If you’re ambling along in the new Gears 5 solo mode and wanting to cut your teeth on something a little different, then we would recommend trying out the multiplayer mode. Whether it’s Horde and Escape, or Team Deathmatch that you’re rallying your mates in, cracking into multiplayer totally blind can be an overwhelming experience. Luckily, we’ve got the juice. Check out our Gears 5 Multiplayer tips guide for some suggestions and handy advice for teaming up on the battlefield.
Gears 5 Multiplayer Tips Guide: How to Get the Most out of Multiplayer
Reloading like an expert
This might seem like a strange thing to point out, but Gears 5 is particularly funny about reloading. What you’d think of as a routine action has a number of elements to it in the Gears franchise. You can do what’s called a Perfect Reload, which increases how much damage you can do if you pull it off: you’ll see the bullets change color when this happens. You can only achieve this when trying to do an Active Reload, which involves reloading when the needle on the sliding meter triggered by the reload button hits a sweet spot in the middle. Messing up the Active Reload will jam your weapon, so if you aren’t confident in your skills then don’t attempt this, but the benefits are enormous if you pull it off.
Alert your mates to your enemies
There’s a handy function in Gears 5 that will let you alert your mates to the presence of enemies by marking them. This will help everyone stay alert and aware of the proximity of your foes. You also have the option of marking useful items or locations on the map, including but not limited to ammo stashes. Make the most of this function when you’re scrambling around and trying to communicate things on the fly.
Shooting from the hip versus taking your time
The weapons in Gears 5 multiplayer and the solo campaign are suited to a variety of different situations. Whether it’s sniping your foes from afar or running up to them and pumping them full of bullets at close-range, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your various weapons is essential. If you’ve got a weapon like the Gnasher on hand, you don’t need to bother with aiming, really. Get up close to any enemies that are nosing around and just fire from the hip like Rambo. Get good at this and you’ll clean people out if they so much as try to get the jump on you.
Hit up the AI practice range
There’s no shame in grinding out a couple of matches against some bots while you’re still trying to get the hang of all the mechanics that we’ve described above. You can group up with some mates to take out AI foes while perfecting your Perfect Reload, how to mark things, and also how to get the most out of your weapons. Gears 5 multiplayer has a lot to offer but you might not enjoy it if you’re spending most of your time fumbling around with the controls, so take the chance to learn how stuff works under the hood before jumping in for a better experience.
Now that you’ve got some of our team’s Gears 5 multiplayer tips under your belt, you’ll have a nice starting point when it comes to hashing things out in-game with your mates. Regardless of whatever multiplayer mode you pick, we reckon our advice is pretty universal. If you’ve got any more questions about Gears 5, like the location of the Collectibles in Act 1, then check out our guide on that too.
