The one area that really lets it down is nuts and bolts of the online co-op experience. If you’re playing solo or in a duo, any AI character abilities can be summoned by an active player – the number of times we could have AI Keegan top up our ammo was especially useful. The inclination is still to hunker down and cover shooter your way through like a traditional Gears game, but these sprinkle a little something on top and add options. Their abilities are gradually amped up by finding collectable power-ups in the world, giving Mac a wider and longer-lasting shield, for example. Keegan is the support character, able to drop an ammo replenishing bubble, while Mac can create an energy shield to his front and march into the fray, and Lahni has an electrical melee attack. Sure, it leans on a lot of scripting shorthand to bring the team together in the final act, but it’s full of bombastic set pieces and ends at just the right moment to tie into Gears 5’s Escape mode.Ī nice element is how the three characters have different roles that they can take on. What follows are a string of excursions to the nearby islands to try and neutralise the Swarm threat using poisonous bombs, punctuated by disagreements between the trio until they learn each other’s motivations and how to work as a team, unravelling of a mysteries behind a local mythological bird, and some truly ridiculous plans to get to the heart of the Swarm hive.