy metal meets fantasy vibe of Gears.

That's because although it seems simple, a Gears game is a very specific entity treading a number of very fine lines. You can't mess with the formula too much without getting too camp, too silly, or too serious – something franchise steward The Coalition is all too aware of. Although Gears 4 marks the beginning of a new saga, studio head Rod Fergusson's first rule was that the game had to feel like Gears. But it couldn't just feel like any of the Gears titles – the studio wanted to return to the dark, tense uncertainty of the original game.

A New Generation

Beautiful Reclamation: How The Coalition built Gears of War 4

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 13:33:00 +1200

Last week, we flew to Vancouver courtesy of Microsoft to check out Gears of War 4. It's the first Gears game made specifically for the Xbox One family, but much attention has been paid to the PC version as well. While at Microsoft's downtown headquarters we had unfettered access to developer The Coalition, and what follows is a condensed version of a multi-hour chat we had with studio head Rod Fergusson, creative director Chuck Osieja, lead campaign designer Matt Searcy, lead multiplayer designer Ryan Cleven, and many other senior staff – between sessions on the upcoming shooter, of course. We believe it's the most thorough examination you'll get of what it took to make Gears of War 4, straight from the mouths of those who built it.

COGs in the machine

Q: What were your high-level goals coming into this project?

Gears of War 4 to support split screen on PC

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 08:16:00 +1200

Gears of War 4 will feature split screen on PC, The Coalition confirmed at a preview event for the game in Vancouver last week.

Split screen will be possible in the game's campaign and Horde modes, but only in private matches (i.e. non-ranked, non-matchmade) for competitive multiplayer.

However, only one person will be signed into their Xbox Live account – the other will play as a guest.