Can you hear a distant buzzing, my friends? No, it’s not the powerlines from that new data centre, or yet another wasp’s nest in the eaves; it’s the arrival of a different kind of hornet’s nest, led by Marcus Fenix. This is Gears of War: E-Day, a chainsaw-fuelled journey to the beginning of the Gears timeline, with the series‘ tried-and-true Locust-smooshing action, now with added casual jackets and origin stories for strapping a chainsaw to a gun. If you’ve been a long-term gamer, you probably already know whether this is for you.
Gears of War E-Day is all about Emergence Day, the first arrival of the Locust hordes as they drag themselves out from holes in the ground. As far as bad days go, this is not humanity’s happiest hour. Our hands on time joinedd the battle in Act 2, with the Bravo Squad team suiting up, a young Dominic Santiago and Marcus Fenix falling under the command of Captain Akila Grey as they still search to understand what’s happening to the planet. All hell is breaking loose in the city of Kalona, with Colonel Trench taking military command despite the protestations of Mayor Shaw, whose only thought is for the people trapped in this Locust-ridden hell.
You’re soon dispatched into the field, splitting into two teams, with Marcus leading Dom and new teammates Mags and Lucas along the upper level of a river-spanning suspension bridge, fighting their way to the forward operating base set up in a nearby Thrashball stadium.
Interestingly, through this section, the Lancer, here equipped with its old-school bayonet, feels a bit underpowered, with so much recoil that it’s hard to keep a tab on the annoyingly evasive Locust. Picking up one of their Hammerbursts is a big step up, and it looks as though E-Day wants to push you to switch things up, rather than rely on old faithful. Amongst that is the return of the Breechshot, previously only handled in Gears of War: Judgment, and this non-scoped sniper rifle is liable to become an instant hit thanks to its handy ability to also be an axe. What will they think of next?
At this point, The Coalition have a good handle on how Gears should feel, and there’s the right kind of weight, heft, and recoil to the moment-to-moment gameplay, including the movement between cover and the iconic timed reload that typifies Gears. It’s all instantly recognisable, and even reassuring that, while everything around us seems to have changed, the world is melting, and RAM seems to be disappearing down an AI-powered emergence hole, Gears is still, well, Gears.
That’s a double-edged chainsaw. Gears 5, a meaningful expansion of the world and the Gears gameplay, was decried by some for its open-world sections and their slower pace. That’s been rolled back here, E-Day returning to the traditional battle through streets and corridors, bringing back the classic claustrophobia, but losing something of the series forward motion in the process.
Gears of War E-Day is, despite becoming the newest game in the series, the starting point for it all, functioning as both a prequel and a palette-cleansing refocus on Gears’ past, its legacy, and its core beliefs. Do those beliefs include shoving a chainsaw into a monster’s midriff? Yes. Yes, they do. While there are fewer surprises with this well-trodden path, it makes sense to secure what Gears is, and what the Coalition want it to be going forward.
At the forefront of that is Marcus Fenix. He is the series poster boy, and while the Fenix timeline might have played out and segued into Kait Diaz’s familial mysteries, it’s still Marcus that players really want to see stomping through the streets. He’s already something of a legend here, other soldiers quipping about him taking down a 40ft lizard, and while he’s not quite as grizzled, he’s as grumpy and one-note as he’s ever been.
That’s kind of the point, though, and if you want Gears to feel like Gears, you can’t suddenly have its central protagonist become all soft and mushy. When his catch phrases in E-Day include “Lights out f*&k-face”, after popping a Locust’s head off with a sniper rifle, there’s not too much danger of that.
Much of the narrative continues to be delivered through comm chat, and those well-worn slow walks as Marcus sticks a finger in his ear. I’m not sure what else I want at this stage, when it helps secure the sense of place and that feeling of being in the field, but some more detailed cutscenes do appear at points to enhance E-Day’s storytelling.
Of course, there’s a serious amount of impending tragedy to be explored through E-Day, and I’m hoping that it’s delivered with a least a small dose of sensitivity and emotion. Primary amongst that is a worryingly happy Dominic Santiago, talking about his home in Ephyra, and of course his wife. While we ultimately don’t see the closing point of that particular arc until Gears of War 2, you have to assume that the steps along that path are going to be painful.
E-Day is, as you’d hope given The Coalition’s practically unrivalled mastery of Unreal Engine, the best-looking Gears game thus far, and while the blood-splattered walls, burning landscapes, and gothic architecture are instantly familiar, there’s a further level of visual fidelity on display here, alongside a satisfying audio landscape to back it up. Standing on an outcrop, with helicopters whizzing overhead, plumes of smoke billowing into the air, and the distant sounds of gunfire and explosions off in the distance, you really feel as though you’re part of this brutal turning point in the history of Sera.
There’s a few wrinkles that returning players may want to iron out, and muscle memory wouldn’t let me get on with the Modern control scheme that Gears E-Day chooses by default. We don’t run in Gears games by clicking a stick in, do we? Fortunately, there’s a Legacy setting that returns run firmly back to the A-button, allowing you to get to the important ducking, shooting and executing via decapitation that you have on your job sheet. New recruits needn’t worry.
Gears of War E-Day has all the bombast, volume and brutality we’ve come to expect from the Gears series, and while it’s instantly familiar, I’m hoping for a few more surprises lurking around the dimly lit corners. Could there be some emotional poignancy hiding there? It’s hard to say when the chainsaw buzzing is ringing in your ears and Marcus is shouting expletives at every thing that moves. For Gears fans, that’s probably exactly what they want.
