For many fans, including myself, Gears of War: E-Day looks to be a breath of fresh air and a welcome return to everything that made the series great. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not innovating in its own ways, however. After revealing the ability to slide and jump over gaps to access new flanking routes, creative director Matt Searcy confirmed some changes to Active Reload.
“Active Reload has always been a massive part of Gears; it’s an iconic feature,” he told GamesRadar. “For E-Day, we’ve moved the Active Reload bar to the middle of the screen by default.”
If you want, it can be shifted to the top right, but Searcy says that testing indicated that “the bar being in the middle of the screen is where people actually use Active Reload the most. It becomes part of their shooting experience.”
But that’s not all, as certain weapons have “additional Active Reload mechanics.” Noticed how Marcus reloads a Gnasher’s shells, one at a time? That’s one example. “If you want to at any time, you can pull a trigger to stop your reload, keep the two or three shells that you loaded, and then use them on the enemy that’s right in front of you – if you’re willing to give up your Active bonus,” he said.
Bonuses for Active and Perfect Reloads are nothing new, whether it’s in bonus damage or increased fire rates. However, The Coalition seems to be leaning into fundamentally changing a weapon’s behavior, allowing you to forego the mechanic entirely depending on the situation. How could this potentially work for other weapons? Time will tell, but it’s an intriguing way to mix up a familiar system without messing with what works.
Gears of War: E-Day launches on October 6th for Xbox Series X/S and PC. It’s an Xbox console-exclusive alongside Clockwork Revolution – not timed and supposedly only the start of further exclusives.
