Gears of War 4 Latest Trailer Spotlights Family Unity In Alien Fight; Fall Release Date and DLC Season Pass

Sep 20, 2016 09:52 AM EDT

When it comes to video games that have a fall 2016 release date, none is more anticipated than Gears of War 4.  This continues a franchise that began a decade ago, and it will continue the story more than a quarter-century later.  This is what is known about Gears of War 4 with the release date, new trailer, as well as the DLC and Season Pass.


Gears of War 4 New Trailer and New Story

 

A report from Xbox Wire reports that Gears of War 4 begins 25 years after protagonist Marcus Fenix and the Delta Squad made the world of Sera safe for the next generation by ridding the universe of the alien Locusts.  Marcus' son JD has lived in that peace, but now there is a new threat known as the Swarm.  Gears of War 4 focuses on JD, Del, and Kait as they survive through the night. 

In fact, it sounds like the campaign of Gears of War 4 is designed to take place within the space of a night, however long that could be on Sera.  CNET had a chance to play a demo of the game and reports that Gears of War 4 is a very story-rich game, making the most of the character development of its main cast, including some father and son tension between JD and Marcus. 

There is a new trailer (which you can view below) showcases some of the dark sci-fi action that looks like it will be a blast to play.  One thing that was only shown briefly were this giant mech suits that look a few stories tall and can probably do a lot of damage.  Of course, it looks like the enemy Swarm of this game is a force to be severely reckoned with, but if you have a mech that can use what looks to be a piece of an airplane as a weapon, then it is at least a great equalizer. 

Ars Technica reports that Gears of War 4 will be the first Xbox One game that can fully support offline LAN play.  Also, PC and Xbox players will be able to cross platforms and join up in any "cooperative" mode, and that includes the two-player campaign.  By the way, Gears of War 4 will look great in 4K, so that Xbox made for 4K had better showcase it well. 


Gears of War 4 DLC and Season Pass

 

As far as the DLC is concerned, there has been a recent announcement of expansion of content.  Originally, the $50 Season Pass was going to feature six Gear Packs, but Gamespot has reported that it has been replaced with a 17-pack Starter Air Drop.  The new Air Drop contains five Horde Boosters, five Versus Boosters, five Operations Packs, and two Elite Packs. 

Coalition studio head Rod Fergusson calls the 85 cars a "sampler platter", and it will also include the VIP Vintage Pack featuring skins and weapons and a character.  There will also be permanent DLC map ownership for 24-plus maps, as well as the Developer Playlist giving the player access to modes, maps, and variants before public release. 


Gears of War 4 Release Date

 

Expect to see Gears of War 4 arrive on the Xbox One and PC on October 11.  By the way, if you buy it digitally on Xbox One, you get a free digital copy of the PC version for free and vice versa, as Gears of War 4 is part of the Play Anywhere program.