Gears of War started out as an Epic Games-developed title, but the franchise has been in the experienced hands of The Coalition for over a decade. With Gears of War: E-Day dropping in October, the studio is aiming to bring the franchise back with a bang after a lengthy hiatus. We recently went hands-on with the game--you can check out the video preview below--and our immediate takeaway was that The Coalition hasn't skipped a beat as it still knows how to put together a Gears game that looks and feels great.
Set during the cataclysmic events of Emergence Day, Gears of War: E-Day tells the story of humanity's first encounter with the Locust. Outgunned and caught by surprise, it's up to Marcus Fenix to rally the survivors and turn the tide of the conflict. While we didn't get to experience the campaign, we did check out the game's Horde and Versus modes. Gears of War multiplayer has always been a crucial part of the franchise, and the overhauled gameplay really shines in these modes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddR8aMawuOUIt's worth noting that the core gameplay for E-Day was built from the ground up, allowing for movement to feel more fluid and natural than ever before. Characters still have that weighty, heavily armed slab of beef feel when they move; there's more flexibility in positioning yourself, and subtle changes only add to that fresh sensation. The controls have also been updated to reflect this, but if you're a purist, you can swap back to a legacy layout.
So how about those modes then? Versus is pretty much what you'd expect a Gears PvP mode to be, as The Coalition sticks to the script for this time-honored slice of multiplayer. We tried out the 4v4 Team Deathmatch and Conquest options, and while they are throwbacks to classic Gears, the new gameplay changes do make it feel more exciting than ever to play--and a little sweaty, when you hope your health bar holds out long enough for you to unload some Gnasher shells.
Horde mode--or Horde Siege as The Coalition calls it--feels like a ton of energy has been poured into it. The E-Day twist on Horde mode sees teams engaging the Locust on massive maps that contain several arenas, similar to how Call of Duty: Warzone's battleground is a greatest hits location made up of several sections. A squad of four is tasked with hunkering down and surviving against wave after wave of Locust troops before they can extract, but with two additional squads joining you, there are 12 players in total battling it out.
The more we played Horde Siege, the more we started to learn how to interact with other squads. Completing side objectives in addition to the main objective earned us squad perks, and you'll often run across other squads during the side activities that you can team up with. In one notable encounter, we joined another team to take down a massive Brumak. There are also several flavors of Horde Siege to choose from--Blitz, Siege, and classic Horde--and the E-Day version of this mode feels like a proper evolution of it.
Overall, we were really impressed and pleasantly surprised by Gears of War: E-Day. Beyond the campaign, Horde mode is genuinely awesome and PvE multiplayer looks like a great way to spend some quality time with friends. It's a Gears game that feels genuinely great to play thanks to all the changes that The Coalition has made, and you can get an early taste of E-Day when the open beta kicks off next month.
Gears of War: E-Day launches for Xbox Series X|S and PC on October 6, while preordering the $100 Premium Edition or the $200 Collector's Edition will unlock early access to the full game starting October 1.
