Gears 5: Hivebusters is perhaps the best Gears experience I’ve had in quite some time. The fact that Hivebusters isn’t a full game, but a bite-sized portion, speaks volumes. If you’re a fan of the series, you owe it to yourself to check out this little slice of heaven.
Game Name: Gears 5: Hivebusters DLC
Platform(s): PC (reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Publisher(s): Microsoft
Developer(s): The Coalition
Release Date: December 15, 2020
Price: $19.99 / Included with Xbox Game Pass
A $20 DLC campaign (or free if you have Xbox Game Pass) that puts players right in the middle of yet another planet-saving mission. Except this time, we’re not playing with familiar characters from the Gears universe. Instead, you play as three newcomers: Keegan, Lahni, and Mac. These three are affectionately known as “Scorpio Squad,” and they’re some of the best additions to the Gears universe thus far. They also happen to be the same three characters you play in Gears 5: Escape, and Hivebusters serves as a prologue to this mode—origins, so to speak.
One thing is for sure: after playing this and looking back at the original Gears 5 release, it’s clear that The Coalition has stepped up its game in visuals, sound, storytelling, and performance. Hivebusters is one of those titles that can be played on both Xbox and Windows 10, and I took advantage of this to see how the console version compared to the PC.
I played parts of the campaign in my living room on the Xbox Series X, while also testing on my HTPC. To be honest, I couldn’t tell the difference—and that blows my mind. This is the benefit Microsoft and Xbox talked about so much leading up to the merger of the console/PC ecosystems, and it shows that Xbox (at least in this instance) has a very bright future.
When it comes to performance and visuals, both shine. On Xbox Series X, the game benefits from PC-level enhancements, with added Series X-specific upgrades that make for some seriously stunning visuals. The HDR implementation was easily some of the best I’ve seen on the console, and performance was flawless; not a single stutter or dropped frame. Moving to PC, the experience was just as strong. Well, except the HDR. Windows and HDR is still one of those unsolved mysteries.
This isn’t to discredit the Xbox Series X. It’s a fantastic machine, and I can’t wait to see more games that take advantage of it. But on PC, scalability is always the challenge since not everyone has high-end hardware. Yet, The Coalition has proven they’re masters of the Unreal Engine. For this review, I used an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X processor, Nvidia RTX 2080 Super, and 32GB DDR4 RAM. The game handled everything like a champ. Even when I cranked the resolution to 1440p and 4K with ultra graphics, the game didn’t skip a beat. I did enable dynamic scaling at 4K, but honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference.
Hivebusters is a graphical tour de force, no matter what platform you play on.
Another highlight is that it can be completed in just one sitting. Unlike Gears 5, which at times felt like it overstayed its welcome, Hivebusters is a tight 3 to 4-hour romp that’s completely self-contained. The Coalition deserves praise here, as the storytelling is some of the strongest the series has seen.
Different but Still the Same
The gunplay feels slightly refined—tighter and more responsive than in Gears 5. The changes aren’t drastic, so fans can jump in without adjustment. Still, the improvements were noticeable, and I hope they carry into Gears 6. The game is more linear than Gears 5’s open-world areas, which works well to keep the narrative focused.
Then there are the wild set pieces, like riding a giant metal door down a lava river while enemies relentlessly pursue you. Screenshots can’t do moments like this justice—you have to experience them. The lush tropical island setting, which ties into Lahni’s backstory, is also a refreshing departure from the industrial environments typical of Gears.
And don’t worry, the action is constant and intense.
Instead of bots accompanying you, Hivebusters introduces Ultimate Abilities for your three-person squad. Keegan drops ammo crates, Mac provides shields to tank damage, and Lahni excels at crowd control. Each ability has a cooldown, so they can’t be spammed, but when used in clutch moments they feel invaluable compared to the old bot system.
More than anything, Hivebusters delivers tension like no other entry in the series. Multiple “hold out” scenarios had me sweating, unsure if I’d survive. Just when I thought I’d fail, the game offered a narrow escape, leaving me with adrenaline pumping and palms sweaty.
The Future of Gears
It was refreshing to play with a new cast of characters. It feels like The Coalition took a page from Bungie’s playbook with Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach; telling new stories within the same universe while offering familiar gameplay from a different perspective. It worked beautifully, and I hope we see Scorpio Squad again outside of this DLC.
Everything I experienced in Hivebusters has me excited for what’s next. It proves you don’t need a 10+ hour campaign to tell a gripping story. This bite-sized wonder shows just how far The Coalition has come with their mastery of Unreal Engine, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Waiting for Gears 6—or whatever else emerges from the Gears universe—just got a little bit harder.
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Gears 5: Hivebusters Review
Summary
Gears 5: Hivebusters is just what the series needed; a short but enjoyable romp, new faces, and a new perspective. It’s clear that The Coalition wanted this to be special and they succeeded. Hivebusters is a showcase for those playing on either the Xbox Series X|S or Window 10 and is a perfect example that less isn’t always a bad thing.
