The Coalition’s Gears of War: E-Day announcement at the Xbox Games Showcase confirmed a fall release with a same-day PC launch, but PC players have months to wait. Gears 5 and the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition remain on Steam as the canonical way to play the franchise on PC, and players who have already finished the campaign on Insane and run their share of Horde mode want the next thing. The cover-based third-person shooter category has largely emptied out since 2010, but a handful of modern shooters do specific parts of the Gears formula — the weighty character feel, the cover-pop rhythm, the chainsaw moments — better than the originals.
We ranked 7 Gears of War alternatives on PC. All are on Steam, all are finished, and the picks span the closest cover-shooter siblings, the modern co-op horde shooters that share Gears’ co-op tradition, and one wildcard that captures the brutality at twice the speed.
Why people want Gears of War alternatives
Gears 5 launched on Steam in 2020 and the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition followed in 2024 with Gears 1, 2, and 3 collected. Players completing all four campaigns plus Gears Tactics have a specific gap to fill while waiting for E-Day:
- The Gears franchise has no entry that scratches the modern Gears 5 itch — no annual release cadence.
- Cover-based third-person shooters have become rare. Most modern shooters favour movement over cover.
- The Horde mode community is healthy but small; PvP servers are populated but heavily skewed toward longtime players.
- E-Day is months away with no PS5 version planned.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Price (approx.) | Gears similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | Brutal third-person action | Around $60 | Very high |
| Helldivers 2 | Co-op chaos | Around $40 | Medium-high |
| Aliens: Fireteam Elite | Co-op horde defense | Around $40 | High |
| Vanquish | Stylish cover shooter | Around $20 | High |
| Remnant 2 | Co-op soulslike shooter | Around $50 | Medium-high |
| The Division 2 | Cover-based MMO shooter | Around $30 | Very high |
| Outriders | Looter shooter with cover | Around $40 | High |
The 7 best Gears of War alternatives on PC
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 — best brutal third-person action
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is the closest spiritual successor to Gears on PC. Saber Interactive’s 2024 release puts you in 9-foot-tall power armour, swinging chainswords through Tyranid hordes with the same weighty character feel that defined Gears. The campaign is shorter than Gears 5 but punches harder, and the Operations mode is a direct Horde-style co-op offering.
Where it falls short: No cover system in the Gears sense. Combat is melee-and-shooting hybrid rather than cover-pop. The Warhammer lore can intimidate newcomers.
Pricing:
- Around $60 standard, sales below $40.
- vs Gears 5: comparable price, less cover focus, more melee weight.
Migrating from Gears: The character weight transfers immediately. The shift from cover to melee takes adjustment.
Bottom line: Pick this first when “the closest modern Gears” is the question.
Helldivers 2 — best co-op chaos
Helldivers 2 from Arrowhead is the cooperative shooter that dominated 2024 and remains the strongest live-service shooter on Steam. Four-player drops, friendly fire on by default, and a strategic stratagem system that turns every fight into a logistics problem. The connection to Gears is the co-op weight and the over-the-top tone — both franchises take themselves seriously about being silly.
Where it falls short: Live-service structure. Premium battle passes and ongoing balance changes are part of the model. Not a cover shooter at all — encounters are open-field.
Pricing:
- Around $40 standard, frequent sales below $25.
- vs Gears 5: comparable price, very different combat structure, deeper co-op community.
Migrating from Gears: Co-op instincts transfer. Cover mechanics do not.
Bottom line: Pick this if Gears 5’s co-op camaraderie was the appeal more than the cover system.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite — best co-op horde defense
Aliens: Fireteam Elite is the closest mechanical match to Gears 5’s Horde mode in single-player or co-op form. Three-player co-op missions, class-based character progression, and a difficulty scaling that turns the Aliens IP into a constant pressure cooker. The campaigns are shorter than Gears 5’s, but the replay value through class variety and harder difficulty tiers is comparable.
Where it falls short: Linear mission structure rather than open-encounter design. No proper PvP mode. The Aliens setting is a hard sell for some players.
Pricing:
- Around $40 standard, frequent sales below $10.
- vs Gears 5: comparable price, more focused on horde co-op, narrower scope.
Migrating from Gears: Cover-and-shoot instincts transfer. Class roles replace Gears’ freeform combat.
Bottom line: Pick this for the closest Horde-style co-op experience on Steam.
Vanquish — best stylish cover shooter
Vanquish from Platinum Games is the boost-rocket cover shooter that PC players largely missed at console launch and rediscovered when the 2017 Steam port arrived. The cover system is direct — duck behind walls, pop out to shoot — and the augmented-reaction-mode time slow gives the same combat-as-puzzle feel that good Gears encounters have.
Where it falls short: Six-hour campaign, no co-op, and a 2017 PC port that runs at locked 60 fps without uncap options. The pace is much faster than Gears, which is jarring at first.
Pricing:
- Around $20 standard, regular sales below $10.
- vs Gears 5: much cheaper, shorter campaign, far faster pace.
Migrating from Gears: Cover-pop instincts transfer immediately. The boost-rocket movement is new.
Bottom line: Pick this if you want a pure cover shooter campaign and don’t need co-op.
Remnant 2 — best co-op soulslike shooter
Remnant 2 from Gunfire Games is the soulslike-shooter hybrid that took the Remnant: From the Ashes formula and dialed it up. Third-person, cover-aware combat against bosses and elite enemies, with three-player co-op and procedurally generated worlds that change between runs. The combat weight is closer to Gears than the soulslike tag suggests.
Where it falls short: The soulslike difficulty layer is the main pitch — players who came to Gears for relatively forgiving combat will find Remnant 2 sharper. The procedural variety can feel repetitive after multiple runs.
Pricing:
- Around $50 standard, sales below $25.
- vs Gears 5: comparable price, harder combat, deeper run variety.
Migrating from Gears: Cover-aware combat transfers. The soulslike difficulty is the adjustment.
Bottom line: Pick this if you want Gears-style combat with a roguelike co-op layer.
The Division 2 — best cover-based MMO shooter
The Division 2 is the most mechanically Gears-like cover shooter on PC right now. Massive Entertainment’s 2019 release is a third-person tactical shooter with a Gears-style snap-to-cover system, a Washington DC open world, and a years-long live-service tail that’s added campaign content well past launch. Players who liked Gears’ cover-pop rhythm find a direct match here.
Where it falls short: MMO-light progression demands time. The story is buried under live-service quest design. PvP zones (Dark Zones) are uneven in 2026.
Pricing:
- Around $30 standard, frequent sales below $5. Warlords of New York DLC included or separate depending on the bundle.
- vs Gears 5: comparable price, MMO structure, much larger world.
Migrating from Gears: Cover mechanics transfer one-for-one. The looter-shooter structure is the adjustment.
Bottom line: Pick this for the closest cover-system feel on Steam in 2026.
Outriders — best looter shooter with cover
Outriders from People Can Fly is the looter shooter with explicit Gears influences — third-person, cover system, weighty character animation, and a class-based combat system that gives every player a distinct combat language. The expansion Worldslayer added a meaningful chunk of content.
Where it falls short: Live-service ambitions never fully materialized; the game went into maintenance mode. Some balance issues never got patched.
Pricing:
- Around $40 standard for the Complete Edition with expansion, sales below $15.
- vs Gears 5: comparable price, looter-shooter loop, no Horde equivalent.
Migrating from Gears: Cover instincts transfer. The class abilities replace freeform weapon variety.
Bottom line: Pick this if you want cover-based combat with a looter-shooter progression layer.
How to choose
Pick Space Marine 2 for the closest modern Gears in tone and weight. Pick Helldivers 2 for cooperative chaos with friendly fire. Pick Aliens: Fireteam Elite for the Horde-mode experience.
Pick Vanquish for a cover-shooter campaign with no co-op required. Pick Remnant 2 for Gears combat with a soulslike layer. Pick The Division 2 for the most direct cover-system match in 2026. Pick Outriders for a looter-shooter with Gears DNA.
Stay with Gears 5 and the Ultimate Edition if you haven’t finished both on a difficulty that meant something to you. Once E-Day ships this fall, expect it to take over as the default Gears entry point on PC.
FAQ
Will Gears of War: E-Day come to PS5?
No. The Coalition confirmed at the Xbox Games Showcase that E-Day is an Xbox and PC exclusive. There is no PS5 version planned.
Is Space Marine 2 really like Gears of War?
Yes, more than the marketing implied. Saber Interactive built Space Marine 2 with the explicit goal of a Gears-of-War-meets-Warhammer feel — chainsword animation, weighty over-the-shoulder camera, and large-scale horde combat all draw the same well. The cover system is the main divergence.
What’s the best co-op Gears alternative on Steam?
For Horde-style co-op, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is the closest match. Remnant 2 covers the soulslike-co-op angle. Helldivers 2 is the choice if the camaraderie and chaos of Gears co-op was the appeal more than the specific cover mechanic.
Is there a free Gears of War alternative on PC?
The closest free option is Warframe, which has cover mechanics and third-person combat with deep customization. It’s a different category but free-to-play with no story behind paywalls. For a true Gears alternative, expect to spend.
Can you play Gears 5 on Steam Deck?
Yes. Gears 5 runs at a stable 60 fps on Steam Deck with medium settings, and the controller mapping is native. The Ultimate Edition entries are also Verified.
