Set 14 years before the original Gears of War, E-Day follows the first three nights of the Locust invasion in the city of Kalona. This is the Emergence Day that the series has talked about for almost 20 years (starting with the original game on the Xbox 360), when the Locust Horde erupted from beneath the ground and caught humanity completely offguarded. We know how this ends, of course. But for now, life on Sera was normal. People were commuting, attending sporting events and getting on with their lives only hours earlier. Then City Hall has been turned into a military command post and medical facility, while a stadium is now being used as a base. Nobody really knows what is happening yet, much less how to stop it.<\/p>\n
I recently got an early access to a demo of the campaign section, which begins in Act 2, after the first night of the invasion. We see Marcus and Dom being placed in Bravo Squad alongside new recruits Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes, before being sent to secure a bridge needed for an evacuation. While veterans of past games will find a lot of familiarity with the game\u2019s lore and setting, the E-Day shows just how confusing the ground really was on that fateful day. At one point, Marcus picks up a tourist pamphlet and even uses it as a map of Kalona.<\/p>\n Image: Xbox<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Speaking of Marcus. Our hero is not quite the same man we remember either. Not only is he younger, but he also isn\u2019t wearied nor stubborn when we first saw him in the first Gears game. Then there\u2019s Dom, whom we get to hear more insights about his wife Maria and family. In many ways, this prequel pays homage to the original trilogy with plenty of fan services. And if you haven\u2019t played any of the original games, the emotional pulls and impacts of some scenes may be lost on you.<\/p>\n Action-wise, E-Day is still very much a Gears of War game, but you now get to pick more routes that play to your style and strength. For instance, in one bridge battle that I encountered, I could either stay above the road and use longer-range weapons to take down the Locust or move down among the abandoned cars with the Lancer for some close quarter combat.<\/p>\n The cover system has also been rebuilt to support more shapes and heights, including low rubble that can leave Marcus lying almost prone behind it. Parts of the environment can be damaged as well, so a hiding spot never becomes truly permanent \u2013 with the game encouraging constant movement with sliding, jumping and climbing.<\/p>\n Image: Xbox<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Kalona eventually opens into a wider district where Bravo Squad can take on optional objectives, search for supply caches and find weapon upgrades. It\u2019s not an open world in the RPG sense. \u00a0Instead, these areas connect the more traditional missions and give the squad a chance to help other soldiers or civilians along the way, making Bravo feel like one small part of a much larger world event.<\/p>\n Still, Gears has rarely been improved by making me walk further between fights. The wider streets look wonderfully detailed, but there is a risk that exploring them becomes busywork: jog towards an optional encounter, clear several enemies, collect an upgrade and then jog towards the next one. E-Day seems most convincing when the squad is being pushed through a tightly designed battlefield with a clear sense of urgency. If Kalona is collapsing around them, stopping to check every side room for a collectible could feel a little odd.<\/p>\n Image: Xbox<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Then again, those moments may also be where E-Day finds its humanity. Gears has always hidden more heart beneath its enormous armour and macho posturing than it was sometimes given credit for. The squad still trades bad jokes in the middle of terrible situations, including an early scene in which a prototype Chainsaw Lancer has been crudely assembled from an ordinary rifle and an old chainsaw. For a short while, there is even a sense that the COG might get the situation under control. Not-a-spoiler: We know it will not, but our heroes Marcus and Dom do not.<\/p>\n That is what makes E-Day more interesting than the nostalgia trip I assumed it would be. The familiar features that made Gears of War so fun are all present \u2013 the Lancer, Gnasher, Perfect Reloads and bodies crashing heavily into cover \u2013 but the context has changed. The original game showed us what remained after years of war. E-Day shows us what was there immediately before, and then asks us to watch it disappear over three nights.<\/p>\n In my short time with it, it seems to me that Gears of War: E-Day isn\u2019t trying to reinvent the series and I think that\u2019s okay. At its heart, E-Day is still very much the Gears of War that fans love and missed, but the prequel settings give it a somewhat frighteningly new story to tell.<\/p>\n Gears of War: E-Day launches on <\/i>6 October 2026<\/i><\/b> for Xbox Series X|S and PC.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Set 14 years before the original Gears of War, E-Day follows the first three nights of the Locust invasion in the city of Kalona. 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