The campaign for Gears of War: E-Day, the franchise's first new installment in seven years, presents a compelling mix of exhilarating highs and noticeable lows. While the game boasts some of the series' most memorable scenes and set pieces, and features combat that feels better than ever, the overall experience is hampered by weak storytelling, inconsistent pacing, and uninspired sandbox exploration. These initial impressions are based on an incomplete playthrough of the campaign, which is expected to last around 14 hours. Multiplayer features, including a new Horde Siege mode, will become available with the game's early access period beginning October 1, with additional features like private lobbies and ranked play launching later in the month.
E-Day immerses players in the pivotal Emergence Day, occurring 14 years before the original 2006 game. This period marks the Locust Horde's devastating emergence and siege of humanity. Players step into the boots of COG soldiers Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, who, still recovering from the Pendulum Wars, are thrust into guerrilla warfare on their home turf against an incomprehensible enemy. The game's world-building effectively blends the series' signature gothic horror with baroque architecture, creating a visually rich setting.
Playing on Xbox Series S offered a good, though not ideal, experience. Even when utilizing the quality mode at 30fps, frequent stuttering and chugging were noticeable, particularly during transitions between checkpoints and action-heavy cutscenes, lending a "last-gen" feel to parts of the game. Despite these performance hiccups, the core combat remains a strong point. Gears of War: E-Day shines when players are engaged in cover-to-cover firefights and flanking maneuvers within large-scale arenas. These environments, ranging from towering bridges and opulent hotel lobbies to crumbling airfields, are both visually striking and enjoyable to navigate as players contend with the Locust.
The addition of a prone mechanic behind cover enhances the tactical depth of the combat, adding a satisfying layer of drama as debris flies. However, the game struggles to maintain this momentum in its open-world segments and broader narrative. While Marcus and Dom are joined by characters like Cole and a new rookie, their interactions and the plot itself often feel secondary to the action. The narrative devolves into backstory exposition and superficial exploration of war-induced trauma, with character development and plot progression taking a backseat to the squad's dutiful but uninspired grumblings between objectives.
The inclusion of optional objectives and numerous collectibles, which feed into a functional equipment mod system, further emphasize the disconnect. These elements, while present, don't always provide the payoff of surprising story beats or engaging character arcs, leading to periods of tedium between the game's standout combat sequences. The overall experience feels like a series of accomplished battles that haven't yet coalesced into a winning war effort. The potential of the new Horde Siege mode and other multiplayer content may yet elevate the complete Gears of War: E-Day package, but the campaign alone presents a mixed bag.