One of the Gear of War series’ mainstays, Horde Mode, a game type that pits players against an onslaught of foes, is making a return to the Canadian-developed series with Gears of War 4.
The classic five-person co-op gameplay from earlier entries in the series is set to feature 50 waves of enemies, with each stage featuring increasingly difficult foes. Every 10 levels a boss wave appears and players also now have the ability to manufacture defenses, including turrets, weapons and other tools to keep the horde of Locusts at bay.
“To us it was really important to bring this [Horde Mode] back for Gears 4. What we heard from fans was that this was something they missed from Gears of War Judgment… Horde mode is something that there’s been a lot of passion around, even before we got the franchise,” said Ryan Cleven, lead multiplayer designer of Gears of War 4 in an interview with MobileSyrup.
Gears of War 4’s Horde mode also includes a new class-based system, allowing players to select either a Soldier, Sniper, Heavy or Engineer.
“We tried to build the classes on a distinctly Gears and Horde idea where we wanted every character and player to still have the classic core abilities, like anyone can pick up a gun off the battlefield and kill monsters. But we still wanted to go deeper where we provided players with roles, specifically where those roles facilitated new co-op moments… It’s there to bring out interactions between people,” said Cleven.
A few months ago we sat down with The Coalition studio head Rod Ferguson to discuss his Vancouver-based studio, as well as his return to Canada. When The Coalition took over the Gears series from Epic Games, the studio was tasked with rebuilding the game’s engine from scratch, recreating the Gears feel fans of the franchise are familiar with, but also injecting much-needed life into the series.
“There’s a while spectrum of horde fans, ranging from the social fans who would play it almost like a board game where they’re hanging out killing monsters, and all the way up to the ultra hardcore that are really trying to refine their ability to get up to level 50,” said Cleven.
Gears of War 4 is set to be released on October 11th for the Xbox One.
Related: This Week in Gaming: Gears of War 4’s Canadian-developed homecoming
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