Gears of War: E-Day is "Just" Awesome (campaign only review - hardcore difficulty)

Gears of War: E-Day is a technically impressive, fun-to-play videogame, that looks amazing and does a good job at capturing the dread and hopelessness of Emergence Day. But for all it gets right, The Coalition doesn't seem to fully grasp what it was that made the characters from the original games so memorable, and this is where it falls short.

Here's the good, the mid, and the ugly from my experience with the Gears of War E-Day campaign.

The Good: Gameplay, Gunplay, and Visuals

After I rolled credits on E-Day's ~14 hour campaign for the first time, I jumped into my nephew’s run to help him out in Act 5 after he hit an impasse on a particularly troublesome boss. The co-op experience was as fun as ever, so we went on to finish the game, and then we decided to boot up Gears of War: Reloaded to compare the two.

While the old mechanics remain timeless, solid, and satisfying, it's remarkable how restrictive they felt after spending so much time with the freedom of movement you get with the new controls. The original uses the classic "A for everything" movement system we all know and love, whereas E-Day modernizes things with LS to run, A for cover, and Y for vault and jump. Yes... You can jump now.

This all helps Gears of War: E-Day feel and play like a game from 2026, and that's a good thing. But what's amazing is that it also still feels unmistakably like Gears of War, which was a relief given this was one of my biggest concerns going in.

As for the gunplay, it's as close to perfect as I could have hoped. The Lancer and Chainsaw Bayonet make their return along with a plethora of new weapons to experiment with, and several classics such as the Gnasher, Snub, Hammerburst, and Longshot. The Breechshot quickly became a new favourite of mine, offering great versatility and range on top of one of the most effective melee attacks in the game when things get up close and personal; imagine a bolt-action rifle and a battleaxe had a seriously messed up baby.

This awesome arsenal is made even better by the fact that you can now upgrade your kit. New tactical gear such as the incredibly useful Adrenaline Injectors, along with weapon/armour mods, allow you to fine-tune your “Gear” to suit your playstyle. None of this is half-baked, and while it does allow for meaningful improvements, you cannot OP your Gear to the point where the game becomes unchallenging.

The environments of Kalona and the surrounding areas look amazing, which is to be expected given this game's nine figure budget and The Coalition's reputation for Unreal Engine mastery. There were moments when I would slow down or stop completely just to take it all in and appreciate the apocalyptic spectacle of Emergence Day. This is a next gen game through and through, and it shows, even on the now six year old Series X hardware.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about E-Day is that its all new. The Coalition didn't reuse legacy assets, animations, or inherited code from previous games in the franchise, and essentially built this game from the ground up. This is a monumental feat, and at least partially explains the hefty cost of development.

The Mid: Story and Characters

The two newcomers, Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes, aren't "bad" characters. Mags has an interesting backstory, which I won't spoil here, and Lucas being thrown into the proverbial sh*t as an inexperienced recruit made him more than just a placeholder. But for some reason, I never found myself actually caring about either one of them. At least not in the same way I cared about the unwaveringly boisterous Cole Train and hilariously sardonic Baird from the original trilogy. Compared to the larger than life personalities of their predecessors, Mags and Lucas fell a bit flat.

The Marcus and Dom moments, on the other hand, are what I was there for. As a fan of this series since the beginning, I found these parts of the game to be genuinely powerful. The problem was that there just weren't enough of them, and Mags and Lucas occasionally felt like they were in the way of the story I wanted to experience instead of adding to it.

For the most part, the writing isn't bad, it just wasn't all that I was hoping for given the epic potential of a Marcus and Dom origin story.

Oh, and the Big Bad, while somewhat generic, is pretty badass. Imagine a cross between RAAM, Vlad the Impaler, and a battle hardened Orc warlord.

The Ugly: The Brumak in the Room

Finally, a quick word on the claims of “wokeness.”

I think much of the criticism is overblown, but some character interactions did feel awkwardly injected with contemporary social messaging. These moments certainly didn’t ruin E-Day, but they pulled me out of the story on a few eye-roll-inducing occasions.

Diversity and political allegory can work in games. Cyberpunk and The Last of Us come to mind, as does E-Day’s own Mags Carter for the most part, who deserves better than some of the criticism she’s received in this regard. For me, the distinction is whether the writing feels natural to the characters and their world. Several exchanges in E-Day felt more concerned with making a point than sounding like something these people would actually say.

The Coalition also didn’t do themselves any favours with the "safe space" code of conduct presented on every boot. This is a game where you chainsaw enemies into tiny bits and tell them they were “too ugly to live.” Booting it up shouldn’t feel like joining a mandatory HR Zoom call.

Conclusion: They Almost Nailed It

Gears of War: E-Day is a very fun game that showcases Unreal Engine 5's capabilities when in the hands of people who truly know how to make it sing. Amazing visuals, satisfying combat, and improved movement all made me feel like my time in Kalona was worthwhile, especially at the low, low price of my existing Gamepass Ultimate subscription.

The Coalition clearly understands what makes Gears fun to play, but when it comes to telling a story with the weight and emotional impact this series is capable of, I personally believe they're still missing something.

All that said, Gears of War: E-Day did enough to comfortably earn a solid 8/10 from yours truly. There may be a 10/10 game buried just beneath the surface here, but unlike the Locust Horde, it never quite manages to fully emerge.