Hello everyone, today we are taking a look at Gears of War: E-Day. It’s a prequel set 14 years before the first game, Emergence Day. As young men, Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago visit the city of Kalona to be honored as heroes of the recently concluded Pendulum Wars, but an unknown threat known as the Locusts emerges from beneath the surface and wages war against humanity, and unfortunately, the peace is short-lived. The new threat wreaks havoc, forcing humanity into a desperate fight for survival.
So What’s E-Day all About?
Gears of War: E-Day takes the series back to its early days, and developer The Coalition and publisher Xbox Game Studios deliver their finest work since taking over the franchise in 2014, when Microsoft acquired the rights from Epic Games and developed Gears of War 4 (2016) and the sequel, Gears 5 (2019). E-Day gives fans a reason to get excited for the chainsaw-riddled shooter once again.
Gears of War fans can gather their squad and fight it out in co-op PvE, multiplayer, and Horde Siege. Built on Unreal Engine 5, E-Day delivers the most immersive Gears yet, with improved traversal and tactical abilities, stunning visuals, epic battlefields, and a diverse arsenal of weapons and equipment to grab along the way.
Marcus is ready to re-enlist and hopes Dominic will join him in the same squad, while Dominic, after a conversation with his wife, Maria, is ready to go home to their two young children and hesitates to tell Marcus his plans. But hell takes over, and Dominic’s plans quickly have to change.
Marcus and Dom team up with ex-Gear Mags Carter and rookie Gear Lucas Reyes, who just happen to be at the bar when the Locust tremors begin, and hell breaks loose. You’ll have newcomers Mags and Lucas as your squadmates throughout the game, solo or co-op.
Once you get past the crowbar head-crushing action at the start, you can start grabbing and equipping some head-smacking, body-busting weapons, including assault rifles, shotguns, sidearms, launchers, precision weapons, along with several specialized weapons.
Lots of Weapons in Gears of War: E-Day
The weapons mix old and new, each serving a unique purpose to support different combat strategies. Some of the core weapons include the Lancer Mk1 (blade bayonet with heavier close-range firepower), Prototype Lancer (iconic chainsaw), Gnasher (shotgun), Hammerburst (burst-fire rifle), Ripper (light machine gun), Longshot (sniper rifle), Breechshot (mix of standard rifle/sniper weapon), Torque Bow (launches explosive projectiles), Snub Pistol (dependable sidearm), and Striga (sidearm), plus heavy and mounted weapons like the Troika (mounted machine gun), Vulcan (high-rate-of-fire weapon), and Gorehook (suited to close and medium-range).
Introduced in the often-forgotten Gears of War: Judgment, the Breechshot is one of the best go-to guns as you advance in the campaign because it offers range and stopping power when you need it.
With that said, Gears of War: E-Day makes headshots, chainsaw rips, and explosions feel so good.
But with the new weapon mod and tactical gear system, you can modify and upgrade them through the yellow hard cases hidden, or not so hidden, throughout the world for you to find that contain a mod for a weapon or other things such as clip extenders, recoil, accuracy enhancers, or even better scopes. You unlock four gun-mod slots as you progress through the game, and you’ll keep trying to find the right mix of mods to match your gameplay. Tactical Gear also modifies your armor and abilities, including a stim that can heal you and teammates within its radius, which you unlock as you progress. And don’t forget about the hidden objects along the way!
New E-Day Foes
The game has some enemies that you have seen and haven’t seen before in other Gears of War games, such as the Spore Matron, Bile Frog, and Drones & Rushers, that will leave you excited to kill them all the while trying to stay alive alongside your team as you advance through the five-act story.
Horde Siege and Versus
Once you complete the campaign, thankfully there is more. In Horde Siege mode, you take on the open streets of Kalona to complete PvE objectives as a four-team squad, with side objectives that earn upgrade points before you call for extraction. I gave it a try, extracted once, and died twice, so it’s an all-out war against the enemy, and you have to work with your team if you expect to survive.
E-Day features six brand-new Versus maps: Battleship, Market, Outpost, Park, Precinct, and Skyward.
Battleship is set around a large ship being dismantled at the docks; Market takes place in a damaged seaside market; Outpost is an abandoned military camp overlooking Downtown; Park is set around the remains of a zoo near the coast of Downtown; Precinct takes place inside the damaged Police Department; and Skyward is a vertical map spread across the rooftops, all set in and around the war-torn city of Kalona, offering plenty of fun.
They draw on classic Gears map design, focusing on cover positions, fronts, and lanes that test your skills against players worldwide while adding chaos to the game.
Final thoughts on E-Day
Thankfully, the prequel Gears of War: E-Day returns with a solid core, plus plenty of weapons and mods that make it more enjoyable than ever while keeping the franchise’s heart intact. Marcus and Dom take on the Locust horde, with action throughout.
