Gears 5 is the sixth installment in the Gears of War franchise from Microsoft Xbox Game Studios. This is where it feels like the game is at par with Gears 4 and that isn't a bad thing at all. Horde and the campaign are joined by a fun-yet-odd cooperative experience called Escape. 13 years after the franchise's first release, The Coalition's additions to Gears 5 are all things that seem right at home with the elements that give the series its identity.

Gears 5 also includes a level editor for Escape mode that allows for custom maps built using tiles in a top-down view editor. While this may sound like it becomes redundant, it's actually nicely varied thanks to some interesting gameplay modifiers and hives that are elaborate and have an assortment of enemies.

Gears 5 stalwarts Horde and Versus return like battleworn COGs from yet another fight against the relentless Locust menace, but annoyances mar the party. The Coalition also takes a few chances to expand Gears of War out of its comfort zone, and the results are mixed.

Although the more powerful defensive ones can muddle the unique sense of vulnerability for which Gears of War's combat is known. So she and Del, a member of Delta Squad, defy orders and, with the help of their friends, head out to solve the mystery of Kait's heritage and what's really going on with The Swarm.

But Gears 5 finds a workable balance between its former, strictly linear layout and the often overwhelming , sidequest-and-collectible-crammed open worlds of games like Assassin's Creed. Horde mode is as thrilling as ever, offering 12 maps, tough waves of enemies (especially those with leeches, a wild new foe gears 5 ranked gameplay that might have the best sound design in the series), and distinct hero traits to alter the flow from match to match.

Changes to tone aside, Gears 5 still keeps its best asset - the third-person combat - fully intact, and with a few additions to make it feel fresh. Multiplayer options include co-op through the campaign, standard Versus deathmatch where shotguns and close-quarters combat still reign supreme, and Horde from previous games.

Much of the game's narrative focuses on Kait Diaz, finally getting the spotlight she so rightfully deserved in Gears Of War 4, a game that wanted so badly to be a story about the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter but told it through the eyes of J.D. Fenix, the questionable stand-in for the sometimes unbearably macho Marcus.