How Long Does It Take To Beat Gears 5?

Gears 5 comes out next Tuesday (or tomorrow for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers). But reviews are already live, and thanks to those, we know two things about this newest Gears title: it's pretty good, and it's a tad bit longer than other games in the series.

How long does it take to beat Gears 5? Let's find out.

Now that the Gears 5 review embargo is up, we've been able to track down five outlets that have both reviewed the game and commented on how long it takes to beat its campaign. GameSpot notes that the story mode is a 12-hour affair. Windows Central praised the game's "beefy 12-15 hour campaign." IGN reports that the Gears 5 story takes "around 10-12 hours" to complete. Eurogamer enjoyed the "meaty, 12 hour campaign." And Press Start said it wrapped up the story in "just under ten hours."

As you can see, there aren't a lot of wild-looking numbers there. Everyone is in pretty much the same ballpark. But where is the middle when all is said and done? How much time can the average player expect to spend with Gears 5?

Somewhere between 11 and 12 hours seems likely.

From what we've been reading so far, Gears 5 isn't a fully open world affair, but does introduce some hub areas that let you stray off the beaten path occasionally. There are also some optional side missions you can complete, which can alter how long the golden path story campaign takes you to complete. These help extend Gears 5 past other Gears games in terms of length, as the vast majority of those could be finished in under 10 hours (Gears of War 4, for example, could be completed in 9 hours).

But it's worth noting that the times referenced above are from critics, who are an admittedly small sample size. We'll have better idea of how long Gears 5 will take for the average player when it arrives for everyone on Tuesday, Sept. 10 (or Sept. 6 for those with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate). Stay tuned.