Gears of War: E-Day Review - Play It Again, Dom

Whether you're a hardened vet of the Gears series or are just playing it for the first time, Gears of War: E-Day is a good entry point.

It feels weird to say it, but Gears of War is a historical series. It's been around for roughly 20 years now, and it's still going, which is impressive by any metric in this industry. While much of the original team has moved on to other projects, The Coalition picked up the slack early and has stewarded Gears since Gears of War 4. Now, it's onto Gears of War: E-Day​​​​​​.

With 10 years of Gears under their belt, they've developed impressive takes on the universe, but E-Day is offering up something no Gears game has in 20 years: a prequel story. While I was extremely skeptical of this format almost immediately, playing it is something else entirely.

Kalona City Is A Great Setting

When I first heard that E-Day was a prequel story of the infamous Emergent Day incident (when the Locust Horde burrowed up and started their war with humanity), I wasn't sure what to think. But once I got my hands on it, it was clear that I had nothing to worry about.

A big reason why E-Day works so well is its setting. The city of Kalona feels like a believable future location, and while things are in dire straits fighting off the powerful horde, the city itself is still standing, and it offers a ton of personality throughout the course of the campaign.

Since this is 14 years before the first Gears of War (and thus, the ongoing story), it's a stark enough contrast where things feel familiar, but the city and other factors (including the squad's relationships with one another) are also fresh.

Looking off into the distance at buildings on fire (and a beautiful mountainside even farther away) while a small skirmish plays out on screen: it's fantastic to witness. On PC, E-Day looks fantastic and runs smoothly in my experience.

Performance really matters, and that smoothness gels well with some of the fantastic locales hand-crafted for the game's more intense battles. Elaborately built interiors and amphitheaters are carved out just for mini-boss fights.

Since it's a mission-based game, traversal has some freedom, letting players find collectibles and other upgrades. It's a great way to get that open-world feel without the same open-world bloat. The fact that a prequel has this much juice is impressive.

Player Build Choice Keeps Things Fresh

Where E-Day really sings is build variety, which plays out across the squad-based format. The ability to swap your loadout constantly is a tremendous boon and lets you switch between archetypes quickly. If you want to knock down doors and shotgun Horde up close while someone protects you from afar, you can.

If you want to split-screen with two shotgun-holding COG soldiers, you can do that too. Or if you want to lay down covering fire as a sniper, you can swap pretty easily, and build a power-up and sidearm loadout that helps you focus on that play style. When you combine this breezy loadout system (accessible through specific points littered across the map) with enhanced mobility options like sliding, gap-jumping, and clamoring up small ledges, things get a lot more interesting.

Suddenly, instead of going to ground and using a Lancer for much of the game, you can become a completely different archetype through E-Day's systems. I can see going through the campaign on a greater difficulty, with a different character/perspective, and a completely wild loadout.

Smaller mechanical nuances add up, like a slightly redesigned active reload system (that's incredibly clear and boosts you if you reload at the exact right time, like past games), and a wider array of weaponry. Arenas are more fun to roam around in thanks to the enhanced vertical movement, adding an entirely new dimension to Gears that isn't seen as often in the series.

We tested co-op, but the campaign is essentially always co-op to some degree. Even when the game splits up characters occasionally, the core concept of a squad permeates the entire experience. Split-screen is available on a single console for two people, but you can also play online co-op with up to four players total. We couldn't test other modes in this review period before launch, including Versus and Horde Siege.

Welcome Back, Gears

Not all of its story beats work, but Gears of War: E-Day delivers as an action-packed romp through a futuristic city in peril. Between the enemy and arena variety, plus the jam-packed map that never feels like it's biting off more than it can chew, the development team has curated a pointed Gears experience.

If you're a newcomer, you'll acclimate fairly quickly to what Gears of War: E-Day is selling. If you're a hardcore fan, the gameplay innovations are fresh enough to warrant another go-around, and you might learn some extra lore in the process.