In a few weeks, the series that is no longer called Gears of War will provide a test option for its newest instalment’s multiplayer.

Microsoft announced that Gears 5’s „Versus Multiplayer Technical Test” on Xbox One and Windows 10 from July 19 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET to July 21, and again from July 26 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET to July 29. (Central European time is 7 PM.) The game can be pre-loaded from July 17, 10 AM PT, allowing you to get it in two days before the test starts. You need to either preorder any version of Gears 5 or have an Xbox Game Pass subscription.

These game modes will be present in the technical test:

• Escalation – Gears 5‘s updated competitive game type. (More on this mode below.)
• Arcade – A new and approachable multiplayer [Versus PVP] game type.
• King of the Hill – A longtime fan favourite.
• Bootcamp – A new training mode for players new to Gears or those that want to practice their skills and learn new mechanics.
• Tour of Duty – A short series of challenges for players to earn content. Completing all of these challenges unlocks an exclusive Tech Test Banner. Players can also unlock three Versus Weapon Skins by completing some additional challenges.

And on the image below, you can see the minimum system requirements, the recommended system requirements, and the ideal system requirements even split to AMD and NVidia hardware. With this chart, you can easily see how well Gears 5 could run on your PC in case you don’t plan to play on Xbox One.

Let’s talk about the Escalation mode: „Escalation is the pinnacle objective-based mode in Gears 5 that brings out the best in individual play, teamwork and strategizing. The basic principle of Escalation is simple. Two teams of five players battle to control three rings on the map – one close to your spawn, one in the middle and one close to your opponent’s spawn. Every ring your team holds earns you one point a second towards the round-winning goal of 250 (up from 210 in Gears of War 4). If you hold 3 Rings at once, you’ll win an instant Domination Victory. The first team to win seven rounds wins. After every round, new weapons are placed on the battlefield and the player respawn times change in length. While the basics of Escalation remain mostly unchanged from Gears 4 to Gears 5, the layers on top have changed entirely to create the deepest game mode ever seen in Gears,” Gears 5‘s website says.

Gears 5 is out on September 10 on Xbox One and Windows 10.

Source: Gematsu, WCCFTech