E-Day Needs One Mechanic Gears 5 Abandoned

Summary

• Gears of War: E-Day should bring back the classic Crimson Omen health system for better gameplay.
• The unique HUD element served as a makeshift reticle, providing accuracy during blind firing.
• The inverse cog used in Gears 5 was too distracting and didn’t offer the same advantages in aiming.

Gears of War: E-Day needs to borrow the best classic Gears of War mechanic the series has since abandoned. The next Gears of War game was announced during the Xbox Games Showcase this past June. It’s a prequel starring two familiar faces – Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago – as they deal with the fallout of a devastating loss against the Locust Horde. Gears of War doesn’t have a concrete release date, or even any gameplay footage to speak of, but it clearly already borrows a lot from the series that spawned it.

But even at this early stage, it’s clear that Gears of War: E-Day has a lot to learn from its predecessors’ mistakes. That includes a glaring omission from Gears of War 5 that, while arguably minor and definitely understandable, has a massive impact on gameplay. Whatever it looks like, the sequel needs to correct this misstep.

Gears Of War: E-Day Needs To Fix The Crimson Omen Cog Health System

A Helpful Aiming Mechanic

E-Day needs to revert the changes made by Gears of War 5 to the series’ classic Crimson Omen health system. Instead of a traditional health bar, Gears of War uses a unique HUD element: a red cog that begins to appear on-screen whenever the player takes damage. At first, it’s transparent, but as the player takes more and more hits, it fills up, becoming more defined. When it’s fully visible, the player character is downed, and must be revived before they can join the fight again. In older Gears games, the cog was small and central, unobtrusive, but very apparent.

However, Gears 5 switched to an inverse cog, leaving a transparent shape in the middle of the screen while filling the player’s peripherals with red. The gist is still the same, but it’s a lot less visually appealing and a lot more distracting. This was an unpopular decision from the very first reveal, but when players actually got their hands on the game, they realized just how disruptive the new system could be.

Gears’ Crimson Omen Cog Served As A Makeshift Reticle

A Helpful HUD Element On Higher Difficulties

But the Crimson Omen on the HUD serves as more than just a cool visual, or a brilliant bit of marketing – it can also serve as an aiming reticle in the player’s greatest time of need. Unlike most shooter games, Gears of War eschews a straightforward aiming reticle. A player may aim down their weapon’s sights to get a temporary set of crosshairs, but only at the cost of movement speed. Learning to blind fire effectively is an important part of the gameplay, and an essential hurdle in its learning curve. That said, the Crimson Omen on the HUD could serve as an aiming reticle in a pinch, which is exactly when it tends to appear.

In essence, the more damage the player takes, the clearer the center of their screen becomes, and the better reference point for aiming they have. In this way, the cog allows for greater accuracy even when blind firing weapons. This could get players out of many a tight spot, giving them an advantage when they need it most. This is especially useful in higher difficulty modes, where the player characters take more damage more quickly. However, the inverse cog used in Gears 5 is far too big for this trick; even when it’s fully defined, it’s difficult to locate the exact center. It even puts players at a disadvantage when they’re at their most vulnerable, by blocking their peripheral vision.

Regardless of how much the next Gears game draws from its predecessors, it should take this classic mechanic into account. Gears of War: E-Day will be better for it, especially in the higher difficulty settings where it needs a makeshift reticle most.