Gears of War: E-Day is an emotion-rich prequel and must-play Xbox Game Pass addition

Gears of War: E-Day is a fresh start for the Xbox franchise we all know and love, but its nostalgic blasts from the past are bogged down by modern additions that ultimately have no place in Gears.

After playing through the full campaign for Gears of War: E-Day, I have a lot to praise. Over two decades later, Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago finally get to share the screen again and the game doesn’t skimp on the emotional weight of that reunion.

Unfortunately, it gets briefly overshadowed by gameplay segments that feel both jarring and unnecessary, so let’s dive in.

Gears Of War: E-Day boasts a narrative to rival Gears of War 2

In my humble opinion, it was an inspired decision to set the next game amidst E-Day; the beginning of the war between humanity and the Locust.

The game wastes no time kicking off its events. I was somewhat dreading a slow build with lots of chatting and not much slaughtering, but Gears of War: E-Day perfectly depicts the awesome speed in which the Locust begin their invasion.

Marcus and Dom are joined by new characters Carter and Reyes, and while they don’t hold a candle to the legendary personalities of Delta Team, they’re good company for the most part. You can freely choose which character you’d like to play as.

I, of course, played as Dom for the majority of the campaign. This, in my opinion, is the only respectable choice because Dom is pretty much the main character. Any fan of Gears of War 2 is going to be happy.

His story gets fleshed out in more ways than one as like any Gears of War fan will know, he has the most to lose on E-Day. There were some real tear-jerker moments during the mid to late-game story and something I personally loved was how the game made no allusions to his future self. It kept things grounded and focused on the here and now - the invasion, Dom’s sense of duty, and the anxiety he feels being separated from his family.

Narratively speaking, the game is incredibly strong and sophisticated. The horrors of E-Day are so well executed both in cutscenes and in gameplay. There’s a fundamental understanding on display of how much more powerful it is to show not tell. That’s why, in my opinion, 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.

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Addressing Gears of War: E-Day’s Brumak in the room

We’ll dig a little deeper into gameplay very soon, but the crux of my critique is likely the same as a lot of players, the “open-world”.

Gears of War: E-Day takes notes from Gears of War 5 and gives players these semi-open-world areas to explore. I counted around four in total and they’re my biggest gripe with the game.

When I’m assessing the pacing of a game, I consider each individual segment and think, “If I was to replay this game and get to this point, would I be thrilled, indifferent or mortified?”

For Gears of War: E-Day, I’d say only one of these exploration segments would leave me indifferent, the rest would leave me mortified.

They’re just very dull. That’s the best way to put it. Gears of War works best as a linear experience. It felt like the game was constantly jingling a set of keys in front of my face as it tried to veer me off the path in search of lootboxes and collectibles. I also felt no desire to pursue the side missions, especially when the majority of them were “hunker down and fend off this Locust wave” over and over. It just felt bloated.

READ NEXT: Gears of War E-Day: How to unlock five-day early access on Xbox Game Pass

Gears of War: E-Day’s gameplay is as refined as you’d expect it to be

The bulk of Gears of War: E-Day’s gameplay was solid. Movement felt fluid and the options for cover were never limited, nor was the weapon selection.

Each gun felt satisfyingly chunky and you can modify them throughout the game to suit your playstyle. I’ll never say no to a Lancer and Longshot combo, so I was thrilled to always have that option available to me when I really wanted it.

Enemy AI deserves a round of applause especially. The Locust really put me through my paces, even on Normal difficulty. Their tactics would change just as quickly as my own, like when an acid-spewing frog forced me out of cover into a pincer of gnasher-wielding grubs.

However, some encounters proved to me more frustrating than fun. This was especially apparent whenever the aerial enemies came out to play, as they were very aggressive and didn’t compliment the other Locust types quite so well.

If only my teammates were as advanced as the Locust though… Throughout the full campaign, there were several moments where it felt like my allies weren’t pulling their weight. They’d pepper the enemy with sporadic gunfire which helped for a momentary distraction, but that was about the extent of their helpfulness.

There’s no better example than the final fight of the game which, unfortunately, follows in the footsteps of previous Gears of War boss fights by being irritating and underwhelming. You get a game over when one of your friends perishes and for some reason, they kept throwing themselves at the all-powerful opponent like lambs to the slaughter.

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Final Thoughts

Gears of War: E-Day is a solid prequel that gets a lot of things right. The characters, the combat, and the visuals all mesh together into a must-play adventure for any Gears of War fan, but it’s also an excellent starting point for those new to the series.

I played through Gears of War: Reloaded and Gears of War 2 prior to Gears of War: E-Day, believing it’d enhance the experience, and while it did, I think I should have played them the other way around.

I’m genuinely excited for my next playthrough of the series, after finally getting that first-hand context on what went down on E-Day and what part our heroes had to play in it.

Pros: One of the most narratively-rich stories in the series, satisfying gameplay, stunning depictions of E-Day, does the legendary Dom Santiago justice

Cons: The “open-world” areas feel bloated and unnecessary, friendly AI wasn’t helpful; co-op is the way to go

For fans of: Gears of War, Uncharted, Halo

8/10: Excellent

Gears of War: E-Day will be released on October 6 2026 for Xbox Series X/S (version tested) and PC. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.