Gears Of War: E-Day Players Share Their Initial Thoughts On The Multiplayer Beta

Let's start with what I think Horde actually is; Horde is setting up increasingly better defences whilst increasingly stronger enemies try to penetrate your defences. Horde is effectively a static game, where you hunker down and mow down the enemies as they dare approach where you have fortified.

Siege has way too much movement within the map, and very little in the way of setting defences.

Now, I have only played 3 Blitz matches, and only whilst solo (so not with my son or my mate, with whom I normally play Gears), so my opinion of the other modes might be better when (if) I play with them.

Bearing in mind I ama a Gears of War fanatic who has sunk over 2000 hours in Horde alone in Gears 5, I think it is telling that after just 3 Blitz matches, which took probably 40 minutes total, I then spent the next 3 hours playing Assassins Creed Black Flag Resynced instead (a game I have only just started, so I'm not exactly invested in it yet). Where I should have felt compelled to play more E-Day, I simply wasn't, which I would suggest means that I am unlikely to be playing E-Day in 7 years time as I have Gears 5.

To me, It's like The Coalition, rather than basing Siege on Horde in Gears of War, have instead taken their inspiration from Call of Duty and Helldivers 2, they have then merged those two games, and then given the result a Gears of War skin. I'm sure there will be many that think the result is awesome, but for me, they have simply changed it too much. It simply does not feel like Horde as I know it.

I'm not saying that there is not something to be enjoyed to some extent. If you like Call of Duty, or if you like Helldivers, then there is certainly going to be something for you there. If you like the characters from Gears of War and the premise, then again it can be enjoyable, I'm sure.

My issue is that it does not feel like a proper Horde from Gears of War. If you play through 50 waves of Horde on Gears 5, and then play Siege you will see what I mean. There is some similarity in some of the enemies, yes, but their movement is very different; they move very fast (which is a nightmare when playing as as sniper), and their movement is very realistic (you'd be forgiven for thinking you were playing against humans rather than AI. It is actually quite remarkable).

Equally, the movement of the Gears is very different too, and where you used to slam into cover in previous games, there is less of a slam now. The COG just don't have the feel of their weight anymore. Also, the weapons don't sound right; there is a lightness to their sound. Instead of a boom, there is more of a bang. They make a noise, but they don't sound capable of doing the same kind of damage that they did in previous games.

The other thing that strikes me is that Siege is much, much shorter than traditional Horde. Instead of 50 waves, we are brought down to a maximum of 10, and instead of up to 3 hours, we are brought down to a minimum of 15 minutes (or maybe less). It's like The Coalition have only sought to appeal to those with a short attention span.

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Continued from comment 6:

To finish off, I have to send out a special mention for the menu music in a separate comment; so here goes; I think the E-Day menu music is absolutely awful. And I mean terrible with a capital T. I don't think I have ever played a game and noticed just how awful the menu music is before. In other games I have had songs I don't like, and I often turn the music down in a game if the music is not to my liking, but that's whilst actually playing, not in the menu? I was grateful that there was an option to change it to Metallica because honestly it was just dire.

I think all that I have written above demonstrates the problem that The Coalition have done with Horde (as far as I am concerned), they have simply changed far, far too much. There is still something to entertain people, but whether the community finds as much pleasure in Siege as they have done with Horde in previous games is another matter. After the short amount of time I have played in the game, I cannot see me being here long term, which is majorly disappointing...

Yes, @Mr-Cage. It is one of the options in Settings...

I think the best way to sum up Siege, @Old_Man_Harper, is that Helldivers and Call of Duty got very drunk one night, got very intimate, and then a while later they had a baby that they dressed up in COG armour.

The movement of the COG is fast and fluid, which is completely different to what we are used to. It's not bad by any stretch, but it is very different.

The way that there are 3 matches ongoing on the same map, but not starting at the same time, is kind of odd. At least that was what I thought in Blitz, which at this time is the only mode I have played. Whether the other modes will be starting at the same time, I don't know.

There was an announcement at one point about a supply drop, but I had no marker as to where it was, and no idea where I was supposed to find it. A couple of minutes later there was another announcement to say that another squad had claimed it, which obviously meant that my squad missed out on the goodies. It strikes me as really strange that in a middle of a wave where you are defending (whatever it is that you are supposed to defend (I have no idea what it is or what it does)) that you are expected to run off and locate the supply drop. It flies in the face of the notion of defending the... er, whatever it is. Maybe I'll get a better understanding when I play some more.

There were a lot of tickers, I did notice that. It was nice to see them back, but with no defences there were a few occasions where one suddenly appeared next to me even whilst at the back of the map in an elevated position whilst playing as a sniper. Not having useful defences is going to take some getting used to...

Exactly, @Weebleman, and I have said the same thing. There is no weight to the COG. They might just as well have been running around in their underwear... 😂

I get what you are saying, @fatpunkslim, but before you outright dismiss the concerns that long standing Gears of War players have, will you still be playing every single weekend in 7 years time? Because that is the test of how good a game is. It's not this is great, play for a month and then forget about it. It is picking it up on a regular basis and playing it for many, many hours long after the developers have stopped putting out new content for it.

You say they have kept what makes it gears, but have they? Not when it comes to movement they haven't. That's not to say that it is not good now, but it is not the same, and it is not even an evolution of the old movement. It is literally completely different. It is now like every other game out there, so that's part of the identity of Gears of War gone.

When was the last time you played Horde? I played it last weekend, and I can tell you for a fact that Siege is completely different to Horde from the past games. And again, it is so different, that it is the identity of Gears of War that has gone.

Siege feels like you are in a warzone in any number of games you can play. Yes, it has Grubs and Chainsaws etc. but the actual gameplay can be found elsewhere. What made Horde different from every other game out there is gone. Taking up a defensive position, building defences, and defending that position from the Locust horde is gone. Now you have simply been placed on an ongoing battlefield and you are fighting against a number of waves of enemies, but are expected to leave where you are during the wave to complete optional objectives or collect weapon parts mid-wave, which is not what Horde has ever been before.

As I say, people may enjoy what is on offer. If they have played Call of Duty, Battlefield or Helldivers, they will probably enjoy what is on offer here, but the truth is that when the next such game comes out there may well will be an exodus from E-Day as they head off to the next big game. Change is good, change needs to happen, but it needs to be an evolution not a cull of everything that made the game individual in the first place. All I am saying is that as someone that has probably put well over 5000 hours into all the different Gears of War games, these changes are alienating me, and I would imagine that will the case for a sizeable percentage of the existing Gears of War community. If the Old Guard, such as myself, leave, and are replaced by an equal number of new players, then E-Day will thrive. From my perspective, as a long-time Gears of War player, I cannot see that happening, but then I may be blinded by my dislike of the implemented changes.

Obviously, if you are still playing each weekend in 7 years time, then please be sure to tell me... 😉

Is there any chance you can provide a link to the Reddit you mention, please, @FraserG? I cannot seem to find it, and I'd like to see what they are saying. Thanks...

@Fiendish-Beaver You see the embedded posts in the article though, yeah? The four Reddit ones?

They all come from here -

https://www.reddit.com/r/GearsOfWar

Ahh, that's me being dumb, @FraserG. I didn't realise you could click on them to take me there. Just call it me being old! Sorry... 🤣

@Fiendish-Beaver No problem at all! I was just worried that you couldn't see them on your end

I think you are right in that you cannot please everyone, @Millionski, but my only real concern here is whether The Coalition are going to shun their existing community in search of a new community that may not go with them. If they cannot reach a new and semi-permanent audience that will play each week, then they are setting themselves up to fail, which will obviously be very bad for the franchise.

Part of the problem is that they have removed some of the things that made Gears of War, Gears of War; they've removed Meatshields, and would appear to have removed the Boltok Pistol. Also it would seem that Chainsaw battles are a thing of the past. These things are quintessentially Gears of War. They are was makes the franchise different; what separates them from all the other shooters out there. I see no reason to have removed these things at all as they are part of the games identity...

I think the game is okay, @Mr-Cage. The movement is good, the graphics are great. It sounds good too. The problem is that where I found Horde in previous entries to be something I really, really wanted to keep playing, I don't feel that way about Siege right now.

As you say, with luck there either is a traditional Horde mode, or they can add one in a bit later. I know some are very much enjoying it, so all power to them...

Well I just tried to complete a Horde mode in Siege, @Mr-Cage. I say tried because after 2 waves, 2 of the 4 man squad left! Myself and the other guy battled on and got to Wave 10, which we almost completed before having a team wipe. We tried once more and failed again. I then tried on my own, because the other guy left, and I was quickly overwhelmed. So, basically it was a waste of time. It doesn't really feel like Horde. It is very hectic, and chaotic, and feels very disorganised. Very little in the way of defence setting, but it does feel like a warzone, but it certainly does not feel like Horde as I know it. Was it fun? To a degree, but whereas I would finish 50 waves of Horde in Gears 5 and immediately see whether my team were up for another 50 waves (which takes anything up to 3 hours), I didn't feel like that after Siege. Admittedly I was playing solo, and it will definitely feel more organised if my 2 other guys were also playing, but after nearly 10 waves, I'm ready to play something else for the rest of the evening.

All I can hope for it that there is, or there will be, a more traditional Horde mode with the full release. Honestly, I doubt it, but I have to have hope...

On day one, I played 3 games of Siege Blitz, and it was okay, and it is at least finished pretty quickly (probably around 15 minutes on Recruit difficulty). Like I say, it was okay, but having finished 3 games I did not feel compelled to play any more, and switched to another game for the next 3 hours (so I had time to play more, but wasn't really interested).

On day two, I tried one game of Horde Siege, which is 10 waves of Horde mode, which lasted over an hour. After two waves, two of my teammates dropped out to be replaced by bots. I was actually shocked that they were not replaced by human players, as the servers are apparently being hit hard, and you would have thought that people could have jumped into the game. If that is not an option, I do think that it is an option that people should be able to tick to say they are happy to join mid-game, or leave unticked if they only want to start from the beginning (which is fair enough). Anyway, I was very surprised to have two bots for the rest of the game. Myself and the other human player battled on until wave 10 where we were then overwhelmed twice (the bots being pretty much useless). After the second wave wipe, the other guy left, so I tried once more, and that didn't go well either, and thus I had to leave too meaning I never got to complete the session. After that, I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to play any more, and switched to another game.

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And so we get to day 3 of the Beta, and I just played the Siege mode of Horde Siege for the first time, meaning I have now completed all 3 variants of Horde Siege. I was actually the lowest level of the 4 man team at just level 5 (Marksman). Anyway, it lasted for something like 45 minutes to an hour, and was the most fun I had in the game, although I will say this, the whole thing is so confusing (which is something in common with all the modes, albeit it could just be me!).

To start with, a notification pops up in the top left hand corner telling you to start the RIG, so you would think that means...er, start the RIG would you not? Anyway, when we get into the game there is a High Value Target on the map, and so instead of heading towards the RIG, my team sprints off towards the HVT. I duly follow, and we kill it. I start to head towards the RIG, and another HTV appears, and so once again, we head off in a different direction and kill that too. We then actually start the RIG. Then I notice a zone nearby. There is no notification to say stand in it, but that's what I do, and before long, the other 3 members of my team join me. We do this 3 or 4 times in total, but there is nothing to tell us to enter the zones as such, but once you enter it a progress bar pops up. Also, during one of zone captures, a pop up for a Supply Drop appears, and so we all abandon the zone to collect this drop. Problem is, that leaves our RIG vulnerable, though fortunately it sustained very little damage. Anyway, once we capture the 4th zone, we are told to extract, except that's not what happened, instead we ran to another RIG and started that one up! We then get told we have to kill the various bosses in the wave, and then finally my character calls for extraction.

Now, it was not that any of this was not enjoyable, because it was, but what it really was was confusing! There were no explanations at all, it was utterly confusing. Also, what would have happened if one of us had immediately started the RIG whilst the other 3 were off doing a side mission? Also, if one person claims the rewards, do we all get them, or do we individually have to claim them? I know only one of the team has to extract for everyone to get the rewards, but if I don't shoot at the HVT, can I still claim the rewards, or does only one of our team need to claim it in order for all of us to get them?

Obviously, if I play enough of these modes I will get a better understanding of them, but I have to say that The Coalition have done an exceptionally poor job of explaining things. We shouldn't have to run around in an utterly confused state trying to understand what on Earth is going on. We shouldn't have to work it out on the fly.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on it thus far...

Thank you, @ILuvGames. I can see the names of the individuals on my team, is that what you mean? Or can you turn on a setting to show Alpha, Bravo, Charlies teams? I know we are colour coded, but it can be confusing as to which team you are actually in. I worry I might stand with the wrong team, defending the wrong RIG...!

When it comes to the secondary objectives, what about the RIG? If we have already started the RIG and then run to the other side of the map to complete a secondary objective, what happens if our RIG is destroyed? Should we start the RIG before running around doing the optional objectives, or do as many as possible before starting it? Also, Supply Drops, I am right in thinking that only one team can claim them, yes? Does everyone have to claim the reward, or just one person for the whole team to get it.

If you die, and no one claims your GOG Tags, what happens? When do you get back in? I'm wondering what happens if one person runs off to collect a Supply Drop only to die across the map, and no one comes to collect their Tags. Do they just stay dead until the game ends, or do they respawn after a certain amount of time or at the end of a wave?

I will say that I stand by my initial assessment that what The Coalition have come up with barely resembles traditional Horde at all. That's not to say that there is not some fun to be had, but I think they have over complicated the mode, but maybe that is what gamers want now. Instead of it being hunker down, build defences, and face increasingly difficult enemies, it is now a much more mobile game, and even at the end of waves there might still be enemies about, which seems kind of bizarre to me. I do worry that The Coalition, in chasing the Helldivers trend, have lost a lot of the identity of Horde, and what made the mode so much fun in the first place. It might be that they will find a new community, maybe even a larger one. It might be that the likes of myself and those I play with are in the minority in disliking what The Coalitions have done with Siege.

It might be that The Coalition will surprise (and delight) the likes of myself, and introduce a traditional Horde mode to sit alongside Siege, although I doubt that, unfortunately, mostly because that would require a much smaller map, and where PvP and Horde would share maps, now PvP and Siege share them, and so it would need a second set of maps for Horde, which is why I very much doubt they will do it. There would be far too much work involved.

Regardless, I am very much looking forward to playing the Campaign (though I would much have preferred to have had one for Gears 6), however you just know that there will be a lot of people who won't like what The Coalition come up with because it 'Won't be dark enough' or 'Where is Baird and Cole?' or 'It's too open/too linear' or 'Where is this enemy/that enemy (even though GoW lore would dictate that they should not be in the game) - you just know these things are going to be said. As I have said before, I like every Campaign, and that includes 5s and Judgement's, so whatever they go with, so long as it sticks to the lore, I will likely be very happy.

We just have to hope the game is successful because regardless of our differing opinions on Siege, we both want further games in the franchise, and that will only come if enough people stick with the game...

On a side note, @ILuvGames, what do you think to the Massive Head in the sky boss, and the Vomiting Toad? They are certainly different for the franchise. Although I am glad that The Coalition have not tried to put in Berserkers or Armoured Kantus's (I was hoping for Bloodmounts and Serapedes though!)...