The Coalition did an admirable job of moving the Gears of War series forward with Gears of War 4, delivering a horror-inspired campaign and a great competitive multiplayer component. If you haven’t picked the game up yet, you’re in for a treat — a free trial is available right now, offering access to all of its modes.
From June 9 until June 15, both Xbox One and PC players can download the trial version of Gears of War 4 and play for up to 10 hours. The trial will let you play through the first act of the campaign — about 20 percent of the total story — and allows you to play Horde mode and competitive multiplayer as much as you want.
The trial comes just in time for Gears of War 4‘s latest update, “Rise of the Horde.” In addition to new Horde skills and loot drops, the update also adds additional difficulty levels. One of these, dubbed “Inconceivable,” gives less health to both you and your enemies in the campaign, which should make for some tense cover-based shooting situations. The “Ironman” option, meanwhile, is as brutal as it sounds. Die once in the campaign, and you have to restart the game from the very beginning. In Horde mode, just one failed wave will end your entire run . The option comes with new achievements for completionists.
Competitive multiplayer, meanwhile, gets two new maps, as well. “Avalanche” was originally seen in Gears of War 2, while “Rust Lung” was first available in Gears of War 3.
As with most Xbox One and Windows 10 free trials, any progress you make in the campaign and multiplayer will be carried over to the full game, should you choose to purchase it, and any achievements you earn will also be retained. The game is currently available for just $30 during the duration of the free trial.
