Gears of War 5 has been out for over a week now for game pass users and pre-order holders, and so far everything seems to be going well for the newest installment in the Gears franchise. Aside from a few hiccups concerning the servers, as expected, I can’t complain about anything else surrounding this action-packed game. 

This article was originally supposed to be a brief synopsis of the various game modes and features that Gears of War 5 has to offer, but since the new Escape mode warranted much more of an explanation, I decided to dedicate this entire article to Escape. 

With this article, I will be going over the pros and cons of Escape. I will also give a few tips, from my own experience while playing this game mode.  

Escape Mode

In Escape, you join two other players as you allow yourself to get captured by a snatcher in order to infiltrate a hive and exterminate them from the inside out. After being captured you immediately set off a dangerous gas called venom that has a timer, giving you a bit of time to get away from it. The point is to get to the evacuation point as fast as possible without getting stopped by the swarm ahead of you and to avoid the dangerous gas behind you.

Think of the venom as the storm in Fortnite or Apex. The Venom is meant to add a bit more stress to the player as they have to always keep an eye on the venom as it creeps toward them as they progress during the level.

If you and your team are pushed back by the swarm or are locked down into one position, you can count on the venom behind you to ruin your day. 

Ammo is scarce in Escape, so you have to be strategic about how you use your weapons. This element put players into even more stress as they try to figure out the best ways to dispatch the enemies ahead.

Pro Tip: In the beginning, try to take out as many enemies as you can by using stealth attacks. To stealth kill an enemy, simply walk (don’t run) behind them and initiate your melee attack. This is a great way to conserve bullets and even grants you the chance to drop an ammo box if you have the right skill cards equipped for your character. WIN, WIN!

Picking up an enemies’ weapon yields little aid as they will only have a scarce amount of ammo left in the clip. You will be greeted with harder enemies such as Scions, leeches, and Wardens as you and your team make a break for the evacuation point. Although there are safe rooms that have ammo boxes and grenades, you’ll find that the enemies take a lot of bullets to be put down. 

There are 7 different difficulties in the Escape mode from beginner to master that yields better rewards for each tier. The rewards come in the form of skill cards and ability boosts.

Escape Skills

Each character in the Escape mode has their own special ability that will help aid you in your fight of getting to the evacuation point. For instance, Lahni has the ability to use an electrified knife that stuns enemies as they are hit. As you play, you have the chance to unlock new perks for this ability such as the skill to chain the lightning from your knife attacks to nearby enemies.

With that being said, these skills and upgrades are the keys to beating the more difficult Escape levels. With these perks in tow, you stand a far better chance of evacuating the hive in a timely manner. Rushing into the harder difficulties is sure to put you into a nearly impossible situation with little to no chance of winning so take your time and start from the beginner, and intermediate levels.

Pro Tip: Escape yields reward to those who are able to clear the levels the fastest, but speed isn’t always everything. The way in which you do things will grant you a time boost which can put you ahead of the competition. For instance, headshot kills, marked enemy kills, and executions all grant a time boost. There are also COG dog tags within the safe rooms that will grant you a HUGE time boost, so make sure you go into every safe room. 

Where Escape Falls Short

The biggest thing I find disappointing about Escape is the fact that the roster for the characters is so small compared to horde mode. As of right now, you are only able to play with Lahni, Mac, Keegan, Kat, Emile, and Sara. With the later 3 only available through game pass or preorder. So right out of the gate, you are limited to who you can play with.

I find it strange that the base characters in Escape aren’t playable in the infamous horde mode. For instance, my main character in Escape is Lahni. Through blood, sweat, and tears, I’ve managed to get her to level 9. Sadly, all that hard work is limited to Escape as Lahni isn’t a playable character in horde mode. So, I won’t be able to use her devastating knife on the foes in Horde.

If you are going to play Escape, be sure to communicate with your teammates. Communication isn’t that important at the beginner and intermediate levels, but, as you play the harder difficulties, you will need a well-orchestrated attack plan if you stand any chance of winning.

The Future of Escape

As of right now, Escape is a fun mode to get into with your friends and it also gives you a great opportunity to level up your character and complete the tour of duty challenges However, Escape needs yield a bit of variety before I lose interest. If I max all of my characters, will there be some sort of a reward? Or will there be more skill cards coming in the future? These are some questions that won’t be answered for a while now, but these are things I would like to see.

How do you feel about Escape mode? Is there anything I missed? Let me know in the comments below.  

If you would like to hear how the rest of the Gritty Gamer Crew feels about the Escape mode, click the link below and listen to our latest podcast episode. Be sure to subscribe for future updates! Stay Gritty, Gamers!

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