Gears of War: E-Day Review: Great Shooting, Too Much Downtime

Staying safe is the wrong way to play E-Day on Hardcore. That difficulty punishes lingering behind the same cover and rewards constant repositioning. Improved movement and more acrobatic traversal give the cover-based firefights greater freedom.

That aggressive rhythm is the strongest argument for buying it. The frustration is how often the campaign lets that rhythm slip. I want the pressure of the next firefight, not another reason to delay reaching it.

The shooting deserves your attention

E-Day’s best combat decisions concern territory: when to leave protection, which angle to pursue, and how much exposure a better position is worth. Hardcore makes those decisions urgent. Choose it if you want the campaign to demand movement rather than reward a comfortable firing position.

Each weapon has four mod slots, while lightly hidden yellow hard cases contain weapon mods. That gives loadout tinkering a useful place in the action. I like having another reason to reconsider a familiar weapon, especially when the underlying shooting already feels this good.

The Longshot supplies the sniper option; the Torque Bow requires a windup before releasing its explosive arrow. Weapon scavenging and close-range chainsaw attacks add further decisions about how to handle the space around you. The appeal is the combination of satisfying weapon handling and pressure to act decisively.

The city sections spend momentum too freely

The five-act campaign repeatedly opens into larger city sections with side objectives and collectibles. These areas are still structured and largely linear, despite allowing more exploration. My objection is their effect on the pace: the campaign creates urgency, then gives you reasons to postpone responding to it.

Hard cases give exploration a mechanical reward, and lore collectibles add world-building. Completionists have a stronger incentive to investigate than players interested only in the next battle. The trouble is that a useful reward cannot make every diversion equally engaging.

If combat is your priority, concentrate your exploration on yellow hard cases rather than treating every collectible as compulsory. That preserves the weapon-customization incentive without turning the campaign into an exhaustive search. It cannot fix the pacing of the main route, but it avoids adding more downtime yourself.

The prequel needs more than a powerful opening

E-Day takes place on Emergence Day, 14 years before the original Gears of War. Marcus Fenix is the player character, with Dominic Santiago alongside him as they fight the Locust. The opening hour has the scale and force the premise deserves.

The story struggles to sustain that impact. Thin character development and overwritten dialogue weaken the reason to stay invested between battles. I can accept a slower campaign when its quieter stretches deepen the characters; here, the shooting carries too much of that burden.

Repeated encounters with heavily armored enemies, sometimes in small arenas, add another kind of drag. Pressure is welcome. Prolonging a fight without giving it enough fresh tactical interest is less compelling, particularly when the surrounding campaign already feels overextended.

Co-op strengthens the case, technical roughness weakens it

The campaign supports solo play and split-screen co-op, with online co-op for up to four players. A group that enjoys searching for upgrades and clearing optional encounters is a better fit for these city sections than a solo player impatient to keep moving. Co-op is a meaningful buying consideration, though it cannot repair thin characterization.

Stuttering during some transitions and action-heavy cutscenes can interrupt the presentation, including at a 30fps setting. That matters in a campaign whose spectacle is one of its strongest attractions.

E-Day releases on PC and Xbox Series X|S on October 6. Advance access begins October 1 for pre-orders of the $100 Premium Edition. I would not pay that premium merely to reach this campaign earlier: its excellent combat makes a purchase defensible, but its compromises make impatience a poor reason to spend more.