Stunning new Unreal Engine 5 demo comes from the Gears of War studio

Alpha Point
(Image credit: The Coalition)

Gears of War developer The Coalition has unveiled a brand new Unreal Engine 5 demo. 

Just below, you can see the official Twitter account of The Coalition revealing a new demo called Alpha Point. For those unfamiliar, this is a new demo created by the Gears of War developer entirely inside Unreal Engine 5, aimed at pushing technical boundaries and showcasing what this next-gen engine is truly capable of.

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Note that this is in no way representative of any current game that The Coalition is working on right now, but just a technical showcase for the new engine. In the video just above however, we can see some truly stunning lighting work within Unreal Engine 5, as well as some really impressive geometry at work, which has become a staple of past Unreal Engine 5 demos.

That's not all though, because The Coalition has also published a video delving into the character creation side of Unreal Engine 5. The video is a fantastic look at just how overly detailed characters can become when utilizing Unreal Engine 5, to the point where developers can edit the individual hairs in a character's beard, for example, or the tiny blemishes on their face.

This is just the latest in a long line of very impressive demos we've seen emerge since the public was given access to Unreal Engine 5 earlier this year. For example, last month in June we saw a solo developer assemble a sublime Superman game demo entirely within the engine, and before that in May, Unreal Engine 5 developer Epic Games published a video highlighting movements of a gigantic robotic foe (which could even dab on command with the Konami Code).

Since Unreal Engine 5 has been available for less than a year, the number of games taking advantage of the next-gen engine is still very limited. So far, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 has been confirmed to utilize the Unreal Engine 5 for release on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and Wasteland developer inXile will construct their next, unannounced game on the new engine. A job listing earlier this year even hinted at the next BioShock game being developed through Unreal Engine 5.

For more on what the future of the famed FPS series could hold, head over to our interview with Cloud Chamber head Kelley Gilmore for more.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.