GameCentral went hands-on with Act 2 of the story mode in Gears of War: E-Day, the new title from The Coalition set 14 years before the original game. The preview, played on PC, takes place in a heavily populated city still reeling from Emergence Day, when hostile subterranean hordes burst from the ground.
Car showrooms have been turned into combat zones, children's bedrooms are now snipers' nests, and battling outside a café where still-warm coffee rests on tables brings a new level of urgency. The game is set to release on 6th October 2026 for PC and Xbox Series X/S, priced at £69.99, with an 18 age rating.
Open hub sections expand world-building
Open hub sections massively expand the world-building. At one point in the single-player session, which features drop-in four-player co-op in the full campaign, the player is let off the leash to forge their own route. After diverting down an alley, a family trapped in a rapidly crumbling building is found. Rescuing them gets a rare weapon mod.
These people-saving side quests make Gears Of War: E-Day feel personal. Running right to the main objective is possible, but risks missing all manner of Easter eggs. One monorail platform features COG soldiers doing push-ups, and a button prompt lets the player join in for a quick pump.
In a smashed-up train carriage, a poster promoting star Thrashball athlete Cole Train is spotted. Marcus grumbles he had tickets to watch him play, until the military turned the stadium into a forward operating base. These details draw on decades of lore and bring the world to life.
Linear sections and familiar combat
Beyond this mini-sandbox, the bulk of the demo is linear: a fight across a bridge, a battle in a tunnel, a trek back across the same bridge. These don't particularly move the series on in any meaningful way, largely featuring the same weapons, enemies, and overall rhythm as the first game 20 years ago.
Movement is slightly sharper, with satisfying cover snapping and linked roadie runs with desperate dives and rolls. Environments facilitate this fluidity, allowing characters to run and slide under trucks, mantle up skips, and climb through blown-out windows into apartments, turning slice-of-life settings into tactically advantageous positions.
Fighting amongst snacks and vending machines in a petrol station, or watching a gigantic, spider-like Corpser burst from the ground next to a corner shop, contrasts the mundane with the nightmarish. This might be the darkest Gears game yet, with dead civilians littering the streets, not yet covered by body bags, and streaks of blood mapping their final moments. The city is a gaping wound.
Levity and technical polish
Gears of War: E-Day still finds time for levity, including an interesting cut scene detailing the creation of the default weapon, a machine gun with a chainsaw grafted onto it. 'Uh, did it just say ‘boom’?' says one of the squadmates when a boomer utters its signature line. Another time Dom, alive and well before the tragic events of Gears Of War 3, jokes about Marcus eating rotten meat during a mission gone wrong and getting severe food poisoning.
The polish is massively increased, now on Unreal Engine 5, looking better than ever, especially in 4K. Bursts of light from each trigger pull illuminate the character, while volumetric smoke hangs heavy in the air. Environmental destruction is upped, with bullets exploding boxes of fruit outside grocers into mulch, and car windshields cobwebbing under impact. In one fight a grenade partially reduces the wooden sign the player is crouched behind to splinters, so Marcus flops to his back and returns fire while prone.
While TVs can be destroyed and chunks knocked off concrete, it's more of a combined effect adding to the overall chaos of combat. The slightly enhanced scale bumps up the number of friendly COGs and combatants a touch. One scenario, taking place across three floors of a tube station, makes for a dramatic end to the demo, as two entrenched forces trade fire in a busy spectacle.
This two-hour campaign build provokes both reassurance and worry. While open world areas are epic enough to justify that seven year wait since Gears 5, the linear sections feel like a retread. Still, with 4v4 online competitive modes and the new Horde Siege PvE mode, the campaign is just one part of Gears of War: E-Day's overall package.
