Gears of War 4’s going to get a lot harder

You can’t even conceive how much harder

Gears of War 4 is the kind of game that’s built to have a long tail. There are frequent tweaks to refine multiplayer, a constant rotation of maps, a steady stream of themed events — all efforts to keep people playing. This summer, there’s a big change coming for people who think Gears 4 just isn’t hard enough.

In a post on Xbox Wire, Gears of War developer The Coalition outlined the short- and long-term future of the game. Maybe most notable is that an update will buck the long-reigning Insane difficulty and make “Inconceivable” the toughest challenge Gears has to offer. Inconceivable will be a new difficulty in both the campaign and Horde mode. Other changes that are planned for a summer update are an IronMan mode for campaign and Horde (although there’s no explanation as to what this is), level six class skills, and more skills for existing classes.

More immediately, there’s going to be a Valentine’s event in Gears 4. Torque Bow Tag, themed bounties, new Gears Packs, and a craftable character are all being added on February 10. The event is said to last “over a week.”

Also, two familiar maps are getting remixed. Impact has been reworked as Impact Dark. The Coalition says that smoke reduces visibility and forces players to fight at closer range than before. Here’s a fly-by video:

The second is a re-imaging of War Machine. The original train station locale has been swapped out for a COG settlement. Even though the setting is different, the weapon placements and strategic elements look to remain the same.

Both of these new maps are available right now in the developer’s playlist for season pass holders. Everyone else will probably have to wait until they hit the rotation. Doesn’t matter much, though. Torque Bow Tag’s great no matter where you play it.

Gears of War 4 Celebrates Valentine’s Day with Torque Bow Tag and New Maps [Xbox Wire]