Gears Of War: E-Day is the first new entry in the franchise in seven years, and it acts as a prequel that returns to the story of Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago. The game is a soft reboot, abandoning the storyline and characters of Gears 5, which ended on a cliffhanger, and going back to the original protagonists.
Microsoft has not disclosed sales figures for the game, as it stopped doing so in the Xbox One era. E-Day is the first Xbox title to backtrack on the company's multiformat policies, and is only available on Xbox Series X/S and PC. Last year's multiformat remaster of the original Gears Of War seemed to make little impact, so it is unclear if enough people still care about the franchise on Xbox, let alone PlayStation.
Return to Sera
In what now seems a slightly strange decision, the original Gears Of War was set 14 years after Emergence Day, the E-Day of this game's subtitle, when murderous creatures referred to as Locust emerged from underground to try and wipe out all human life on the planet of Sera. At the start of the game, Marcus and Dom are at a bar when E-Day begins, and they, along with two other soldiers who also happen to be there, decide to help.
Marcus and Dom are not unfeeling meatheads, and the best moments of storytelling are when they break down and show some real emotion. But that happens rarely and briefly, with the wide-eyed rookie and taciturn veteran that you also team up with having even less memorable moments.
Familiar gameplay
As a prequel, the game ends up looking and playing like the first game again once the initial E-Day incursion is over. Existing fans already know the origins of the Locusts, so there is no real secret there, and the game barely bothers playing up the government conspiracy angle or giving any hint as to the Locust's motivations. Instead, the focus is solely on action, with no stealth, platforming, puzzle-solving, or role-playing elements beyond upgrading guns with collected items.
The majority of the game is still linear, but the open world elements work better than in Gears 5, even if the side quests are just more shooting and the collectibles are not very well hidden. The combat works just as it ever did, with a bit more control over movement in and around cover, and a slightly more nuanced active reload system. But overall, you are kneeling behind the same concrete barriers, shooting the same monsters, and taking part in the same on-rails turret sequences as ever.
Co-op is key
The game heavily promotes its co-op options, and you can play it online with four people or two in split-screen, or a mixture of both. At that point everything becomes much more interesting, especially as you can revive each other and loan guns and ammo. There is also competitive multiplayer, with the Versus mode and the co-op Horde Siege, although neither mode is reflected much in the campaign.
Gears Of War: E-Day is enjoyable in co-op, but it is doing nothing new or interesting compared to previous entries or the genre in general. The review notes that the problem is not a lack of craft but a lack of vision and ambition, which should have come from the top. The game is a chore to play in single-player, with no new ideas and a difficulty that starts to creep up as set pieces repeat. Score: 7/10.
