In The Coalition’s upcoming latest entry in theGears of Warseries,Gears of War: E-Day, players will pause from the modern-day Swarm conflict and journey back to the beginning of the Locust War on Emergence Day. Here inE-Day’s campaign, gamers will play as young Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as they experience the horrifying destruction of the Locust Horde for the first time. While little has been said aboutGears of War: E-Day’s gameplay, besides that the Locust will be portrayed as more terrifying than ever seen before, the game is still expected to include a form ofGears’ famous multiplayer. WithE-Daybringing back the Locust in full force, The Coalition should consider bringing back one classic game mode: Beast.
Gears of War’s Beast Mode Explained
From the beginning ofGears of War’s multiplayer history in 2006, players have long been able to play as members of the Locust Horde in PVP multiplayer. However, this was largely restricted to variants of the Locust drones or Kantus warriors inGears of War 1and2. This all changed inGears of War 3with the debut of the new game mode called Beast. Inspired by thepopularity ofGears of War 2’s Horde mode, wherein players try to fend off increasingly difficult waves of the Locust Horde, Epic Games chose to develop Beast mode as a direct opposite to Horde that allowed players to play as the monstrous Locust, fighting against waves of human forces.
First revealed at E3 2010,Beast mode is similar toGears of War 3’s Horde 2.0with both game types taking place on the same maps and featuring similar game mechanics. In Beast, up to five players must embody different ranks and beasts of the Locust Horde as they fight increasingly difficult waves of human forces such as Stranded scavengers, COG troops, Onyx Guards, Silverback mechs, and tough COG Heroes. Unlike Horde, players cannot build defense in Beast but instead start off with funds to select tiers of increasingly powerful Locust creatures, each with their own unique weapons and abilities. Only 12 waves are available in Beast mode, but each must be completed within a certain timeframe or the match is lost.
In total, 15 Locust creatures are playable in Beast mode, each more expensive than the last, including:
The Potential Return of Beast Mode in Gears of War: E-Day
While Beast mode had a spiritual successor in the form ofGears of War: Judgment’s PVP mode Overrun, which had one team play as select creatures of the Locust Horde, Beast mode never truly returned in any other mainlineGearsgame beyondGears of War 3. Gamers were not able to play as any of the monstrous Swarm creatures or complex robotic DeeBees inGears of War 4save for the more humanoid Swarm Drones and Scions and DeeBee Shepard variants. This trend continued inGears 5except for gamers who play as JACK who can temporarily hijack and control some of the more monstrous Swarm creatures in Horde 4.0.
For manyGears of Warfans, Beast and Overrun were beloved game types that left players upset after seeing their absence from later mainline titles. WithGears of War: E-Dayset to bring players back toGears’ roots, it would be the perfect opportunity to bring back Beast mode in a brand new, more fleshed-out way. WhileE-Dayis a prequel, its campaign, Beast, Horde mode can still feature every Locust creature seen throughout the series, from the seldom-seen Ragers to the Serapedes, as well as some never-before-seen types. This Beast mode 2.0 could additionally finally allow people to briefly play as some of the more gigantic Locust creatures in multiplayer, such asBrumaks, Hydras, Seeders, and Siegebeasts.
Gears of War: E-Day’s Beast 2.0 Potential Mechanics
Similar to the many iterations of Horde mode throughout theGears of Warseries,Gears of War: E-Day’s Beast mode should be an improved variation of the original.Beast mode 2.0 could still feature five playersfighting against waves of human forces but should include UIR troops and small hostile vehicles. Each wave would no longer be restricted to a short time limit and simply end once every enemy is eliminated, just like Horde mode. Every ten waves could feature a boss wave as well, allowing the player with the highest score to briefly play as a gigantic Locust creature such as the Brumak.E-Daycould further include a variation of Beast called Overrun Beast, allowing a squad of three to fight alongside human AI against Locust players.
Gears of War: E-Day
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The Story of E-DayFourteen years before Gears of War, war heroes Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago return home to face a new nightmare: the Locust Horde. These subterranean monsters, grotesque and relentless, erupt from below, laying siege on humanity itself. New FoundationsBuilt from the ground up with Unreal Engine 5, Gears of War: E-Day delivers unprecedented graphical fidelity.
