Gears of War 4's monthly updates always pack plenty of new content to check out, but it looks like the June update is set to stand out from the crowd. Coming on June 6, Gears 4's "Rise of the Horde" update not only includes new maps, but lots of new skills, difficulty levels, and more.
Some of the biggest additions revolve around class skills. Existing skills are getting a power boost, allowing them to be taken to level 6. The real draw here, however, are the 15 new skills that are being added that can change up how you approach Horde. A full list of the new skills for each class is available on the Gears website, but some standouts include cloaking for Scouts, a skill to regenerate grenades for Soldiers, and a damage-boosting Berserker skill for Heavies.
Horde is also getting a bit more love in the rewards department, serving up a random Horde Skill for defeating boss waves at waves 30, 40 and 50. Harder difficulties have a higher chance of giving rare drops, which plays in nicely with the two new difficulty modes: Inconceivable and Ironman. In Horde Mode, Inconceivable is just a step up in difficulty, while Ironman drops no COG tags when you die and ends your run after a failed wave. Where things get interesting with these difficulties is in campaign mode:
In Campaign, Inconceivable takes a more Survival based twist, giving you less health than Insane difficulty but also less health to your enemies. That's because surviving on Inconceivable is all about effectiveness – weapons and crates drop significantly less ammunition, so you'll have to make every shot count with whatever pickups you can find on the battlefield.
As for Ironman, dying in campaign essentially means game over and you'll be sent right back to the start.
Finally, two new maps — Avalanche and Rust Lung — are being added with "Rise of the Horde." Avalanche takes things to a mountainside resort packed with snow. Rust Lung, on the other hand, is a returning map from Gears 3 packed with close-quarters combat.
All told, this update will include 20 new achievements to grab — if you're concerned with that sort of thing. The update will land on June 6, and Season Pass holders will pick up five of the new Horde Skills right off the bat. Finally, for anyone who hasn't jumped on the Gears train yet, the game will have a 10-hour free trial available to check out from June 9 through June 15. Campaign play is limited to the first act, but that leaves plenty of time to check out multiplayer as well.