Latest news with #GearsOfWar
Digital Trends
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Halo Infinite deserves a second life, and Nintendo Switch 2 could give it one
This past year we've watched Xbox be the first to start tearing down the walls of game exclusivity. It began with just four titles, but now we've seen the likes of Forza Horizon 5, Oblivion Remastered, and Sea of Thieves become top sellers on PS5, and more are already on the way. The Outer Worlds 2 and Gears of War: Reloaded are confirmed for a multiplatform release, which leaves only one major Xbox IP unaccounted for. Halo is the last franchise that Xbox hasn't let go of yet. Perhaps it's a matter of timing, or concern that seeing Halo on PlayStation will truly be the mark that it has crossed the Rubicon. Many speculate, myself included, that it is only a matter of time before that glass is shattered and we see Halo break free from Xbox consoles and PC. The question, however, is which game should make the jump first? The Master Chief Collection and Halo Infinite are the two clear targets. After revisiting the latter this week, I believe Halo Infinite could find its second wind if given the chance with a new audience on Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5. Recommended Videos Feels like coming home This week I stumbled upon a post on a gaming forum detailing a new Halo 3 throwback event going on in Halo Infinite. Looking inside, I was greeted with the iconic Hayabusa helmet as a new cosmetic reward and my mind rushed back to a hot summer day in the back room of my mom and stepfather's house. Two online friends and I had read about the helmet and had loaded up The Covenant level to jump through the holographic Halo rings in a specific order to unlock the final skull required to get the helmet. It was a memory I didn't know I still had. Below the helmet, I saw promotional images of recreations of several iconic Halo 3 maps and knew I had triggered an itch that only a true Halo experience could scratch. Just to satisfy my nostalgia, I downloaded Halo Infinite for the first time in years. I contemplated going for The Master Chief Collection instead to get the pure nostalgic experience instead of a simulacra, but had caught mumblings here and there over the last year or two that Infinite had managed to pull itself together and solve most of its issues and thought I would give it a second chance. My first order of business was to switch back to my old preferred control scheme from back in the day. Yes, I'm sure mapping zoom on R3 and melee on B isn't optimal from a competitive standpoint, but anything else just feels wrong. Thankfully, most of the old control schemes are available, but I could fully customize them if needed. With that sorted, I was instantly reminded that Infinite's problems never laid with its gunplay. Getting my hands on a Battle Rifle and nailing my first four-shot in years felt like I was right back in high school grinding Slayer matches late at night with online friends. My ability to navigate maps on instinct also snapped back into place. Somehow, my muscle memory never forgot all the best routes, sightlines, and trick jumps in multiplayer levels I hadn't set foot in for years. Beyond that wave of nostalgia I felt, Infinite is just plain fun. While it isn't the pure multiplayer experience of the past, the battle pass and leveling system are unobtrusive enough to ignore until I feel like exploring them. I was mostly free to enjoy the tense thrills of a CTF match and the exhilaration of pulling off a clutch snipe in a way that feels lost on many of the modern multiplayer games I try out. The best thing I can say about Infinite is that it stays out of its own way of letting me have fun just playing each individual game. Nostalgia isn't universal, of course, so I eventually had to leave my comfort zone of classic maps, modes, weapons, and movement style to see if Halo Infinite could stand on its own. Diving into the regular playlists, my main takeaway was that if this were the package Infinite launched with, the entire narrative around the game (at least its multiplayer component) would be vastly different. Playlists are easy to navigate and I can further tweak what game modes I want to search for within different categories. The map selection is huge, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a ton of community-made maps featured in official playlists with credits to their creator. There's even a new version of Firefight, the PvE hoard mode that I somehow never knew existed. But it is the community maps and playlist browser that make Infinite, well, infinite. Even though official support is waning, a thriving community can keep this game alive so long as there's an audience. Launching without Forge may have been the single biggest unforced error that set Infinite into a death spiral. Daily and weekly challenges are still here, as are battle passes with currencies and cosmetics to unlock. Personally, those were a big part of what turned me off of Infinite in the early days — specifically the challenges. At launch, those could include things like getting kills while holding the Oddball, getting specific weapon kills, and playing specific playlists. Those might seem innocent enough, but since challenges were the only way to progress at the time, it created scenarios where matches weren't about winning but each individual player trying to complete their own objective. I knew that had been fixed at some point, and I was glad to see that just playing matches was rewarding me with meaningful amounts of progress toward both a battle pass and individual rank. I might've just gotten lucky in my few days back in the game, but all the challenges I saw were as broad as 'Play any match,' and 'Win X matches' that didn't conflict with playing the game naturally. Battle passes are another area I remember hearing was overhauled, and that is indeed true. There's a premium path with extra goodies, sure, but unless you're really into customizing your Spartan and don't want to wait to earn enough currency naturally, there's no real pressure to invest. Plus, you can pause and go back to any battle pass previously released so there's no sense of FOMO gnawing at you if you take a break. For those who have been paying attention, none of this is new news. Infinite has been on this path of redemption for years now and probably deserved a big comeback story long ago. Sadly, I believe that era is over for most games. Infinite had its shot at a good first impression and fumbled it. People have moved on and, like me, have plenty of new games to play. Many PS5 and Switch 2 players know what Infinite is. They might even only know it from its initial bad reception. However, we're still early enough in this experiment of Xbox games coming to competing platforms where just the novelty of a Halo game on PlayStation and Nintendo hardware will draw people in for the sheer novelty of it. Being free also goes a long way to entice anyone with only a passing curiosity to pull the trigger. We've already seen Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 5 enjoy this effect. Both games, despite their age, topped the sales charts when they came to PS5. With full cross-platform support, Infinite could elevate the Halo IP back to its glory days with a fresh audience. The Xbox has already seen how well PS5 players take to its games, but the Switch 2 is a budding market still hungry for new experiences. Infinite could be the only game in town for a polished multiplayer FPS. And if it could incorporate the new mouse controls, it could be the best way to play. Everyone on PC and Xbox who was willing to stick with, or return to, Infinite has done so already. I'm not done playing it, and know that it could have a fresh start with a new audience.
The Verge
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Xbox's new handheld is a surprisingly comfortable way to play Gears
Xbox has revealed its new handheld line, the ROG Xbox Ally and the Ally X, made in partnership with Asus. And I got the chance to play it during Summer Game Fest. My colleague Tom Warren has already broken down how the handheld works with its operating system, UI, and integration with the Xbox app and third-party game stores. Meanwhile, I'll get into the simple experience of playing the dang thing — and the biggest selling point, for me, was comfort. Despite my best efforts, the eagle-eyed Xbox PR reps did not let me peek at the device's storefronts or play the much-anticipated Hollow Knight: Silksong. So for this brief hands-on overview, I'll cover the game that I did get to play — Gears of War: Reloaded. I can sum up my experience with the Ally X (as I recall, the less powerful white Xbox Ally was not available) with a few words: I need this. The Ally X felt roughly the same weight as a Steam Deck. But with its hand grips, modeled to resemble the form factor of an Xbox controller, it felt like a literal dream. I've struggled with my Steam Deck for a long time because it's not comfortable to hold. After extended gaming sessions, my hands stiffen into claws that take a moment to regain their flexibility and normal use. While I wasn't able to spend hours playing the Ally X to test my hands' endurance, I could already notice the difference in my fingers within moments of picking it up. It felt good to hold, both in weight and form factor. As for playing Gears, it was a seamless experience. Microsoft had the remaster of the seminal Xbox shooter (its second remaster in the game's 25-year history) set up across the different platforms that the game supports. I played on a regular Ally at first, then I moved over to the Ally X, and the differences were subtle but noticeable. The device's weight felt comparable to a Steam Deck. I performed better on the Ally X, which could be a component of having already warmed up, but my shooting was tighter and more accurate. Visually, between the Ally and the Ally X, I didn't notice a difference, but I really wasn't looking for one. I was so enamored with how comfortable it felt in my hands that any graphical differences seemed less important in comparison. I wish I could have seen more of the home UI to judge the ease of loading in games or jumping from Steam games to Xbox games or judge Xbox Play Anywhere games versus those streamed from an Xbox or over the cloud. But like I said, the eagle-eyed PR folks kept this to a Gears demonstration only. I love the portability of my Steam Deck, Switch, and PS Portal. Those three are my preferred ways to play over my desktop and consoles. While there are still a lot of question marks around the Ally X, particularly with its interface and how it holds up over long sessions, that little bit of comfort has gone a long way to selling me on a portable Xbox.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gears of War creator admits he can't explain a key event within one of his games: "Sometimes ya just put stuff in a game you think is cool"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. While there's still no release date for Gears of War: E-Day, series creator Cliff Bleszinski has decided now is the time to just let it all hang loose and reveal he kind of winged it with some of that Locust and Riftworm stuff. Recently on Twitter, Bleszinski shared that a major showdown in Gears of War 3 kind of... makes no sense. In Gears of War, the Locust Horde are mutated humanoids, the result of genetic experiments, and develop their own governing society. This also included a religion known as the Trinity of Worms which worshipped the Riftworms, giant, 10-mile-long worms which created the Hollow, where the Locust reside. Despite the rich lore surrounding the Riftworms and their relation to the Locust, it turns out some stuff was left blank. During Gears of War 3, one Locust known as Ketor Skorge, awoke a Riftworm to be used as a weapon of mass destruction in their war against the humans. There's just a tiny detail missing from the fact that Skorge was able to command the Riftworm at will: Bleszinski has no idea how he did it. According to his tweet, Bleszinski has no explanation for how the Locust "got control of the Riftworm in the first place, and two: how they guided it to their desired target." While sharing his retrospection, Bleszinski defends his lack of explanation with a simple idea that some gamers can get behind, while others will demand answers for: "Sometimes ya just put stuff in a game you think is cool. You don't have to fully explain everything; let 'em wonder." The only issue now is that regardless of how much Gears of War fans "wonder," they'll know in their heart of hearts that even the creator doesn't have a clue. REPO and Schedule 1 receive the highest honor an indie game can possibly get outside 2 seconds in a Nintendo sizzle reel: Geoff Keighley telling the world they're outselling some genuine AAA juggernauts
The Verge
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Did Microsoft just tease a Halo CE remaster?
Xbox chief Phil Spencer just casually revealed Gears of War: E-Day is coming in 2026, 25 years after the launch of the original Xbox. It's arriving alongside a 'the next Forza,' according to Spencer, and 'the return of a classic that's been with us since the beginning.' That classic sure sounds like the Halo CE remaster I wrote about last year.
The Verge
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Gears of War: E-Day is coming in 2026
Microsoft first revealed Gears of War: E-Day during its Xbox Games Showcase last year, and at today's showcase it's now putting a 2026 release window on the latest entry in the sci-fi shooter series. Developed by The Coalition, E-Day will release in a year that marks 20 years since the original Gears of War game debuted on the Xbox 360, and 25 years of Xbox. E-Day is set 14 years before the first Gears game, and 'tells the story of the first Locust emergence on Sera.' It's being billed as an origin story, and once again stars Marcus Fenix. E-Day is the first title in the series since Gears 5 debuted in 2019. Last month, Microsoft also announced a Gears of War remaster that also brings the franchise to PlayStation for the first time. Gears of War: Reloaded is launching on August 26th for Xbox Series X / S, PlayStation, and PC for $39.99. The remaster features 4K resolution, 120fps support, and cross-progression and cross-play for all platforms. Gears of War: Reloaded will also have two-player co-op for the campaign and 8-player multiplayer. Xbox chief Phil Spencer confirmed the E-Day release window during the Xbox Games Showcase earlier today, and also revealed a 'new Forza' is coming in 2026 too, as well as 'the return of a classic that has been with us since the beginning.' That classic may well be the .
