Gears of War: E-Day puts a set of accessibility options in front of the player before the main menu, and keeps a fuller set under an Accessibility tab in the settings. Some options are duplicated into other menu tabs so they are easier to find. The wider settings menu is on Settings and Controls.
First Launch Flow
The initial setup runs across four tabs before continuing to the main menu.
Tab | Options offered |
|---|---|
Accessibility | Menu narration, UI text size, colour blind mode, subtitles on or off, subtitle text size |
Audio | Primary volume, music, character dialogue, sound effects, environmental audio toggle, environmental sound level adjustment and menu narrator volume |
Graphics | Eco Mode, Idle Timeout, separate graphics modes for campaign, Horde Siege and Versus, and a 120 Hz output indicator |
Brightness | Brightness and contrast sliders |
Narration and Text
Option | Detail |
|---|---|
Menu Narration | A screen narrator that reads text, menus and notifications, with adjustable speed, voice and volume |
UI Text Size | Changes the font size of the game interface |
Subtitles | Toggle for in-game subtitles, with adjustable text size, colour, background toggle and background opacity |
Ambient Dialogue Subtitles | Subtitles for short character reactions and combat callouts, separate from the main subtitle toggle |
Speaker Names | Shows who is speaking in subtitles |
Visual Aids
Option | Detail |
|---|---|
Colour Blind Mode | A colour filter with Deuteranope, Protanope and Tritanope options, plus an intensity slider |
High Contrast Characters | Renders characters in a single flat colour to improve visibility. Applies to the campaign and Horde Siege only. |
Character colours | Separate colours for the player, squad, allied COG and non-player characters, and enemies, used when high contrast is enabled |
Threat Indicators | Yellow indicators at the screen edges pointing to imminent high-damage threats, plus a triangle icon on nearby grenades and explosives. Optional audio feedback with its own volume slider. |
Navigation Aids
Three navigation aids work in the campaign and Horde Siege. Each can be set to off, always on, or a Tac-Com press mode that shows the aid only while Tac-Com is held plus a short trailing window.
Visual Navigation Aid: displays a visual path to the next objective.
Audio Navigation Aid: plays unique audio cues pointing to the next objective, with its own volume control.
Audio Ping: plays a directional cue at the nearest Supply Cache or R.I.G., with its own volume control.
Mature Content Filters
Filter | Detail |
|---|---|
Gore | Toggles some blood and gore effects during gameplay |
Profanity Filter | Filters strong language in game dialogue and subtitles. English only. |
Chat Profanity Filter | Filters player messages in text chat. Requires text chat to be enabled. |
Camera and Controls
Option | Detail |
|---|---|
Camera shake | Adjustable separately for the campaign and Horde Siege |
Button Tap Challenges | Switches button-tap prompts between default and press and hold. Currently used for struggles and for extending time while down but not out. |
Tap To Hold | Lets hold actions be completed with a single press. Does not apply to the bayonet charge or the chainsaw. |
Swap Sticks While Aiming | Swaps left and right stick control while aiming down sights. Works best with single stick control. |
Single Stick Control | Controls both movement and camera rotation with the left stick, so the player can enter cover and aim while the stick only steers the reticle. |
Aim Assist | Off, default per-weapon assistance, snap aim or lock-on aiming, plus an optional target lock audio cue. Affects the campaign and Horde Siege only, not Versus |
Accessibility Hit Marker Sound | Alternate hit marker sounds with a relative volume slider |
Controller Vibration | Toggle |
Chat
Text chat can be toggled in the heads-up display. Text-to-speech reads incoming chat messages aloud, and speech-to-text transcribes voice chat as on-screen text. Both require text chat to be enabled. Proximity chat, which carries voices from nearby players in other squads, exists in Horde Siege only and is covered on Co-Op and Split-Screen.
Beyond the Menu
Several features outside the settings menu are described by the developers as accessibility aids in their own right: independent per-player difficulty in co-op, up to five campaign save slots, objective markers, squad callouts warning of danger and suggesting tactics, the ping system that marks targets through walls, and an in-game map available in Versus, Horde Siege and parts of the campaign.
Every setting section supports resetting an individual setting, a section or all settings, and any setting not at its default is marked with a hexagonal icon. Accessibility features, particularly the narrator, were still being refined during the Open Beta.