Gears of War: E-Day's top-shelf Halo crossover brings it closer to Reach than ever

Gears of War: E-Day is an absolute triumph for The Coalition, even if its sales on Xbox Series X/S haven’t reflected it.

The game went down a treat with critics and fans alike, including GAMINGbible, whose review was written by yours truly.

I gave the game a score of 8/10 and the remarkable single-player campaign was mostly responsible for that.

“Gears of War: E-Day is instantly in the same league as Halo: Reach; a banging prequel that doesn’t just expand the timeline, but gets you thoroughly invested in the terror gripping humanity,” read part of my review.

As it turns out, the Halo: Reach similarities were something a lot of gamers felt and some have even gone as far as modding and the entirety of Noble Team into the game as a result.

Gears of War: E-Day Incursion, made by WarhammerWorkshop, replaces numerous in-game character models with those found in the Halo series, allowing you to choose which ones take your fancy. They’re proportionally accurate, suit the game’s animation style nicely and the visors on their Mjolnir helmets hold a realistic reflection of the world around them.

Master Chief is obviously front and centre, as he always is, but it’s Noble Team that fans will probably get the biggest kick out of. Carter, Emile, Kat, Jorge and Jun are all here, so you can pick your favourites.

WarhammerWorkshop

It’s not just Marcus, Dom, Carter and Reyes that get makeovers; even the generic soldiers you’ll find in the game can also get an upgrade, like becoming Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs).

You can download the mod for free from NexusMods, and given how both Halo and Gears of War are owned by Xbox, we’d love to see this mod get official support in the game. I’d be more than down to replay the campaign if I could make Marcus look like Emile.

READ NEXT: Gears of War: E-Day has reminded me why I don't want every game to be 100 hours long

Gears of War: E-Day is a prequel that’s saved the franchise

While Gears of War has always been popular, the last few titles haven’t done it much good. Thankfully, Gears of War: E-Day has gone down well with the majority of players.

In my opinion, this is exactly what the franchise needed more of after Gears of War 3. I’m genuinely surprised it took The Coalition this long to take us back to where it all began, but it was well-worth the wait.

Looking out at the war-torn world as Locust storms the streets and Reavers soar through the air was genuinely emotional. It was like seeing New Alexandria for the first time in Halo: Reach, even more so when you’d see civilians trying to desperately escape the horde.

Gears of War: E-Day really is a triumph and if there’s scope for it, I’d love to see more adventures set before the first Gears of War game. It feels like there are plenty of stories left to tell before the formation of Delta Squad.

READ NEXT: Gears of War creator reveals Dom was nearly a woman in response to E-Day 'girl boss' backlash