We are excited to reveal your first look at Arcade, a brand new type of Versus experience for all types of players. This ultimate jump-in / jump-out mode brings hero characters, each with their own distinct abilities and weapon upgrades, to Gears 5 Versus players.
Arcade Deathmatch is just the beginning, where two teams of five race to be first to 50 kills. This promises to be unlike any Gears Team Deathmatch you’ve ever played!
■ Zero to Heroes
Picking a character is more than just who you want to play—it’s about choosing the way you want to play.
Each hero character has a unique combat style defined by a passive ability, a bounty, a loadout, and a dedicated set of weapon upgrades.
These traits let you play your way more than ever before, whether you want to get up close and personal, keep at a distance with the Longshot or somewhere in between—we’ve got the character for you.
The Tech Test features five heroes* to choose from in Arcade Deathmatch:
Hunter – Kait / Swarm Hunter
Passive: Increased Movement Speed
Bounty: Execute for an additional Skull
Loadout: Hammerburst, Talon Autopistol, Smoke Grenade
Upgrades: Boltok, Incendiary Grenades, Torque Bow
Kait and the Swarm Hunter are versatile characters thanks to their fast movement and vision-blocking smoke grenades.
Their weapons let them catch enemies off guard at range before relocating to avoid being targeted by opponents, or by executing fast flanks on unsuspecting enemies with Incendiaries and Talon.
Support – JD / Swarm Drone
Passive: Spot enemies who damage you. Enemies you spot reward health to killer.
Bounty: Multi-kill for an additional Skull.
Loadout: Lancer, Snub Pistol, Flashbangs
Upgrades: 3 Random Weapon upgrade slots of varying quality
JD and the Drone are the backbone of any team, providing critical healing to teammates who kill any opponents you mark while supporting from a distance with his sturdy loadout.
While their weapon upgrades are randomized, this gives JD and the Drone more versatility as they move between supporting fights and taking out enemies. Plus, who doesn’t love a little surprise sometimes? This hero character is recommended for new players to give the best variety of power weapons.
Heavy – Del / Scion
Passive: Receive Stim(Extra health above the normal maximum) for Kills
Bounty: Multi-kill for an additional Skull
Loadout: Hammerburst, Talon Autopistol
Upgrades: Buzzkill, Mulcher, RL-4 Salvo
If you’re all about the big guns, Del or the Scion is the hero for you.
While Heavy Weapons make this a slower paced hero than others, their passive ability adds additional health (known as Stim) every time they get a kill. This helps them survive when exposing themselves to engage with Heavy Weapons.
CQB – Marcus / Swarm Grenadier
Passive: Cover slide speed and distance increased
Bounty: Execute for an additional Skull
Loadout: Enforcer, Snub Pistol, Smoke Grenade
Upgrades: Shock Grenades, Gnasher, Breaker Mace
For the bold and the brave, these heroes are all about getting up close and very personal. Their loadout and weapon tree sacrifices range in exchange for some potent close range weaponry.
Without many tools to fight at range, their passive allows them to take cover quickly and close the gap. If you see Marcus or the Grenadier pull out Breaker… run.
Sniper – Fahz / Swarm Sniper
Passive: Immune to flinching when ADS or fully scoped
Bounty: Headshot kill for an additional Skull
Loadout: Lancer, Talon Autopistol, Flashbang
Upgrades: Boltok, Marzka, Longshot
Fahz and the Swarm Sniper are for players that love to snipe from a distance thanks to their headshot centric weapons of increasing quality.
Both can take hits without flinching while they line up those sweet headshots on opponents that dare to challenge them at range, so keep calm and land your shots to make them truly shine.
■ Eliminations Get Skulls, Skulls Get Weapons
Skulls play a critical role in boosting your power and claiming victory on the battlefield.
Each Elimination (a kill or assist) puts Skulls in your bank for you to purchase upgrades from your character’s unique weapon tree. Each weapon tree offers weapons of increasing power to pick from– the better the weapon, the more Skulls you’ll need to cash in to equip it.
Cash in Skulls at any time to upgrade, even in the middle of a fight. And don’t worry, Skulls aren’t streak based, so you’ll keep your unspent Skulls even if you die. If you want to mix it up and change characters mid-match, the skulls transfer over so a new character can even start with their most powerful weapon option.
Finally, earn Skulls even faster by using each character’s specific bounty that earns you bonus Skulls.
■ Love that Pop!
Headshots are better than ever in Gears 5, and you’ll see them often in the amped up action of Arcade Mode.
Exclusively in Arcade, headshot damage is boosted to give every weapon a chance to pop heads. This makes Arcade the most fast-paced, visceral experience in Gears Versus. Aim for the head and watch them pop!
Additionally, to keep the focus on each Hero’s distinctive play style, slide cancels in Arcade have a longer cooldown than the standard one-tuning found in the rest of the Versus experience. Without wall bouncing in Arcade, cover to cover action truly shines and we can’t wait for you to try it.
https://www.gears5.com/arcadeWhat can I expect in the Gears 5 Tech Test?
For Gears 5’s Technical Test, we’re bringing three distinct modes across two brand new multiplayer maps to play throughout both test periods:
Arcade: A new approachable, frenetic Versus experience.
Escalation: The pinnacle objective mode of Gears is back and better than ever.
King of the Hill: Capture the hill, enjoy the carnage.
In addition, you’ll also get to try out two new features of Gears 5:
Bootcamp: Practice your skills and learn new mechanics in our new training mode.
Tour Of Duty: Experience a mini Tour of Duty, where you’ll complete Medals to unlock exclusive Tester Weapon Skins to take into Gears 5. Complete all 3 Medals to unlock the exclusive Tester Banner to showcase in Gears 5
When will the Gears 5 Tech Test be available?
Beginning July 17th at 10am PDT, the Tech Test will be available to pre-download for eligible players. The Tech Test will be approximately 15GB.
The first Technical Test period will run from July 19th at 10am PDT until July 22nd at 10am PDT.
The second Technical Test period will run from July 26th at 10am PDT until July 29th at 10am PDT.
During Test periods, our goal is to test our servers handling an influx of players ahead of launch day. Gears 5 has an access queue system in place to protect server stability as much as possible – please be aware you may encounter some queueing as you start to play.
Between test periods, the Tech Test will remain available for download but servers will be offline.
