Gears of War E-Day Review

Gears of War is undoubtedly one of the most grim realities portrayed through the videogame medium. An entire world pushed to the brink of annihilation as hordes of monstrous creatures burst from the ground below in unending waves, uncaring of their own losses and seeking only human civilization's destruction. While never as large as the industry titan known as Halo, the Gears of War franchise has become an Xbox staple over the years with its initial trilogy being praised as revolutionary for the third-person shooter genre. Unfortunately, the Coalition studio charged with making new Gears games seems to have stumbled in the making of Gears 4 and 5, making gameplay and story changes that weren't well received by much of the loyal Gears fanbase. This leads us to Gears of War: E-Day. Instead of proceeding further by completing the current trilogy with Gears 6, the Coalition has taken a step back; literally. E-Day takes place on the titular day when the ravenous Locust Horde burst from the earth and begin their methodical campaign of extermination against the humans in order to claim the surface world for themselves. It's a story of utter loss on every conceivable front. Mankind taken by surprise as legions of monstrous warbeasts and sadistic, reptilian humanoids turn us into mincemeat; causing destruction on such a Biblical scale that a quarter of the world's population dies on the first day of their long, brutal war against us.

So - with that important lore context in mind, does Gears of War: Emergence Day live up to the hype and accurately depict the described scenario whilst also keeping the Gears spirit and core gameplay loop alive? Let's get right into it.

Firstly, the gameplay. Gears' gameplay has always been founded on a very simple loop of escalating difficulty against a wider and more diverse array of enemies as the game's narrative progresses forward. E-Day's campaign follows this formula excellently. Each mission undertaken with Bravo Squad feels like you're running into a new horror the Locust have thrown at you, or a new method of destruction they're unleashing to further push along humanity's extinction. On the first very chapter, the Locust's breaching tactics are revealed in E-Holes, tunnels and caves created by their warbeasts that carve through the earth and allow their units to pour through. Much of the Locust encountered throughout the campaign and the subsequent Horde Siege mode come from these E-Holes, making them a crucial part of how you face down this nightmarish foe. Later missions introduce the trademark Locust arsenal such as their saurian Brumak titans, their spider-esque Corpser abominations, and even new enemies like the curiously designed Spore Matrons who vomit out creatures that fire spikes at you or Bile Frogs that spew out acidic liquid that causes immense burning damage if it contacts your character.

Yes, the weapons, the mechanics such as the cover system, the power-ups and special abilities of certain classes, these all play roles in the gameplay loop, but for me, I believe Gears is at its highest when managing carefully these levels of escalation. When you're finally given the Chainsaw Lancer (a gun with a chainsaw attachment - indeed as cool as it sounds), the game actively responds to this by throwing tougher enemies at you like the Scorched Legion, a specialized faction of Locust enemies that are tougher to eliminate and have dangerous close-ranged weaponry that makes getting near them to saw apart their bodies a risky maneuver. When you man a machinegun on a moving helicopter, you're faced with the Locust Reavers, their airforce of carnivorous flying squids capable of bringing down the hunk of metal you're traveling on. The game responds to your upgrades by presenting some of its own - balancing the stakes with challenge but never becoming overly frustrating or unfair. Well, unless you play on the harder difficulties, anyway.

That being said, how does E-Day's story and characterization hold up? Well, I found it amazing. Not exactly on the level of the first three Gears games, but miles beyond Gears Four and Five. The world Gears takes place in, Sera, has been marred by war long before the Locust emerged, and only just now has it concluded. Six weeks of relative peace have passed before the horrifying new enemy moves to confront mankind in the most devastating surprise attack in their history - and this is encapsulated throughout every Act and with every character you encounter. From the determined Mayor Shaw seeking to save the people of her city Kalona (which is where the game takes place) to the ruthless Colonel Trench, who views civilians as disposable assets and seeks victory at all costs, to the brave General Zander and Captain Akila Grey, whom personally lead the charge against the Locust foe on multiple occasions - there's a whole ensemble of supporting characters meant to highlight the primary four protagonists of this tale: Marcus, Dominic, Lucas, and Mags. Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago are legacy characters of the Gears franchise, being the main two protagonists of the first three games and beloved fan-favorites. Such was the Coalition's intention of ensuring they were accurately portrayed that they brought in Karen Traviss, a brilliant novelist who wrote several books set in the Gears universe, as a consultant to ensure Marcus and Dom's personalities were reflective of their prior depictions in games and novels alike.

Lucas Reyes and Mags Carter are new additions to the franchise, and while I have no real problem with either of them, they really didn't stand out to me. Mags and Lucas have sympathetic backstories filled with tragedy to make them relatable to Marcus and Dom, whom recently lost their mutual brother Carlos during the war waged before the Locust emerged (called the Pendulum Wars), but once we encounter a set of twins known as Manu and Mako, you just wish they were your squadmates instead of Lucas and Mags. Their dialogue, especially their playful banter, is such a joy to hear as they retain their chipper personalities even in the face of apocalypse itself. They're also led by Tai Kaliso, another fan-favorite Gears character who serves as both an elite soldier and spiritual guru of the franchise, having been featured in both Gears 2 and now E-Day.

Regardless, facing our human characters are the Locust, and they have never been so terrifyingly depicted. Sure, in the main Gears trilogy and the two sequels, the Locust (and their Swarm descendants) were always given a sense of gravity and brutality around them - they are highly serious and purely determined to conquer the surface world for their Gods and their Queen. We had General RAAM in Gears 1 and Skorge in Gears 2, both fearsome Locust Generals that led their armies proudly into battle against mankind. Yet for all their ferocity and destructiveness, the Locust were ultimately treated as an enemy that could be countered, whose tactics were known to their enemies. Gears One starts us off in the fourteenth year of the seventeen year Locust War, after all. In E-Day, they have just arrived, and while you do indeed play as soldiers capable of fighting back, their monstrosity and viciousness, especially against civilians, is put on full display. As you explore the various environments and maps, you'll see gory piles of corpses and strung up soldiers impaled by metal spikes to display that not only are the Locust determined to conquer our homes, but that they HATE us deeply. No better is this outlined than with the game's villain, Svore Vraahk.

Vraahk can be best described as Gears of War's Azog the Defiler. While not as high a rank as General RAAM, who leads the Locust's armies entirely, and actually a minor officer by comparison, he's an utterly malignant, remorseless, malicious demon that actively takes pleasure in hunting down Gears and civilians alike. In under two days, he dismantles the City of Kalona and turns it into a living hell for those that once lived there and those fighting for its defense. His backstory and design are brilliant, and facing him off during the game's final boss sequence has the anticipation it properly deserves.

Ultimately, if you're new to the Gears of War franchise (and if you are, much of what I've said in this post probably sounds like a foreign language to you), it's not a bad choice to start out with Gears of War: E-Day. While I still overall recommend trying the original trilogy first for its timeless gameplay and escalating narrative, E-Day is an excellent emergence (pun intended) into the franchise all on its own, and while it has a few weaknesses regarding characterization and gameplay (primarily online lagging issues when playing its Horde Siege and Versus Modes), it's clear the Coalition game studio has finally cracked the code of what makes Gears of War so special. 8.5/10.

Thank you all for reading and God Bless, stay tuned for more blog posts in the very near future!