Two surprises there for sure, with Gears 5 set to get a major next-gen update for the Xbox Series X launch on November 10. First-up Dave Batista, a huge Gears fan and someone who would jump at the chance to play Marcus Fenix in a Gears movie, is stepping into the role with re-recorded lines and his likeness.

Microsoft notes that the original Marcus will also be an option for players too. Batista arrives alongside a major update that includes multiplayer skins playable in the campaign, a new Inconceivable Mode difficulty setting, and Ironman Mode - which is the whole one life one chance deal. Plus, a tonne of modifiers/mutators adding things like big head mode, friendly fire, and various visual filters. Head here for the full breakdown.



Last but certainly not least, the Xbox Series X version of Gears 5 will outdo the already impressive PC release. Currently Gears 5 on PC set to Ultra is one the industry's go to benchmarks - in our review of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3080 that beast of a card managed to hit an average frame-rate of 74.6. So yeah, the Xbox Series X is no doubt something of a beast too. Here's a breakdown of the visual updates coming.

PC Ultra visual feature set (this is more true on Series X)

PC Ultra-HD texture pack (Series X only)

60 FPS (Series X only) cinematics allowing more seamless blending between gameplay and cinematics

120 FPS in Versus

Screen Space Global Illumination which gives your scene dynamic bounce lighting

Contact Shadows allowing per-pixel accurate shadowing

4x improvement in load times

50% more particles than PC Ultra

Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) for more responsive gaming

All of the above will arrive in time for launch too - so for those looking for a next-gen showcase, Gears 5 will most certainly fit the bill.