Gears 5 – Operation 3: Gridiron Available Now for All Players

Today on Xbox Wire, The Coalition announced the availability of Operation 3: Gridiron for all players of Gears 5. Operation 3: Gridiron offers players new ways to play with a brand-new, capture-the-flag mode, Gridiron, four new characters including fan-favorites Augustus Cole and Clayton Carmine, four maps, a brand-new Tour of Duty full of earnable content, new achievements and more.

New Mode: Gridiron

Gridiron is Gears 5’s brand-new, single life objective mode that sees two teams fighting to run a neutral flag into their opponent’s endzone.

Here’s how it works: At the start of each round, the flag rotates between one of three locations along the center line of the map. Picking up the flag is as simple as touching it, and your team can score at touchdown by possessing it for five seconds in the opponent’s end zone. However, since Gridiron is a single-life mode, securing victory will be a focused effort in battling for the flag and controlling weapons and key positions across the map.

The first team to hit 13 points wins the match, and with a short two-minute time limit per proud, Gridiron provides rapid and intense action while still requiring teams to work tactically together to claim the win.

Heroes and Villains

Operation 3 brings iconic heroes and villains into Gears 5, with Augustus Cole and Clayton Carmine joining the fight in Horde, Escape and Versus and Queen Myrrah and her elite Theron Guard rising to their challenge in Versus.

In Horde and Escape, the Cole Train is an unstoppable force as an offensive hero, bringing a brand-new ultimate that leaves a trail of fire in his wake that can stagger and ignite enemies. Clayton Carmine is an unkillable frontline warrior, packing a new ultimate that deflects all ballistic damage back at his enemies for a short time – the perfect trump card for a sticky situation.

Maps

A new arena and an old favorite debut in Operation 3: Gridiron: the overgrown ruins of Pahanu and “Gears of War” favorite Canals. Pahanu puts a unique twist on Gears combat, providing organic cover, strong flanks, intimidating rifle positions and position-obscuring fauna that’s unlike anything else in Gears 5 today. And it doesn’t get any more classic than a sniper battle on Canals, and controlling the bridges is just as important to victory today as it was in 2006.

Two new 2v2 maps have also been added to Gears 5. Arena is a dynamic map with three different possible tile combinations ensuring every fight feels fresh and new. Tile-based map Annex features two locations to battle opponents.

Tour of Duty and New Achievements

Tour of Duty is back and better than ever in Operation 3: Gridiron, with a fresh suite of content and new improvements that reward players however they like to play. Players will now have two Objectives slots dedicated to generic objectives – such as killing enemies – across all game modes, with an additional slot dedicated to both PvE and PvP content. A new mechanic has players earning Stars by simply playing. Now, players will always make progress toward the Tours of Duty no matter how they play.

Additionally, we’re excited to introduce our first post-launch Achievements drop, including retroactive tracking for any relevant achievements.