Gears of War 5 shared the spotlight with a plethora of games at the Xbox briefing for E3 2019 and a release date has finally been set in stone: September 10. Alongside this reveal, Microsoft shared a new multiplayer game mode called Escape and teased some upcoming dates where players will be able to try out the new game.
After a short teaser, an intense cinematic trailer for Gears of War 5 was used to introduce one of the game’s new upcoming modes: Escape. One of Gears of Wars’ premier multiplayer experiences is teaming up to take on waves of enemies, and the new mode puts a spin on it by giving players an object beyond just surviving. Escape is a three-player challenge where players must infiltrate a hive, plant a bomb, and escape before being overrun.
Gears of War 5 releases on September 10 and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will have early access to the game four days before anyone else. Players will get their first chance to play Gears of War 5 during the July 15 tech test for PvP multiplayer. There is a new competitive game type called Arcade that will be available during the test, but no additional details were revealed. On August 19 during Gamescom 2019, players will be able to try out the new Horde mode.
Before concluding the Gears of War 5 portion of the briefing, the T800 robot from the Terminator series was shown holding the classic Gears lancer assault rifle with its chainsaw bayonet. The T800 will be a part of the Terminator Dark Fate character pack which is a free bonus that gamers will either get with their preorder, or through their Xbox Game Pass subscription.
Near the end of the Xbox briefing for E3 2019, Microsoft shared details regarding the components that make up its next-gen console and set the release window for late 2020. The new console, currently being called Project Scarlett, will launch with Halo Infinite, leaving only a handful of major Xbox franchises to hold down the fort through the last wave of games for the current generation Xbox One console. Gears of War 5 will be one of those titles once it releases on September 10, 2019, and dev studio The Coalition will be revealing more of the game’s details during the summer.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.