At this time, Gears 5 servers are experiencing a bit of an issue for a lot of the early access players across the Xbox One and PC platforms.

Some players are experiencing problems when attempting to play the game with their friends in the campaign and across the multiplayer format. The issue is likely stemming from the fact the Gears 5 staggered rollout may not have adequately functioned as the developers initially intended. For some of the pacific coast, they had access to the game at 6 pm during their local time. However, they should have only been able to play when it was 9 pm, as it was for everyone else.

While they have may have had access to earlier, the overall servers are undergoing a bit of issue in attempting to keep connections online. Only a handful of players can get into matches, though they may not last forever.

For players who have access to Gears 5 right now through the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate option, they didn't get their higher tier pre-order options. The Coalition team noted this issue in a recent tweet as they regarded the problems as quickly as possible, which you can read below.

#Gears5 Update: 7:15pm PT

We have deployed server-side updates to improve stability and are continuing to deploy further improvements.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users missing UE bonus content - fully reboot the game as your bonuses should now be awarded.

— The Coalition Studio (@CoalitionGears) September 6, 2019

While the servers are undergoing these issues, the developers at The Coalition are kicking it into overtime in an attempt to get things working. Hopefully, players can enjoy the campaign of Gears 5 for the first part of their access and then have a smoother weekend.

Gears 5 officially releases on Sept. 10, but those who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition or have a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, have access to it right now. 

Gears 5's launch day is not going quite as planned. Several players are experiencing technical difficulties with the game when they load in, even with the single-player content. When they access the game, they run into an error message labeled, "0x80004001," and are told to search the term, "Estana," in the official Gears of War online forums. Here's what the error code means, and what the developers, The Coalition, are doing about it right now.

Gears 5 Error Code 0x80004001 and Estana Search Term

As of right now, plenty of players are encountering issues when they attempt to play in Gears 5's campaign and versus mode. For whatever reason, the error code 0x80004001 was preventing players from accessing the single-player content of the campaign. It would have made sense if it caused issues for the multiplayer format, but the problem was widespread.

When the error code came up, players were directed to the Gears of War support page and to search for the term, "Estana." However, when going to the page, it didn't seem to offer up any solutions and only drew more questions to what was going on.

Luckily, the developers, The Coalition, have been on the case since they learned about the issue. When they did, they launched several updates to their community, informing them they were identifying the problems and working on sending out a series of patches. Here were the first tweets to come out from the team.

We hear your reports of long searches and connection errors in #Gears5.

Our team are already deploying server-side changes to stabilize the game and get you playing. Thanks for your patience.

— The Coalition Studio (@CoalitionGears) September 6, 2019

#Gears5 Update: 7:15pm PT

We have deployed server-side updates to improve stability and are continuing to deploy further improvements.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users missing UE bonus content - fully reboot the game as your bonuses should now be awarded.

— The Coalition Studio (@CoalitionGears) September 6, 2019

#Gears5 Service Update: 8:15pm PT

We're continuing to improve stability and in-game content, and we'll post updates as they become available.

— The Coalition Studio (@CoalitionGears) September 6, 2019

The team was quick to respond to the issue, once they learned about it. They continual gave out updates about what their development and hotfix team were working on every hour. It would appear things have steadily calmed down. At this time, it seems things have calmed down. The Coalition's latest tweet tells us more.

#Gears5 Update: 9:15pm PT

We have deployed further updates that have continued to improve stability, but we are still tracking down a few remaining issues.

If you are experiencing issues getting into Campaign, please reboot the game.

— The Coalition Studio (@CoalitionGears) September 6, 2019

For players who were having issues with the game, they're going to need to restart their Xbox One or PC to load up the game. When they do, things should have smoothed out. If any is still experiencing this issue, fear not, for The Coalition are steadily taking out any of the fires still happening with the game. While the game is set to release on Sept. 10, several players had the chance to get access to the game a few days early by pre-ordering the Ultimate Edition or by subscribing to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate option.

Hopefully, everything continues to smooth out as The Coalition learn more about this issue. For now, if players are continuing to see this error, you're going to want to restart your consoles and try to turn on the game after a set amount of time. Given the developer's quick responses, things should get taken care of by Friday morning.

Almost as important as choosing your class in World of Warcraft is choosing your professions. If you've chosen Enchanter, it's likely because you're a Mage, Warlock, or Priest looking to make a wand early (because it's not exactly easy to get one any other way), with an eye toward heavily enchanting your own gear later.

World of Warcraft Classic Professions: how to Get Started as an Enchanter

Getting started as an Enchanter is one of the hardest professions to get going at low levels due to how Enchanting works: to enchant something, you must Disenchant (from your spellbook) items of Green rarity or above to get materials, which you can then use to boost your skill. This destroys them permanently but gives you components you can use to enchant other items. Green items are not the most common at very low levels.

What's worse, just getting access to the profession itself can be a pain, since Enchanting trainers don't tend to crop up outside of major cities. Your best bet starting for any character who wants to begin enchanting is to head to one of your faction's major cities. For Alliance, this is going to be Stormwind or Ironforge typically, and for Horde, it's almost always going to be Orgrimmar. Night Elves have it a bit easier; the Oracle Glade area also has a Journeyman Trainer, and it's relatively closer to their starting zone than the capital cities of each area tend to be for other races. Make sure to buy a Copper Rod, some Strange Dust (if you can afford it), and some recipes from the nearby merchant for Enchanting Supplies while you're there.

Once you do finally have access (which may be around level 8, or even 10 for some characters), then what? You can't exactly rely on green items dropping, can you?

That's where your second profession comes in. Level a different Profession that makes crafted gear: Tailoring, Leatherworking, or Blacksmithing. Once you hit a certain level in those (which are much easier to get started), you can disenchant the gear you make to level Enchanting at the same time for maximum efficiency.

So you have some Lesser Magic Essence now. The first thing you need to do is take that Copper Rod and turn it into a Runed Copper Rod, which is your basic Enchanting Rod. Without an Enchanting Rod, you can't enchant anything.

From there, it's a matter of cash flow, materials, and time. You can spam cheap, low-level recipes like Minor Health to level your skill quickly, and you'll be powering up the ranks in no time. As you hit certain thresholds (every 50 levels of skill or so), you can upgrade your skill to new levels, increasing the power of the enchantments you wield but also their relative cost.

For those who frequent Gears of War's online mode, you're going to find yourself familiar with the term wall bouncing. It's a technique where the player slides between cover to cover and use it as a mobile way to traverse the map, making themselves difficult to hit. Getting the proper controls down takes a bit of time, but when its mastered, players are going to find themselves staying alive much longer when fighting against online players. Here's how you do it in Gears 5.

How To Wall Bounce in Gears 5

There are critical reasons you're going to find yourself wall bouncing in Gears 5. The main reason is you're getting shot at, and you want to make sure your opponent is going to have a hard time nailing you down on their reticle. The second reason is you need to close the distance between you and the person shooting you, especially if you a close-quarters weapon.

To do this, you need to slide into your chosen piece of cover. However, don't get too comfortable because you're about to move again. As soon as you're about to land into the cover, you need to cancel it by moving your character away from the cover by backing up or going to the left or right. On a keyboard, you're going to do this by hitting the "W" key, or "A" and "D," keys, respectively. Controllers are going to need to use the left joystick to move away.

While you're canceling the cover movement, you need to move your character's perspective towards the next piece of cover. For those on the PC, you're going to move the mouse to that piece of cover. If you're using a controller, this is going to be the right joystick. You're going to cancel the cover maneuver, and you're going to move your character's perspective towards your next chosen piece of cover at the same time. With your cover maneuver successfully canceled and you're now facing a different destination, you want to slide into that piece of cover, and do the process all over again.

Here's a quick recap of what you need to do.

• Slide into cover
• Cancel the cover slide, and then face the next piece of cover
• Slide to your next cover destination, and repeat the process

Doing both takes a great deal of practice, so you might want to try it out on Horde mode before jumping into an online match and trying it on player opponents. However, mastering this technique is going to have you baffling other players while you're jumping from side to side, avoiding their shots and you're now getting closer.

Good luck in Gears 5.

If you expected a launch as big as NBA 2K20's to go off without a hitch, you were a lot more optimistic than the hardcore fans of the series. Once the servers opened up for everyone, players immediately started experiencing issues with connecting to any multiplayer mode or the 2K servers in general. 

I expected nothing less @NBA2Kpic.twitter.com/NAlLQkYQWW

— ★ (@CardiacKembaa) September 6, 2019

The most commonly noted error message players are getting is 4B538E50, but others are also getting EFEAB30C to pop when they go to join a server. Both of these are similar issues that have to do with the game's data download system, which checks to make sure you are always running the latest version of the game. 

If you have ever been playing a game or mode in a previous NBA 2K title and seen the "Update Required" pop-up that wouldn't go away until you returned to the main menu, that is part of this system check. 2K has laid out a few ways to get around this error, so here is hoping one of these fixes help you get back to enjoying the game. 

How to Fix Error Messages EFEAB30C or 4B538E50 in NBA 2K20

Make Sure Your Data is Current

Check and see if there is any download available for the game. It should check automatically if you restart the game, but even if it does, you will still need to wait for it to download. You can play in Play Now mode during this and a prompt, like the one mentioned earlier, will let you know when it is installed.

This is the most common reason for the error and also the easiest to fix. 

Email Confirmation

If you MyPlayer account hasn't been verified yet, you will need to do so to access some functions on the server. It also might be the cause of your continued disconnects. 

Follow these steps to get your verification done. 

1. Go to the official NBA 2K website
2. Sign in at the top right
3. Enter your MyPlayer account name and password
4. When you log in successfully, that should automatically verify your account
5. If that doesn't fix it, this error may be due to you having too many accounts logged in

NBA 2K only allows five MyPlayer accounts to be created on a single console, so if you have made more than five, security protocols have blocked you from joining the servers. There is no workaround to bypass this error, and you will only be able to use one of those original five accounts to play online in the game. 

Software Blocking

PC players, you might have something blocking your connection to the server. You will need to try a PathPing and a TraceRoute to see if where the issue is happening if that is the case. It isn't that hard, and 2K has provided a detailed list of steps, which is listed here:

1. On a computer (which needs to be connected to the router you are currently using), open the Windows menu, type "CMD" and press Enter.
2. In the command prompt, enter the following command: pathping -n 104.255.107.131
3. After a few seconds, the command prompt is going to show some statistics. To copy the output, right-click anywhere in the window and select: Select All. Right-click again and select Copy. Open Notepad. Press Ctrl+V to paste into Notepad.
4. Back at the prompt, type tracert 104.255.107.131 and press Enter. Please wait until the window says Trace Complete. Copy that information as well and send both of these documents to us as attachments.
5. Reserved Space has been cleared on your hard drive.

Make sure always to keep the space used by NBA 2K clear without deleting any data from the game. Error Message EFEAB30C is most commonly caused by the game trying to replicate deleted data, and something interrupts that process. 

Data Sync Issues

This is the most troublesome issue of the bunch. If all of the data for the game is not synced, or there is a portion missing from a file, your best bet is to go to Play Now and just let the game sit. That will make the game scan for data, which could take up to an hour, as the syncing process begins again. You will eventually get a message talking about an update that will ask you to return to the main menu, and the update will begin. 

This issue is slightly different for Nintendo Switch users, so here is what those players need to do to get a similar result. 

1. Hold down the power button on the Switch until a menu appears and select Power Options from there
2. Shutdown the console completely by selecting Power Off
3. Turn the Switch back on and open NBA 2K20 again, and you should start downloading the update or have fixed the issue
4. If you receive a message about your MyPlayer account expiring, use the steps from Email Confirmation, and you should be fine

Outside of this, the servers for NBA 2K20 could be down or overtaxed because of how many people want to play the game. If that is the case, all you can do is wait for something to change. 

Much like Enchanting, Tailoring is a Profession mostly useful to people that wear cloth, namely Mages, Priests, and Warlocks. With Tailoring, you can craft your own gear, and it tends to be reasonably reliable at any given level if you pick up the skill early enough. It also lets you craft bags, which is worth it for many people on its own.

Thankfully, Tailoring is one of the easiest skills to pick up early, depending on your race and faction.

World of Warcraft Classic professions: How to get started as a tailor

The Horde has it especially easy. Trolls and Orcs practically bump into a Tailoring Trainer after leaving the Valley of Trials (at the Crossroads in the Barrens), and Tauren has a similarly easy trainer to sign up with right after leaving their starting area as well. Undead even have one in the Tirisfal Glades, their own starting area. Plus, of course, the requisite trainers of all types in each race's capital city.

If you go Alliance, it's a little bit harder for some races. The easiest trainers to locate are in the capital cities of Stormwind, Ironforge, and Darnassus. This is a bit of a walk for Gnomes, Dwarves, and Night Elves, though a quick hop and a step for Humans.

Finding the trainer is just the first step, of course. To make any Tailoring recipes, you'll need cloth, which drops from humanoid enemies, as well as some variants of Undead and other enemy types. Thankfully humanoids are abundant in most zones and include anything with two legs and two arms., including monsters you wouldn't necessarily expect (like Murlocs). Killing stuff roughly on your level in whatever zone you happen to be in yields a pretty solid supply, and routes can be charted through many zones to maximize farming efficiency if you're into that.

You'll also typically need a thread of some kind; this may be purchased from Tailoring suppliers.

The most basic type of cloth is Linen, and the most basic usable unit for making anything is a bolt of cloth (Linen to start), which is crafted from two cloths of some kind in your Tailoring menu (accessed by pressing the skill icon in the General tab of your Spellbook). Making the cloth itself is guaranteed to give you a level per bolt for quite a while and continues to be a good source of levels through much of the game, though you'll need to upgrade what type of Cloth bolt you're making as your skill progresses and Linen eventually stops giving you Tailoring experience. Typically Bolts of line Cloth will get you up to about level 50, and then you'll need to swap to whatever the most efficient recipe you currently have is up to the next threshold, where the new Bolt of X Cloth will get you another 30-ish level before tapping out.

With this in mind, you can become a master Tailor in no time flat! Or at least be good enough to make bags to carry around all those materials.

World of Warcraft Classic is a game where the community is highly valuable; no player can make it alone, and communication is key. That's why it's so weird that the game never really explains how all the different chat channels work besides the basics.

There are a whopping 14 different chat channels, each accessed by using the / key and command of some sort in the chat window. Here's a quick list of them.

World of Warcraft Classic: Chat Channels and their uses

/1: The General channel, seen by everyone in the current world Zone you're in (Ex. Durotar, Stormwind, Loch Modan).

/2: The Trade channel. Seen by everyone in a zone, similar to General, but is usually only available in cities and is used exclusively for trades.

/3: The Local Defense channel. Typically used for alerts in a specific area. Will send automatic alerts if a player from an opposing faction is invading your current area (if they've killed an NPC guard usually). Can be used by players to give similar warnings.

/4:  The Looking for Group (party) channel. Seen by everyone in the world Zone you're in, with the same parameters as the General channel.

/s: The Say channel. Only heard by people very close by (25 yards or less). Can also be used with /say.

/y: The Yell channel. Heard by everyone within 300 yards of you. It colors the text a bright red for easier visibility. Great for hawking wares in market squares, or shouting at the opposing faction. /yell also works.

/g: The Guild channel, only transmits the message to Guild members. /guild likewise works.

/o: The Officer channel. like /g, but specifically only seen by Guild Officers. /officer is the full command.

/ra: The raid channel. Seen by people in the current Raid. /raid likewise works for this.

/rw: Puts a message front and center during a Raid for easy communication of very important commands and directions.

/w: The Whisper channel. private messages. /w, /whisper, /t, and /tell are all the same channel, and a player's name must follow all and then the message to work properly. Eg. /w BarleyBoy "Want to buy some ale?"

/r: Replies to Whispers sent by other players. Also works if you type r (no /) outside of the chatbox.

Almost all of these will be used by players regularly for various uses, with /ra and /rw being somewhat by default the rarest (but no less important).  Sticking to the proper chats increases the chances your messages will be noticed and replied to, so is especially important for Trade chat in a lot of cases.

On the top right section of your screen in Gears 5, there's a distinct little timer right next to the ammo section of whatever weapon you're holding. You're going to see it flashing empty when you use a perfect reload, and it fills back up after a short amount of time. What does it do, and what does it mean? Here's a break down regarding the changes to the perfect reload mechanic in Gears 5.

How To Use the New Perfect Reload Timer in Gears 5

Initially, players wanted to reload their weapon right before a gunfight in Gears of War because their weapon was going to dish out more damage if they landed a perfect reload. The perfect reload varied for each firearm. This mechanic has been in the franchise from the beginning. However, this time around, there's a small indicator next to the weapon. When players land a perfect reload, this bar is going to start flashing and slowly rise back up. This indicator stands the amount of time you have until you can perform another perfect reload.

In previous installments of Gears of War, you had to wait for your weapon to fire a few shots and have empty rounds in your clip. When you reload, whatever was missing wound return as this stronger ammunition, but your entire clip didn't change out. That changes in Gears 5.

Now, before any engagement, you can choose to hit a perfect reload and have your entire clip filled with this stronger ammunition. You won't have to wait to have fired the whole clip to receive it. You'll have the chance to do it as many times as you want to before any fight, so long as that indicator is full and it's no flashing. If it is, you're going to want to wait. The cooldown on it is relatively short, though, so you won't don't need to worry about it too often.

World of Warcraft Classic's popularity is an interesting phenomenon. The game is well over a decade old, but people were, and are, clamoring to go back to it. There are a variety of reasons for this — nostalgia, curiosity, genuine feeling that the game was better back in the day, and more.

Whatever the reason, people flooded the game back when it first released, to the point that it was frankly nearly unplayable. Waits of three or more hours to log in weren't uncommon, and when you did get in, you'd often hit the bottleneck of some quest unique NPC to kill that ended up with literal queues of people lined up to complete it (which took forever). After a while, civic order collapsed, and it became a mad free for all to see who could do it first, leaving most people waiting even longer.

Now Is The Best Time To Get Into World of Warcraft Classic

Now, however, almost two weeks after release, the rush in the early zones is nearly gone. However, that's not to say the game is dead there. No, instead the insane overcrowding has died down to fairly standard MMO population density.

This means now is the perfect time to get in. I was pushed out of the game in the first week with my original character, a Troll Shaman. I started a new character (pictured in the thumbnail) a few days later and was surprised at how much smoother everything was. I leveled up beyond my first character in a fraction of the time just playing a couple of hours per day, and always had things to do: and a surprising number of people doing it with me.

The current state of WoW Classic feels more like what I would have expected of the game at its peak. Not everyone is at endgame or piddling around with a constant stream of alts while waiting for the next patch. People are just playing the game; the speedrunners and power levelers have shot ahead, leaving the people willing to play at a slower pace and help each other out, forming impromptu parties to finish quests or casting helpful buffs on random passerby merely because they can.

It's an excellent atmosphere at the moment: but I don't think it will last too long. WoW Classic kind of has a limited shelf life and most likely won't be bringing in vast influxes of new players over time.

Which is why if you're thinking of ever getting into it, even if to see what the game is like, now is the time. Within the next month, even week or two, the starting zones will likely be relatively barren, and you'll have missed out on an exciting experience.

Gears 5 focuses on Kait Diaz and her journey to uncover her origins and those of the Locust Horde, but that doesn’t mean she’s alone in her quest. One way she’ll get help along the way is through her trusty robot companion, Jack.

Jack accompanies Kait throughout the game and gives players access to a unique set of abilities to help make their way through their mission, divided into Assault, Support, and Passive trees. Some abilities are available from the very beginning, while others can only be unlocked as you play. Either way, they all feature four upgrades that you can purchase with components you find out in the world. Components are scarce, but you can respec Jack’s abilities at any time with no penalty. For Assault and Support abilities, the final upgrade is considered an Ultimate upgrade, and can only be activated once you purchase the other upgrades for that ability. 

Here are all of the abilities in the game and their upgrades.

Gears 5 Jack Assault Abilities

Flash - Jack stuns nearby enemies using a bright flash.
Obtained in Act 1, Chapter 2

Upgrades

• Faster Recharge - Flash recharges 25% faster.
• Range Boost - Flash’s range increases by 50%
• Concussive - Flash deals damage to nearby enemies.
• Flash Freeze (Ultimate) - Flash freezes nearby enemies.

Shock Trap - Jack lays a trap that electrifies enemies who trigger it.
Obtained in Act 2, Chapter 1

Upgrades

• Improved Capacitor - Shock Trap lasts 50% longer.
• Multi-trap - Jack can lay a second trap.
• Ensnare - Shock Trap further slow enemies caught in its effect.
• Seeker (Ultimate) - Shock Trap spawns Shock Bots that chase enemies and deal double damage.

Hijack - Jack temporarily takes control of an enemy.
Obtained in Act 3, Chapter 1

Upgrades

• Duration - Hijack lasts 30% longer.
• Stim Target - Hijack uses Stim on affected enemies.
• Faster Recharge - Hijack recharges faster.
• Detonator Implant (Ultimate) - Hijacked enemies explode when killed, damaging nearby enemies.

Gears 5 Jack Support Abilities

Pulse - Jack reveals nearby enemies in range, outlining them for a short time.
Starting ability

Upgrades

• Range Boost - Pulse’s range increases 50%.
• Expanded Targeting Array - Pulse outlines lasts twice as long.
• Detect Pickups - Pulse will outline weapons and ammo as well as enemies.
• Marked for Death (Ultimate) - Enemies revealed by Pulse take 20% more damage.

Stim - Jack increases the armor of nearby allies.
Obtained in Act 1, Chapter 4

Upgrades

• Fast Recharge - Stim recharges 25% faster.
• Duration - Stim lasts 2 seconds longer.
• Revive - Stim revives downed allies.
• Brawler (Ultimate) - Allies affected by Stim do triple melee damage.

Cloak - Jack temporarily turns allies invisible. The effect ends early if a cloaked ally attacks.
Obtained in Act 2, Chapter 3

Upgrades

• Agility - Allies affected by Cloak move 15% faster.
• Extend - Killing enemies while cloaked extends the effect’s duration.
• Faster Recharge - Cloak recharges 15% faster.
• Slayer (Ultimate) - Attacking while cloaked does not end the effect.

Barrier - Jack deploys a shield to protect allies.
Obtained in Act 3, Chapter 3

Upgrades

• Duration - Barrier lasts 50% longer.
• Reflect Bullets - Enemy bullets reflect off the Barrier toward attackers.
• Bulwark - Barrier increases in size.
• Deadly Overload (Ultimate) - Barrier explodes when it expires, damaging nearby enemies.

Gears 5 Jack Passive Abilities

Core - Improves Jack’s core systems.
Starting ability

Upgrades

• Executioner - Executing enemies recharges Jack’s abilities faster.
• Fetch Heavy - Lets Jack carry heavy weapons.
• Savage - Killing enemies recharges Jack’s abilities faster.
• Sharpshooter - Killing enemies with headshots recharges Jack’s abilities faster.

Health - Increases Jack’s health and lets him heal allies.
Starting ability

Upgrades

• Osmium Plating - Increases Jack’s maximum health.
• Repair Boost - Jack regenerates lost health faster.
• Revive Command - Allows Jack to revive downed allies.
• Self-Revive - Jack revives twice as fast after being downed.

Stealth - Increases Jack’s effectiveness when cloaked.
Starting ability

Upgrades

• Reactive Stealth - Lets Jack re-enter stealth more quickly.
• Stealth Fetch - Lets Jack remain cloaked while fetching a weapon.
• Stealth Shield - Reduces the damage Jack takes while cloaked.
• Stealth Thrusters - Lets jack remain cloaked while using thrusters.

Zapper - Improves Jack’s Zapper weapon.
Starting ability

Upgrades

• Arc Booster - Increases the Zapper’s range.
• Beam Splitter - Lets the Zapper hit multiple enemies with one shot.
• Cascading Energy - Increases Zapper damage the longer it stays focused on an enemy.
• Improved Capacitor - Increases Zapper’s duration.
   

Gears 5 is here, and everyone is amped to get involved in the multiplayer content of the game. The developers, The Coalition, are eager to fans plenty of material for the duration of the game's lifetime. A mechanic they're introducing to the franchise is called Operations. These Operations are objectives players are going to need to complete to acquire new character and weapon skins, exclusive emotes, and plenty of other cosmetic items. Operations last three months, with the operation refreshing introducing new content to the game. Here's the list for the first series of medals and rewards for the game.

Gears 5 Operation 1 - Medals and Rewards

There are nine different categories of Operation quests players need to work through in the multiplayer mode. These categories determine what a player needs to do, and it tells them if they need to complete them in a specific multiplayer mode or if it covers everything they play while they're online. Each category comes with a different cosmetic reward.

Basics - Winter Armor Kait

• Team Medic: Revive 70 teammates
• Executioner: Perform 150 executions
• Finish them: Kill 9,000 enemies
• Marksman: Get 1,000 headshot kills
• Body count: Get 15,000 eliminations
• Carnage: Do 15,000,000 damage

Weapons - Battleworn Gnasher

• Lancer GL body count: Get 100 kills with the Lancer GL
• Talon Body Count: Get 300 kills with the Talon Auto pistol
• Claw Body Count: Get 100 kills with the Claw LMG
• Cryo Cannon Body Count: Get 100 kills with the Cyro Cannon
• Breaker Body Count: Get 100 kills with the Breaker Mace
• Frag Body Count: Kill 250 enemies with the Frag Grenades

Enemies - Swarm Hunter

• Juvie Hunter: Kill 2,500 Juvies in Horde or Escape
• Drone Hunter: Kill 2,000 Drones in Horde or Escape
• Scion Hunter: Kill 100 Scions in Horde or Escape
• Boss Hunter: Eliminate 30 bosses in Horde or Escape
• Creature Hunter: Kill 5,000 enemies in Horde or Escape

Escape - Finger Point Expression

• Escape Challenge: Escape Challenge Hives 50 times
• Past Hive Veteran: Escape 50 Pest Hives
• Escape Body Count: Get 3,000 kills in Escape
• Escape Attempts: Survive 15 Acts of Escape
• Hive Master I: Master all Challenge Hives in Operation 1
• Past Master I: Master a Past Hive 5 Times in Operation 1

Hivebusters - Knee Face Execution

• Veteran Hivebusters: Escape 15 Hives each with Mac, Keegan, and Lahni
• Lahni the Executioner: Perform 75 executions in Escape as Lahni
• Keegan the Eliminator: Get 1,000 Eliminations in Escape as Keegan
• Mac Veteran: Get 250 Headshot kills in Escape as Mac
• Scorpio Body Count: Get 3,000 Eliminations in Escape as Mac, Keegan, or Lahni

Horde - Desert Armor JD

• Horde Veteran: Complete 5 Horde matches
• Wave Survivor: Survive 250 Waves of Horde
• Horde Carnage: Do 10,000,000 damage in Horde
• Power Hoarder: Collect 1,000,000 Power in Horde
• Horde Body Count: Get 5,000 Kills in Horde

Heroes - Desert Armor Del

• Veteran Team: Complete a Horde Match as each Horde character
• Unstoppable Force: Get 500 headshot kills in Horde as Marcus
• Kait's Revenge: Execute 150 enemies in Horde as Kait
• Del the Builder: Build 300 fortifications as Del
• Here to Help: Get 100 assists as Jack
• Officer Trainer: Kill 500 enemies in Horde with the Lancer GL Grenade as JD

Versus - Drone: Get Hype Expression

• COG Victories: Win 25 versus matches as COG
• Swarm Victories: Win 25 versus matches as Swarm
• Competitive Co-Op: Win 10 matches in Co-Op Vs. AI
• Season Slaughter: Get 2,500 eliminations in Versus
• Versus Body Count: Kill 1,000 enemies in Versus
• Versus Carnage: Do 1,000,000 damage in Versus matches

Ranked - In Your Face Expression

• Diversified: Win a Versus match in every Ranked mode
• Arcade Veteran: Win 15 arcade matches
• King of the Hill Veteran: Win 10 King of the Hill matches
• Deathmatch Veteran: Win 10 Team Deathmatch matches
• Escalation Veteran: Win 10 Escalation matches
• Guardian Veteran: Win 10 Guardian matches

More Shadow Pokémon has been revealed to be arriving in Pokémon Go.

A few months ago, Pokémon Go introduced Team Go Rocket to the game. Team Go Rocket is based on the iconic Team Rocket from the mainline games; they are a criminal organization that uses Pokémon to do evil deeds.

Players can come across a Go Rocket Grunt by going to PokéStops that is surrounded by a black aura. Players can then have a three-v-three Pokémon battle with the grunt; the grunt will use Shadow Pokémon, corrupted Pokémon that have an evil aura surrounding them. Beating the grunt will reward you one of their Shadow Pokémon. The players can then purify Shadow Pokémon with stardust and candy.

At first, Team Go Rocket only had a select few Pokémon in shadow form. Over time, the number of Shadow Pokémon in the game has risen. Today, Niantic has revealed even more new Shadow Pokémon.

The New Shadow Pokémon are:

• Venonat
• Venomoth
• Oddish
• Gloom
• Psyduck
• Growlithe
• Abra
• Hitmonchan
• Larvitar
• Turtwig

The new shadow versions of these Pokémon can now be spotted in Team Go Rocket Grunts teams. To potentially get one of these new Shadow Pokémon, face against Grunts that have them in their party. Be warm though; Shadow Pokémon cannot learn community day moves unless purified.

#TeamGORocket has turned even more species of Pokémon into Shadow Pokémon! Can you help us rescue the Shadow Pokémon below?
😈 Venonat
😈 Venomoth
😈 Oddish
😈 Gloom
😈 Psyduck
😈 Growlithe
😈 Abra
😈 Hitmonchan
😈 Larvitar
😈 Turtwig pic.twitter.com/q4XbDjz9Bf

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) September 5, 2019

The campaign for Gears 5 can be over 20 hours long, so you are going to want to take a break from all the killing. You are likely wondering how to save so that you can take that well-deserved breather.

How to use Save feature in Gears 5

Well, I have a short and simple answer, you don’t have to do anything at all. Like most other games of this generation and especially shooters, it has an automatic save system. When you hit a checkpoint within the game, on any level, it will automatically save your progress.

You will know when a save is happening thanks to the word checkpoint and saving symbol located in the lower-left corner of the screen.

Manual saving

A lot of game will give the option of a manual save, and you may want to perform a save of your own to be sure that any progress you made can’t be lost. Unfortunately, Gears 5 does not feature manual saves. However, the game does an automatic save very frequently, so you don’t need to worry about finding yourself back at the beginning of a mission when you were so close to the end.

The auto-save function has been designed to minimize disruption to your experience. Meaning, you can make your way through the story as slowly or as quickly as you would like, hunting for collectibles and components will not hinder your progress. 

While there may be no manual save feature, the game does save its self frequently. Now jump in and tear those locusts apart.

The Chapter 9 DLC for Celeste has been given a release date, and it will be free to all owners of the game in all platforms.

Celeste is a platforming, indie video game released last year. The game stars a young woman named Madeline, who is trying to climb to the top of Mt. Celeste. She is accompanied by a dark version of herself labeled as "Part of Me," who continually berates Madeline during her quest up the mountain.

The game received critical acclaim when it was released, with critics praising the platforming and how the game’s story handles mental illness. The game is available to play on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Matt Thorson, one of the leading developers for the game, revealed on a blog that the upcoming free DLC they promised for the game will be releasing next week. After the game sold 500,000 copies, the developers decided to reward players by offering them free DLC.

The free DLC will be an extra chapter called Chapter 9: Farewell and it will be available in all platforms that the game is released on. Chapter 9 will have over 100 new levels and 40 minutes of new music from the game’s composer, Lena Raine.

To unlock Chapter 9 in the game, players need to beat Chapter 8.

Thorson also reveals that he is retiring Matt Makes Games, the name of the development team that worked on Celeste. Instead, the development team will be rebranded as Extremely OK Games, Ltd.

👋Hiiii! We're Extremely OK Games, a new Vancouver-based indie game studio by the creators of Celeste! Read more about us here: https://t.co/6srBRRrwXYpic.twitter.com/LOrK8uu3an

— Extremely OK Games (@exok_games) September 5, 2019

Chapter 9: Farewell will be available in Celeste on September 9.

The second Act of Gears 5 ends with a fight against the hulking Matriarch boss. While the strategy for taking the Matriarch down is fairly simple, it can still be quite a tough fight. The Matriarch can take you down in one or two hits, while you only have a small window to deal damage back, meaning this can be a drawn-out fight that ends with a single misstep.

How to Kill the Matriarch in Gears 5

You’ll encounter the Matriarch in an icy underground lab, something that you can use to your advantage. The Matriarch’s only weakness is a susceptibility to being frozen. If you’re playing co-op, that weakness is extremely easy to take advantage of, as one player can use the Cryo gun to freeze the Matriarch while the other distracts it. In singleplayer, you’ll need to use a different strategy.

Freezing the Matriarch in Gears 5

Because of the Matriarch’s natural armor, the only way that you can damage it is by shooting the obvious orange weak spot on its back, and to get access to that, you’ll need to freeze the beast first. You can use the Cryo gun to freeze the Matriarch even in singleplayer, but the Matriarch can attack faster than you can freeze it, making this strategy riskier than it’s worth. It’s much safer to use your environment, sinking the Matriarch into the ice to freeze it.

You’ll get a free shot at the Matriarch as soon as the fight starts. It begins with the boss already frozen, so just run to the back and shoot it before it thaws out. From that point on, getting hits it won’t be quite as easy. You’ll need to shoot at the Matriarch to get it to charge at you, then shoot at the ice directly in its path to break it, sending the Matriarch into the freezing water below. Alternatively, you can dodge out of the way and shoot the ice under the Matriarch after it’s finished charging. That will give you another few seconds to deal damage before doing the whole sequence over again.

Dodging the Matriarch's Attacks in Gears 5

Unfortunately, the Matriarch isn’t quite that easy to take down. Throughout the fight, the boss will break that pattern to rip a spike out of its own body and throw it at you. If you’re hit with one, you’ll take a lot of damage and be momentarily stunned while you pull it out. Make sure you keep an eye out for this attack and roll out of the way to avoid being hit. The Matriarch will use this attack more often as the fight goes on, and sometimes even throw multiple spikes at once, so remember to keep your distance so you can avoid it.

Another complication comes from Kait herself. For spoiler reasons, at certain points in the fight, Kait will be debilitated by visions. When this happens, your screen will dim and blur, making it very tough to see the area around you. When that happens, try to get some distance from the Matriarch and avoid it until your vision clears, but be ready to quickly roll out of the way or shoot the ice below it if it charges. 

Once you get the hang of dodging the Matriarch’s attacks, there’s not much more to this fight. Just repeat the process until the boss goes down and make your way into Act 3 of Gears 5.

Gears 5 is here, and every you can bet there's an extensive list of achievements available in the game. These achievements detail out unique, fun ways for players to go through the entire game to make sure they've seen and done everything. Here's the whole list of everything you can earn in Gears 5 to boost your gamerscore.

Gears 5 Achievement List

Sixty-eight achievements are spanning all of Gears 5. Those who are interested in completing all of it are going to need to complete the campaign, acquire all of the collectibles in the game, go through the multiplayer modes of the game, and do some wacky stuff with a handful of the characters.

• A Good Plan, Violently Executed: Execute 100 rejects during any mode
• A Mouthful of boom: Unlock Act one of the Campaign
• All Aboard the Crazy Train: Complete all Acts of the Campaign on Insane
• An enemy among us: Get a kill with a Hijacked Pouncer, Warden, Stump, and Elite Hunter in the Campaign
• And... He's all Yours: Unlock Act one of the Campaign
• And I'll Form the Head!: Kill a Boss in Horde while all five players have active Ultimate Abilities
• Back Atcha: Get a kill with ricochet bullets using Jack's Barrier ability
• Back on your feet, Soldier!: Use Jack's STIM upgraded ability to revive a DBNO friendly in the Campaign
• Beginning of a Beautiful friendship: Play a match of Arcade
• BFFs: Complete a Versus match with a team of four level five Gears Allies
• Brought a Knife to a Gun Fight: Complete an Escape Hive without fighting a shot on Master difficulty
• Can't Stop, Won't Stop: Beat 50 consecutive waves of Horde on any difficulty
• Compulsive Horder: Reach Character Level 15 with Kait, JD, Del, Marcus, Fahz, and Jack
• Corporal Punishment: Reach the rank of Corporal in a Tour of Duty
• Cutting it Close: Unlock Act three of the Campaign
• Did We Just Become Best Friends?: Reach Level 5 with an ally in Gears Allies
• Discovered the True Threat to Sera: Finish all the acts of the campaign on any difficulty
• Generally Awesome: Reach the rank of General in Tour of Duty
• Gimme, Gimme, Gimme: Use Jack's fetch ability to acquire each Heavy Weapon in the Campaign
• Grind Season: Win a Ranked Match in each week of a Ranked Season
• Homegrown Hive: Complete a Featured community built Escape Hive
• I made it all by myself: Create and Publish an Escape Hive
• I was born in a Crossfire Hurricane: Use Jack's Flash ability to stun three enemies at once in the Campaign
• I'm the Captain Now: Reach the rank of Captain in Tour of Duty
• It Takes three to make a Thing Go Right: Complete an act of the Campaign in three-player Co-Op
• It's Not Hoarding if you Stuff is Cool: Collect all Campaign Collectibles
• It's Time We fight them Together: Unlock Act two of the Campaign
• Jack of one trade: Complete an Act of the Campaign as playable Jack on any difficulty
• Jack of all trades: Acquire all of Jack's Ultimate upgrades in the Campaign
• JACKed Up!: Fully upgrade all of Jack's abilities and passives in the Campaign
• Jameson Shipping Depot: Unlock Act two of the Campaign
• Let's Keep Pissin it Off!: Unlock Act three of the Campaign
• Let's Get You Some Answers: Unlock Act two of the Campaign
• LOOTenant: Reach the rank of Lieutenant in Tour of Duty
• Master Escape Artist: Reach Character level 15 with Mach, Lahni, and Keegan
• Master of My Domain: Complete an Escape Hive on any difficulty
• My Body is Ready: Complete Boot Camp
• My Place in the Machine: Complete placement matches for a ranked playlist
• Not there to Buy a timeshare: Unlock Act one of the Campaign
• Now I Gotta Get Up Again: Unlock Act one of the Campaign
• Once More From the Top: Re-up
• On the Razor's Edge: Get 100 kills while inside Hivebuster Venom
• One, Two, Three Sorties: Complete all three Objectives for Tour of Duty in a day
• One Sec, I'll be Right Back: Switch characters in an Arcade match and kill an opponent who previously killed you
• Pass the Soap: Pass through a refuge shower with three Hivebusters in the same shower cubicle
• Pennies from Heaven: Scavenge supplies from all fallen Condors in Act two and Act three
• Perky's Revenge!: Get a kill with three Perks active in Horde
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: As Jack, convert one of each weapon to Power using the Forge in Horde
• Relic Hunter: Equip three relic weapons at one time during the Campaign
• Relics of the past: Kill an enemy with every relic weapon in the Campaign
• Shock and Awe: Use Jack's Shock Trap ability to shock six enemies at once in the Campaign
• Sire, Interrupted: Kill a Sire while it's kidnapping a teammate in any mode
• Seriously 5.0 - Chapter 1: Insane Campaign, Master Horde & Escape Launch Maps & Characters, 20 Re-ups, General in Tour
• Seraninja: Use Jack's Cloak ability to cloak and execute three enemies before returning to cloak in the Campaign
• Sergeant at Arms: Reach the rank of Sergeant in Tour of Duty
• That old COG technology: Unlock Act two of the Campaign
• The Three Musketeers: Inflict 9000 damage in Escape while three Ultimate Abilities are active
• Throw a Switch, See What Happens: Unlock Act three of the Campaign
• Then we Watch each other's back: Unlock Act four of the Campaign
• You Know I Ain't Going Out Like That: Unlock Act four of the Campaign
• You've got a Friend in Me: Make a new Ally in Gears Allies
• We need the Old Plan: Unlock Act two of the Campaign
• Where's my Product Endorsement Deal?: Win five matches of Arcade
• Who's Your Horde Main?: Reach Character level 15 with a launch Horde character
• Who's Your Escape Main?: Reach Character level 15 with a launch Escape Character
• Who You Gonna Call? Hivebusters!: Complete five escape hives as Mac, Lahni, and Keegan
• Withdrawal Symptoms: As a team, collect Power from all 4 Power Taps within one wave of Horde

If you are thinking about diving into the competitive area of NBA 2K20's MyTeam mode, then you are going to want to go in with a plan. And no, just wanting to use the base cards to play online is not a solid way to grind for currency. 

MyTeam is an ever-evolving game within the game, one that doesn't sit still and always forces players to adapt to new cards. Since 2K20 just launched and a few pre-release glitches were patched out, this is an even playing field for now. So here are some tips on how to spend your time in the early parts of the mode. 

How to get started with MyTeam in NBA 2K20

Know your preference

You know what team and players you like, but what about your play style? Do you prefer shooting threes or playing in the post? Are you going to run screens on the ball for shooters or focus on rolling as the big man? These are the questions you need to ask yourself before you start building your MyTeam roster. 

If you like the perimeter game, you should focus on trying to get players like Ray Allen, someone who has an amazing shot but can also play well in other aspects of the game too. But that comes at a cost early on in MyTeam, that being a tradeoff. 

You won't have enough resources to spend on every position, and unless you get lucky during pulls, you will probably be stuck with at least one player that is below average on the court. That isn't a bad thing, every player has a strength, but you should spend your time building to your strengths early, and not try to build an overall solid roster - that will put you smack into a mediocre team. 

In that regard, you should also try to unlock the Auction House early, that way you can sell the cards you don't like and use those resources to invest into ones you can use to get better. 

Hold your currency, but sell cards

Don't even think about being a collector early on. None of those collector rewards are going to be even close to obtainable if your team is bad, and you can't compete with better players to earn more VC and MT. Ignore the voice that is telling you to keep that 79 overall DeAndre Jordan when you have an 80 overall Marc Gasol starting already. You can always get DJ later, but the currency is valuable to you now. 

Likewise, don't just sell cards to buy packs for the sake of opening them. If you have a decent lineup and want to try for a good pull, go for it. But otherwise, you should save that currency and build up to buying cards individually. That way, you know what you are getting and can plan your future team around those players. 

If you like how Kemba Walker plays, hold your money to get him and start trying to find supplementary players in the meantime. That Marc Gasol card sure does make a good pick and roll option for Kemba, so sell DJ, and you are on your way. It is almost a guarantee you will end up getting a duplicate while pulling from packs later anyways. 

Contracts and Equipment

This is pretty self-explanatory, but 2K has contracts for every player card you get. Once a player uses up all of their contracts, they need to get more before you can add them back to your roster. This is an annoyance, but not too hard to get around. 

If you end up opening a lot of packs, you are bound to have spares lying around, but if you don't, make sure to have a secondary lineup ready. Even if you end up selling some of your decent players to help fund your starting lineup, always make sure you have a secondary team in the wings ready in case of emergencies. 

And much like how contracts work, there are pieces of equipment like shoes, wristbands, and other things like that players can wear to get bonuses in attributes and occasional boosts to their badges. This is an easy way to make a bad player slightly better in times of need. 

You don't need to play like everyone else

The fastest thing you will learn while playing MyTeam against other players online is that most people only care about winning at any cost. They will abuse the system, only use players who can shoot threes, and actively try to wear down your spirit with each game you lose. 2K19 was an awful time for newcomers because of an exploit that allowed outstanding players to bench their best cards and then be registered as low-level beginners. Then once the game started, they would bust out Galaxy Opal Michael Jordan and have a field day abusing the starter decks. 

It doesn't look like things are that bad again in 2K20, but still, play the way you want to. If you want to win, study the best ways to optimize your play and go from there. Otherwise, find how you like to play and enjoy yourself. 

Once you unlock the Auction House, there isn't anything making you play the online modes. You can play the curated single-player challenges and have fun grinding and playing that way. You still get to collect cards and build your team, but without all the annoyance of playing the tryhard cheesers. And remember, overall rankings for cards aren't everything.

A brand new multiplayer mode is available in Gears 5 called Escape. In it, three brave COG soldiers called Hivebusters. They purposely get captured by the Swarm and get thrown into a nest. There, they release a venom bomb; a destructive device meant to wipe out the entire nest. The mode works a little bit differently than Gears of Wars' traditional Horde mode. It focuses on cooperative play, forcing players to grab what they can and rush towards the exit. Here are the basics of how to play the new multiplayer mode.

What is Escape and How to Play it in Gears 5

You Don't Have Much

When you first awaken in the nest, you're going to plant the venom bomb at the center of the nest. You and your squad of three are going to rush out of the loading area, and your goal is to make it out of current level to the next one, quickly. However, Swarm is wandering the halls, and all you have is a pistol. While you can rely on it, you're going to discover they don't know you're there yet, if they haven't spotted you. It's a great time to use your stealth attacks, and take a few out, grabbing as many weapons as you can.

You're going to find looking for ammunition, and new weapons are your top priority while you're playing. Your shots are going to need to count because if you want ammo, you're going to need to get lucky by finding an ammunition crate or by taking it from the enemy. More than likely, you're going to need to extract it from an enemy. When you don't have any bullets, you'll have to rely on melee attacks, which come with a heap of risks. 

You're going to want to tread lightly, be on the lookout for any supply rooms, and never get attached to a particular weapon. When you're out of bullets, the closest weapon to you with ammunition is going to be your best option. You can't get picky.

Next level - Find an Exit and Extract

After you've gone through the first level of the nest, you're going to need to extract while the venom bomb is going off below you. When you call it in, you're going to need to have all hands on deck to fight your way out. Unfortunately, you've made a bit of noise since the first level, so the Swarm knows you're there. They're going to start sending stronger foes after you, and you're going to need to grab what weapons you can to fight through them. 

You won't have to defend yourself in a fortified position or fight off a wave small wave. Instead, you need to keep your primary goal in mind: get to the exit. If you lose sight of that, you're going to find yourself trapped in the nest, with enemies on both sides and you're out a clip. You want to focus on your mini-map, find the exit, and make your way out. While heavily guarded, you can easily get sidetracked.

Once you make your way to the exit and you're on the surface, you need to close the gate behind you. The Swarm is going to be coming after you, so you'll need to defend the position as the doors close. Once they lock, you're good to go, and you can return home.

Three-person Cooperative Mode

While some players might get used to the size of a Horde party, an Escape party is significantly smaller. You're only going to have two other allies with you by your side the entire time, totaling a party of three. You need to stick together because if one of you strays off and goes down, your allies are going to have a tough time getting to you so you can all make it out.

The three-person cooperative choice also raises the stakes while you're trying to escape. You won't have as much backup. If you keep your formation tight, everyone should keep their wits about themselves. 

Difficulty Settings and Weekly Maps

Before you start a game of Escape, you have the option to make the battlefield even tougher. There are eight difficulty settings, each containing a new buff to make the entire mode more difficult. Here they all are, and what they do.

• Beginner: Nothing
• Intermediate: Enemies have Increased Health, a time bonus of 1.25
• Experienced: Damage to players is increased, a time bonus of x 1.5
• Advanced: Regen Penalty: Player regenerates 50 percent slower, a time bonus of x 1.75
• Elite: Venom moves twice as fast, a time bonus of x 2
• Insane: Less ammo given in pick-ups, a time bonus of x 3
• Inconceivable: Enemies regenerate their health over time, a time bonus of x 4
• Master: No respawns allowed! Players who die cannot be revived, a time bonus of x 5

Escape is going to feature weekly maps, too. They're going to change up the map layout, the available Skill cards players can win, and include more variety. If a player misses a previous Weekly Escape map, they can do the previous one in the Past Hives options. For those who are a bit more creative, you can make your Hive and share it with the Gears 5 community.

Gears 5 is pulling out all of the stops to give you iconic, exciting characters to play while you're in the game's multiplayer mode. Many of them are going to be available in character packs. As of right now, there are five different characters available in the game that players have to chance to unlock. Here's who they are, and how you go about acquiring them to your COG team.

All Unlockable Characters in Gears 5

Sarah Connor and T-800 from Terminator

With the release of the upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate movie releasing on Nov. 1, these two iconic characters, Sarah Connor and T-800 Exoskeleton, are going to be in the game. Connor may look old, but she may as well represent the perfect female stand-in for Marcus, given her skill and talent. The same goes for the T-800 Exoskeleton being on the Swarm side in the multiplayer mode.

These two characters are available in the Dark Fate pack, which everyone can get if they pre-order the standard game of Gears 5 before it releases.

Kat and Emile from Halo: Reach

To get everyone excited about Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Gears 5 is going to have the iconic Spartans from Noble squad beating back the Swarm with the skills they picked up from fighting off the Covenant. These two Spartans may as well have COG written on their chest, because they're both as tough as nails, and ready for a good fight. Players have the chance to use both of them in the game's Horde, Versus, and Escape multiplayer modes.

To grab these two, you're going to need the Halo Reach Character Pack. As of right now, you can only get this pack if you pre-ordered the Gears 5 Ultimate Edition, or you subscribed to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate edition before the game released.

Dave Bautista the WWE Superstar and Actor

The latest character to get announced that is coming to Gears 5 is iconic actor Dave Bautista, and WWE superstar. He was revealed in the last week or so before the game's release. So far, we haven't seen Bautista in action in any gameplay videos. However, we do see him sporting an original version of the COG armor in a quick cameo when the announcement came out. Given his history of wanting to play Marcus Fenix in the potential Gears of War movie, it makes sense to add him.

Right now, Bautista is not in the game. But he's on his way. Starting on Sept. 15, players are going to get the chance to access him merely by logging into the game and playing it. When they do, Bautista should unlock for the multiplayer mode. However, while he is available for everyone who plays, he's only going to be there for a short time. All players have until Oct. 28. You're going to need to act early if you want to add Bautista to your squad.

As of right now, these are all of the unlockable characters available in the game. We do not know if the Noble Squad or Dark Fate Character Packs are going to open up in the Gears 5 store. They more than likely will be following the game's initial release, and they're going to be worth a decent amount of cash.

Gears 5 has opened a whole new chapter in the war against the swarm, as such this presents the perfect opportunity for another member of the Carmine family to die. It’s becoming a tradition at this point in the series for a Carmine family member to lose their life. With two family members featuring in the latest entry, there is double the chance the Carmine’s will lose another of their own.

The two Carmines in Gears 5 are Clayton and Lizzie; both of them have very different fates in this story.

Gears 5: Does Carmine Die?

Elizabeth Carmine

Let’s start with younger of the two, Lizzie is the one who meets a tragic end. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long as she loses her life at the end of act 1. JD Fenix happens to be at fault for her death, as they follow his plan that goes terribly wrong. She finds herself trapped within a vehicle, which gets eviscerated by the Hammer of Dawn. Goodbye Elizabeth Carmine.

Clayton Carmine

Here is some good news for the Carmine family, Clayton lives to fight another day. He can both seen and heard helping to fight the good fight until the bitter end. He continues to be a force to be reckoned with until the very end of Gears 5’s campaign in Act 4 Chapter 2. Somehow Clayton breaks the infamous Carmine curse, managing to survive the encounter with the final boss.

However, there is still time for this Carmine to fall in the franchises next installment.