At this year’s Gamescom, I had the opportunity to try out another incredible title coming from Xbox: Gears of War: E-Day. I cannot describe how thrilled I was to test the single-player campaign, though I must emphasize that “test” is the key word here. We only played a slice of Act Two, essentially a segment that still introduces players to the characters and the overarching narrative. But even so, simply put: this is the old-school Gears of War experience absolutely everyone has been begging for, and I cannot wait to play the full release.
Gears of War: E-Day is set 14 years before the original game, chronicling Emergence Day itself, the exact moment the Locust Horde first breached Sera’s surface. Instead of showing us an already ruined world populated by people accustomed to endless war, The Coalition decided to show us the moment nobody knew what was happening. The city of Kalona is alive, people are trying to go about their normal lives; the Pendulum Wars have ended, and a peaceful era was finally supposed to begin. And then the earth rips open, and something nobody expected pours out. It’s a fascinating starting point because, for the first time in the franchise, we see the Gears world before it became the grim battlefield we remember from the original trilogy. The demo kicks off in the second act, just a few hours after the initial Locust assault. Kalona’s city hall has been converted into a makeshift COG base, and Marcus and Dom, alongside new Bravo Squad members Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes, are trying to comprehend exactly what they are dealing with. Marcus and Dom aren’t quite the hardened duo we know from the first game. Marcus is a war veteran, yes, but noticeably younger, while Dom is just a “friend” who will eventually become practically his brother. During the demo, their relationship isn’t built on a massive foundation of shared history; instead, we get to witness that bond being forged in real-time.
The same applies to their encounters with the Locust. During these initial skirmishes, Bravo Squad is practically learning what these creatures are at the exact same time you are. Wretches initially appear as animalistic threats, followed by Drones, and it quickly becomes horrifyingly clear that an organized army is orchestrating the invasion. At one point, the characters even start naming them based on how they move. It’s a great example of how The Coalition is trying to merge narrative and gameplay seamlessly, rather than just spoon-feeding exposition through dialogue. And once you take control, there’s no overthinking it: this is good old Gears of War. Take cover, shoot, roadie run between obstacles, nail the Active Reload, blast the Gnasher, and revel in an amount of gore that would require serious medical intervention in most other games. The core feel is incredibly familiar, but this is exactly where you can see how meticulously The Coalition approached this prequel. Movement feels faster and more natural, vaulting over obstacles is fluid, and snapping in and out of cover carries that satisfying heft you expect from a Gears title. Multiple hands-on impressions have rightfully pointed out that E-Day feels modern without losing its signature Gears identity. Combat truly shines when you close the distance. The Gnasher is once again the king of the battlefield, and a well-timed close-quarters blast turns a Locust into a pile of gibs in seconds. However, the game doesn’t force you to solve every problem with the same weapon. The demo featured Breechshot rifles, heavily armored Locusts, and enemies that force you to reposition and change tactics. Though I have to admit, I primarily stuck to the Lancer Mk1, better known as the Retro Lancer from previous entries, and impaled Locusts every chance I got!
As I mentioned, one of the best moments in the demo is undeniably tied to the prototype Chainsaw Lancer. Since the chainsaw bayonet is one of the franchise’s most iconic symbols, it’s fascinating to see E-Day depict its chaotic origin. In this iteration of the story, the weapon isn’t the legendary standard-issue Lancer we know; it’s a desperate, improvised solution cobbled together from whatever was available in Kalona. The Coalition even explained that the inspiration for this version came from strapping an ordinary hardware store chainsaw onto a rifle. When you first see Marcus revving up this monstrosity, it is practically impossible not to smile. Gears has once again found a way to turn sheer brutality into a spectacle. What I particularly loved is how drastically different the world looks compared to what we’re used to in Gears games. Kalona isn’t just another city that has been under siege for half a decade. It’s a place that was fully functioning just moments ago. There are cars on the streets, storefronts display advertisements, signs boast “peacetime discounts,” and citizens were celebrating the end of the Pendulum Wars right before everything devolved into hell. The Coalition even designed the entire city so its various locations physically connect, allowing you to see parts of Kalona from afar that you will eventually visit. It grounds the city, making it feel like a real, cohesive place rather than just a set piece built for a single mission. We didn’t get to explore the wider city in this specific hands-on demo, that was shown in a video presentation, but the playable train station segment was more than enough to leave a lasting, highly impressive mark.
Another novelty is the equipment and weapon upgrade system. Throughout the game, you can find various modifications and gear, and certain tools can fundamentally alter how you approach a firefight. We also saw Tactical Gear, specialized equipment that charges up during combat and can be used for healing, stunning enemies, and managing other dire situations. The concept isn’t completely revolutionary, but it elegantly expands the classic Gears formula without morphing it into something unrecognizable.
Technically speaking, E-Day might just be the most impressive Gears title to date. Unreal Engine 5 truly flexes its muscles here, especially through the lighting, character animations, environmental details, and destruction physics. What’s interesting is that the game doesn’t look like a generic attempt to make a “modern Gears“; it actively channels the aesthetic of the early games and elevates it with the microscopic details today’s technology allows. Kalona features gothic architecture, retro elements, and a fairly dark sci-fi look, all blending together to create a world that feels simultaneously nostalgic and brand new. Of course, what a short Gamescom demo can’t answer is how well all of this will hold up over the course of an entire campaign. We only saw a specific narrative slice and a few mission types, so we still don’t know how well the open and linear segments will alternate, how deep the upgrade system truly goes, or how the enemies and scenarios will evolve as the campaign progresses. Similarly, the emotional weight of Marcus and Dom’s story has yet to fully take shape. What we saw certainly proves that The Coalition knows exactly what they want to do with their relationship, but the real test will be whether that dynamic remains compelling throughout the whole adventure.
Nevertheless, walking away from the Gamescom Xbox Media Day, it’s hard not to be incredibly excited about what E-Day is trying to achieve. The Coalition didn’t just churn out another sequel picking up where the last one left off. They went back to the very beginning, attempting to show us what the world looked like before everyone knew the name “Locust Horde,” before Marcus became a legend, and before the Lancer became one of Xbox’s most recognizable icons.
Most importantly, the game recaptures that specific something that made me fall in love with the original Gears of War all those years ago. The heft of the weapons, the sheer brutality of the combat, the flawless cover mechanics, Marcus and Dom fighting side-by-side, the dark corridors, the massive enemies, and that unique cocktail of a serious war drama mixed with an utterly absurd amount of gore. If The Coalition can keep the open sections under control and build the rest of the campaign around combat sequences as high-quality as the ones we played at Gamescom, E-Day could be exactly the shot in the arm this franchise needed.
