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It wasn’t so much Gears of War 4’s

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“ The big new feature you’ll see in the beta is the grab-’n’-stab.

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“ The one new weapon in this beta – the Dropshot – fits right in with the rest of the COG arsenal.

My two-hour sneak peek of the imminent Gears of War 4 multiplayer beta took me to three maps across two game modes: good ol’ Team Deathmatch and the tug-of-war-style Dodgeball. Though none of the beta levels immediately gave off the “instant classic” vibe that Gears 1’s “Gridlock”, “Mansion,” and “Fuel Depot” did, I thought “Harbor” had a hint of “Gridlock” to it that made it my early favorite of the three. And while we’re on the subject, I was disappointed that none of the beta maps have any of the “map events” that made Gears 3’s battles more interesting and unpredictable, though perhaps there will be battlegrounds in the final game that will fill that void.The big new feature you’ll see in the beta is the grab-’n’-stab. If you and an enemy are on opposite sides of the same piece of cover, you’ll get an X-button prompt to grab them and drag them over to your side. Time a subsequent Y-button press properly and you’ll stab them in the neck for an instant assassination-style kill. I couldn’t perfect the combo during my initial hands-on time, but like Halo 5’s satisfying Ground Pounds, I’m sure as hell going to keep trying, since I know it’s going to be sooooo worth the risk once I finally pull it off.Though Gears of War 4 feels, as I said, like a reunion with an old friend, things of course can never be exactly the same as it used to be. Still, Gears of War 4 hopes it can be close. New franchise boss Rod Fergusson was careful to position Gears 4 as a successor to Gears 3, distancing the new game from 2013’s divisive Judgment offshoot. “Evolution, not revolution” is how Fergusson put it, and after playing for a while, it’s clear that’s exactly where Gears 4 is headed. Nice to ‘saw you again, old friend.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan , catch him on Podcast Unlocked , and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.