Xbox’s E3 press briefing had one big throughline, they wanted to place a focus on being a company where original IPs and games could thrive. So naturally everyone knew that meant there was going to be a Gears of War announcement impending. Sure enough, Microsoft’s console division did that. And then another announcement. And yet another announcement. It was a big staterment, essentially re-hitching their wagons to a property they knew would movie units. Much like they’d done with the Halo franchise in the last half decade. What came as a surprise was how diverse (if not flat out weird) each game was.
The first announced title, was mostly just that, an announcement. Or a threat, depending on your level for cutesy mash-ups or crossing over properties in general. Confused? Well take a look at the below and see if it clears things up a bit:
Ok, ok. Now, at first that may seem a tad odd. Yet what immediately came to mind was Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare. When that idea was initially pitched, it was met with some push back. Of course, the difference here is that Gears POP goes the different route. That’s right, Gears of War is going to be making the jump to the mobile set. What little info that’s been revealed came from Funko’s President himself, Brian Mariotti, who said: “explosive, cover-based gameplay, distinctive and powerful ultimate abilities, and deep metagame deck-building for strategy fans who love charming visuals, exciting action strategy, and real-time play.” The plan is for the game to land on both iPhones and Android sometime in 2019.
As for the second game, it too was a take on another popular game or gameplay mechanic, with a slick coat of Gears paint on top of it. While that may be an oversimplification, Gears Tactics looks like the GOW series version of XCOM. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, given what a success and breath of fresh air Mario + Rabbids turns out to be. Plus, how many different action strategy RPG’s can there be at one time? An infinite number, that’s correct. Here’s the tease of game footage that was shown off:
It’s shiny, polished and complicated enough to make people sit up and take attention. As long as the it plays smoothly, has a well enough difficulty spike and at least decent story, it could be a hit. Everyone’s favorite explosion and squishy accompanying SFX are there. All it well.
Last, but certainly not lease, though probably most importantly was Gears of War 5. You knew Microsoft and The Coalition were going to bring the goods and oh boy, did they ever with this massive announcement trailer:
That’s a Gears game alright. This go around finally sees a female lead (or co-lead, or major playable character), Kait Diaz, who you should remember from 4, as she played a big part. Her elevated status is fantastic, even if she seems to be going insane. The Fenix’s are still here and are engaged in a battle of beards, but the less questions asked the better. What’s glimpsed from the “in-game” footage seems frantic and chaotic, with a few new enemy variaties thrown in for good measure. It may be a sign of the times, or just a sense of relief to me, but there was no discussion of online modes, a battle royale edition, or any gimmicky nonesense. Admittedly that’s probably because thing are in the early goings, but just sitting back, watching a cut scene and seeing improvement on existing mechanics felt nice, even if it was safe.
What about you all out there? Is there a certain one of these games that calls out to you? Do you worry that Microsoft it going to try to run GOW into the ground? Do you want us to get out of the way, so you can continue fawning over Kingdom Hearts 3? Bes sure to let us know in the comments down below and keep your eyes to our home page as countless more E3 stories will coming your way, as the week progresses.
