During E3, The Coalition revealed Escape, a brand-new way to fight the swarm in Gears 5. Throughout the unveil a versus Technical Test in July was highlighted, and the public eagerly await a confirmed date, especially now that we are in the calendar month of July.
Gears fans rejoice, as the details have been revealed, multiplayer fans of all types will get a chance to get there hands on Escalation (an updated competitive game type), Arcade (a new and approachable multiplayer mode) and a long time favourite of mine: King of the Hill. For those new to the Gears franchise, and those that want to brush up on the skills and learn the new mechanics, a new training mode Bootcamp should suffice.
The Tech Test also features a short Tour of Duty, which is a series of challenges for players to earn content – completing all of these challenges unlocks an exclusive Tech Test Banner. Players can also unlock three Versus Weapon Skins by completing some additional challenges. For a closer look at Escalation, be sure to check out the ELEAGUE Invitational next weekend. (July 13-14).
Included with your Xbox Game Pass membership or as part of your Gears 5 pre-order (whether as a separate 5×5 code from a participating retailer or bundled in your digital pre-order), the Tech Test will be available to download starting July 17 with online play being active from July 19 (starting at 5pm GMT) through July 21, and then active again on July 26 (at 5pm GMT) through July 29.
As mentioned earlier, starting on July 17 at 5pm GMT, you can search for “Gears 5” to pull up the Technical Test on your Xbox One console or Windows 10 PC. If you’re an Xbox Game Pass member, you will see the Tech Test available to download in your library – same as any of the 100+ great games in the catalogue. Note that between the weekend test periods, the Tech Test itself will be available for download, but servers will be offline.
Tech Tests, are designed to help test servers, and get them ready for a games launch. As a result of this you might encounter some queuing when you load up, please remember to be patient. The ultimate goal of the test, to make gears 5 a fantastic online experience for all players and Xbox Game Pass members on launch.
Gear 5 releases on September 10 for Xbox One, Windows 10, and with Xbox Game Pass.