You guys should read the Gears 5 campaign impressions.
The short version is, they are going semi open world. There will be hub sections with fluid (hop on and off) vehicle traversal, side quests, secrets, etc. You are encouraged to explore because it has lite RPG elements in that you can upgrade your JACK robot with skills ranging from giving your team shields, stealth, zapping enemies, picking up ammo etc. You can also find easter egg and "relic" weapons which are variants of existing weapons with added functionality/perks. Ie a 2 bullet firing Longshot or a hipfire focused boltok. You can store any weapons you find on the Skiff you use to travel the world.
The series still preserves its tight cover based arenas and cinematic set pieces. And as you may or may not know, the core multiplayer is the tried and true classic gears gameplay, but with added modes including some with hero abilities.
The best summary I saw was that Gears 5 shakes up the formula and evolves the series forward while not sacrificing what made Gears great.
And I really REALLY hope Coalition and 343 have been sharing notes because this sounds like EXACTLY what Halo Infinite could be.
Foster exploration in campaign. Shake up the formula but preserve those tight gunfights and big vehicle sections. Keep the core multiplayer classic Halo but allow for fun new modes to shake things up.
Hell I wouldn't mind a damn near carbon copy of the campaign structure. In Gears 5 you travel the world in a skiff vehicle. What if in Halo 5 you use the Pelican (from the trailer) to travel from location to location. You can store weapons you find to customize your loadout for each mission. You can find and pick up vehicles to use as well.