The Coalition have big plans for Gears of War 4. We knew that the game would be receiving some Halloween-themed content, but what we didn't know was that the Halloween update is actually a vital stepping stone for another extremely important update for the game: Xbox One X enhancements.
Over on the official Xbox News Wire, The Coalition's community manager, Liam Ashley, explained that there would be some new content rolling out in today's update for Gears of War 4. You'll need the latest Xbox One firmware update to make use of the patch, but it will open up access to the last two main maps for the game.
The first map is the Fuel Depot. It's a cluttered map in an industrial fuel depot (just like the name infers) and gamers will have a few cover points to use to navigate the map while also using broken down jalopies to hug against while blind firing over the hoods. Abandoned gas pumps are perfect spots to keep an eye on if you're a sniper and there's a Longshot tucked away in one of the trucks. The Coalition also broadened the map to allow for more ins and outs when it comes to navigation and attempting to get the drop on your opponents.
The second map in the October update for Gears of War 4 is the Lift Apex. It's a re-imagining of one of the original maps from back when Epic Games was making Gears of War games, well before Cliffy B. briefly retired and then came back to make the fledgling LawBreakers. The Coalition took some creative liberties with the Lift Apex, offering gamers a "faster" and more "tactical" gaming showdown compared to the other maps. The map also includes a few power weapons to fight over, a submarine bay, and some timed shutters that can be used to perform peek-a-boo sniper shots before shutting them down and protecting yourself from incoming fire.
If you purchased a Gears of War 4 season pass you'll already have access to the maps with the added bonus of double XP and a 20% bonus credits option. Everyone else who did not purchase the season pass can still download the maps for free starting October 30th.
This October update will also be the last map roll out for the game and The Coalition is informing the community that this will bring an end to the Developer Playlists that feature double XP and bonus credits per round. However, the developers will be replacing those events with a "Map Owned" bonus, which will offer a permanent increase in XP and credits for any of the maps you own whether you play them in public PvP matches or in the Horde mode.
The update also paves the way for the Halloween Event set to take place at the end of the month, on October 27th. This will introduce new skins and specially themed playlists. Additionally, this latest update also paves the way for another huge feature: Xbox One X enhancements.
The Coalition re-engineered the way patches and updates roll out, so while the initial download may be pretty huge this time around, this is actually to help reduce size in the future. This will also be vital for the Xbox One X enhancements, which are expected to bring native 4K support starting November 7th.
