REVIEW: ‘Gears of War: E-Day’ Campaign Is the Best ‘Gears’, possibly Shooter Campaign To-Date

A recent Xbox theme is finding success by returning to its franchise’s roots. Gears of War is next in this trend with Gears of War: E-Day, by The Coalition. It takes us back to the start of the Locust War, which kicked off the entire Gears franchise. Once again, going back is another major Xbox success. Not because the campaign is stellar, but because it’s one of the best Gears, if not shooter, campaigns in a long time. 

Gears of War: E-Day takes us through the first minutes of the Locust’s war against the Seran human population. The 79- year war against the UIR has ended, and the population of Sera is still recovering. Sadly, the grace to recuperate is short-lived.

Unexpected tremors break the mourning and reveal humanoid monsters bursting from the earth. The carnage and destruction is immediate. And those who’ve given their all already, hoping for a peaceful future for them and their families, are called back to save as many people as possible from untold horrors.

Dom is back in Gears of War: E-Day, and so is the franchise’s focus on storytelling.

Like the original Gears of War trilogy, E-Day focuses on Dom and Marcus as the focal points for the player. But they both carry a different air about them compared to the earlier entries. Dom and Maria are new parents, with Dom wanting out of the COGs to be there for his family. Marcus is sticking around and haunted by all the ghosts of the recent war. 

Their back-and-forth and uncertainty about anything outside of the city of Kalona is what drives them forward. For different reasons. At times, Dom even starts to believe his family is lost and becomes more reckless. When every news is bad news, it makes sense that someone who so passionately cares about his family degrades so quickly as Dom does. Marcus, as usual, is the level-headed one and a rock for his hodgepodge squad to make sure everyone around him makes it out okay… whatever okay will look like at the end of the day. 

Yet the standouts for the story, and what makes E-Day so memorable, are the new additions to the cast. Dom and Marcus are recalled back to the COG army immediately and are thrown into a new squad, Bravo squad.

The newcomers add much-needed new perspectives to make everything going on around them more humanized. Mags is a veteran who suffers from a lung condition and is much less of a believer in the COG effort than Marcus and Dom. Then there’s Lucas, a new recruit who is more blinded by the legacy of Marcus Fenix, the war hero, and a new devotee to the COGs. 

They each give a whole new look and insight into the goings-on of the COGs up till this point. We’re not just dealing with people who’ve been a part of the Locust war for years. We’re dealing with soldiers who’ve been fighting other soldiers for many, many years. It creates a different dichotomy as the COG army has to change their strategies completely and on the fly, while exposing how scummy they can be with oddly prioritized objectives.

Lucas especially is a personal standout of the primary four. He’s a small source of optimism for the cynics that make up Bravo. He’s very much like a young person who’s grown up on the heroic war stories in a world full of patriotism, quickly getting disillusioned. Yet still believing in him and his squad making small differences wherever they go. 

But a surprising character who ended up being the true star of the story was the city of Kalona. It evolves as Bravo Squad does. It’s the true focus of what hell the Locust wrought when they popped out of the ground. But it’s not just the buildings getting more destroyed as the fighting continues.

It’s its citizens, COGs and civilians alike, who learn to persevere and adapt throughout the fighting. Unlikely allies must get scrappy to just survive. Those who don’t like COGs must rely on their experience to reach safe havens. And any hope that tends to grow regularly gets dashed, and everyone must once again find new ways to simply live another day. 

Kalona is its own character in Gears of War: E-Day. 

The destruction, especially of Kalona, is beautifully tragic. You’ll revisit the same areas multiple times, but they are always different. The same square or fountain you visited once could be a sinkhole, or a place that once was a base for pushing back may now be in ruins.

The Locust keep advancing without stopping, causing jaw-dropping destruction in unexpected ways that, for any normal human is unimaginable. Even as someone familiar with Sera after playing every Gears game to date, the evolution of Kalona was still shocking. Not just with how quickly everything went to shit. But also the creativity and shock the Locust could muster while hiding underground for so long. 

E-Day is full of tragedy. It knows we know how the story ends. But it still uses the journey of how humanity made it out of the first hours to its advantage. For all that The Coalition has done to make this game so personal yet so expansive in their storytelling, they’ve taken a massive leap forward when bringing us back to the beginning. 

The gameplay also wears the guerrilla feeling on its sleeve. The COG army is coming off a long-lasting war. Nobody was ready for an invasion, especially from underground. Nothing comes across the fast-thinking ingenuity needed to fight back more than the Lancer.

We see the origins of the chainsaw Lancer fans of the Gears series have come to know and love. It was literally a chainsaw strapped to a Lancer, since normal knives and bayonets didn’t seem as penetrative. A random comment of a soldier who was able to cut a Locust with a chainsaw was what led to its creation. 

Similarly, the Locust weapons dropped initially are more archaic. They use scrap metal as ammunition; they use poisonous substances from the ground to deal more damage. Even their sniper rifle isn’t as powerful as a normal Longbow. Instead, its lower impact lets them reload javelins faster, and it has an axe strapped to it for close-range defense. 

The Locust are squishy bullet sponges. You need to evolve your weapon choices to be more effective at killing them. Lots of body shots could lead to them being downed instead of outright killed. Yet they also are very dangerous.

They aren’t afraid to charge you if their weapons aren’t as effective or they lose armor. Others will flank you as you focus on a sniper further away. You need to be on your toes and use everything at your disposal. That includes the Horde Mode items scattered around levels, too. 

For some fights, you’ll find mini turrets, spike traps, and trip mines that you can deploy to create defensive positions. Their inclusion in the base campaign adds to the scrappiness of everyone fighting. And why not use some weaponry lying around to your advantage?

A massive improvement to the level design comes from its open-area chapters. This is a clear evolution of the exploration parts from Gears 5 but much more focused in scale. You do it all on foot, and a map of the explorable area updates as you find blocked-off roads or side missions.

And finding everything you can in these areas is massively beneficial to you and your team. Not only collectibles, but the side missions and hard cases give weapon mods which can improve the effectiveness, stability, and even armor-piercing capabilities of every weapon. 

Plus, you’ll get armor and ability mods, too, which massively influence how you play. One that was used for most of my playthrough allowed Marcus to heal when killing someone at close range. So melee kills were prioritized. The stim boost ability mod was a massive help as well, allowing self-healing and improved weapon stability in tough situations. 

Combat requires focus in Gears of War: E-Day as boss fights get mre complex.

The open areas are where the Kalona city comes alive. It lets you see on your own terms how it’s evolved, and the gameplay changes that come with it. They each also have within them lots of different fights with all kinds of Locusts for unique encounters. Another massive improvement is the sheer amount of Locust variety there is.

They’ve recruited squid-like balloons that spew shooting funghi. They’ve brought along poisonous frogs that shoot acidic bombs. That’s on top of the normal Reapers, Brumaks, Drones, etc. The mix of enemies in each firefight keeps every battle fresh and difficult. 

Even the occasional boss adds a whole new layer of complexity to what you’re used to. They are mechanically dense and require you to stay acutely aware of what’s going on around you and your allies to survive. The last boss, while frustrating at times, was still satisfying to get the final hit after fighting what was essentially a massively aggressive Drone fighter who loved to use his fists. 

Overall, the campaign is a massive step up in gameplay, storytelling, and especially player expression that kept all five acts of the game exciting. You never knew what you’d encounter next, or how everything Bravo Squad has done will be undone. I’ve never come away from a shooter campaign thinking as much about how enjoyable it was, or how deep or personally impactful it was, as E-Day has. Just, bravo. 

The Coaltion has made one of th ebest Gears of War campaigns in the franchise.

Which also makes it a shame that layoffs hit Coalition right before this stellar game’s release. People who’ve poured their heart and soul into creating the best Gears experience to date can’t celebrate with the rest of the team. This also makes one concerned for the future of the series after such an exhilarating experience with so much more to come, since the review period only featured the campaign and training modes.

Gears of War: E-Day shines by showing off humanity’s perseverance. Every new character stands out, never overshadowed by the legacy of Marcus or Dom. Even with the game taking place in one city over several days, the evolution of that city and its inhabitants has made a fleshed-out character that you’re rooting for the success of every step of the way.

The open-area elements are also a great addition that breaks up the linearity of most levels by giving you player agency in how you help those around you. Every COG is a beacon of hope when everything seems lost in seconds. The Coalition has carried the torch of the Gears franchise wonderfully, and taking us back to where it all began was clearly the right call to make it shine brighter. 

Gears of War E-Day is available October 6th on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Play Anywhere, and PC. Early Access to the game begins on October 1st.