Gears Of War: E-Day Open Beta Dates, Start Times & Xbox Game Pass Details

@KnightRider1982 @gamma64 Start times are as follows:

North America: 12pm PDT / 1pm MDT / 2pm CDT / 3pm EDT
UK/Ire: 8pm BST
Europe: 9pm CEST / 10pm EEST
Asia/Oceania: 4am (Fri) JST / 3am (Fri) AWST / 5am (Fri) AEST

Update: Happy Gears Beta day! With early access beginning in a few hours' time, we've updated this guide with a few more details to get you up to speed / remind you of what's to come

I look towards 8 p.m. in the UK with a sense of dread. I will take a look at the menus for E-Day to see whether there is a classic Horde mode available, or whether Siege's Horde mode can be played by just 5 people or has to have 12 people. If it's 12 I will probably just switch off the game and have a little cry.

As one of the biggest fans of Gears of War out there, I should be majorly excited for tonight, but instead my stomach is in knots. The idea that I have spent nearly 7 years playing Gears 5 Horde every single weekend, but will not be able to do the same in E-Day genuinely upsets me...

I usually play Horde with a mate and my son, @Mr-Cage, but I have just played solo in 3 Blitz games and whilst it is enjoyable enough it is chaotic and does not feel like Horde, not really. I don't know how to describe it. There was an announcement of weapons drop (I think) mid wave on one of the games, but I had no idea where it was and then an announcement came that another squad had taken it. How are we supposed to collect it if we don't know where it is?

Horde to me is hunkering down, building defences, and defending that area whilst the enemies attempt to overrun you. Blitz does not quite feel like that.

It was also noticeable that the Locust movement has been really well done. They move in a realistic way, if a tad fast when you are playing as a sniper. What was also odd (because it never was a thing in any of the previous Horde games) was having a mini-boss strolling around mid-wave. I was there going to restock my ammo, and a Boomer rocked up. Didn't he know it was breaktime? He obviously didn't get the memo! 😂

I think the E-Day menu music is absolutely awful. I mean terrible to the extreme. I was grateful that you can change it to Metallica because it was just dire.

As I say, I have only play 3 Blitz matches thus far, and right now I am ambivalent towards it, which bearing in mind I have played over 2000 hours in Horde in Gears 3, is not a good sign. I'm going to play a bit more tomorrow with my son (but not my mate because he is not interested!), and I will see how it feels playing it with him. I will also need to try out the other modes because Blitz is only 3 waves long, so doesn't last long. You never know, the other modes might be better.

Right now, I would give Gears 5 Horde 10/10 Best in Class, and Blitz would probably be a 5/10. Maybe my feelings towards it will improve over the next couple of days. Time will tell...

I'm not feeling it at all right now, @ILuvGames. It seems to me that The Coalition have given Helldivers 2 a lick of Gears Horde Paint. It certainly does not feel like Horde, and even the characters seem to lack the heft of previous games.

To me, Horde is setting up increasingly better defences whilst increasingly stronger enemies try to penetrate your defences. Horde is a static game, whereas Siege has way too much movement and very little in the way of setting defences.

I have only played 3 Blitz matches whilst solo, and nothing with my son or my mate, so my opinion of the other modes might be better.

Bearing in mind what a Gears of War fanatic I am, I think it is telling that after just 3 Blitz matches, which took probably 40 minutes total, I then spent the next 3 hours playing Assassins Creed Black Flag Resynced instead. I should have felt compelled to play more E-Day, but I wasn't, which, I would suggest, means that I am unlikely to be playing E-Day in 7 years time as I have Gears 5. I am genuinely gutted that it would seem that my concerns about what The Coalition have done with Horde appear to have come to fruition...

I'm not surprised you're not shocked, @ILuvGames, because the truth is it does not feel like Horde and it barely feels like Gears of War. It's more like Call of Duty but with a Gears of War skin. They have simply changed it too much.

I'm not saying that there is not something to be enjoyed to some extent. If you like Call of Duty, or if you like Helldivers, then there is certainly going to be something for you there. If you like the characters from Gears of War and the premise, then again it can be enjoyable, I'm sure.

My issue is that it does not feel like a proper Horde from Gears of War. If you play through 50 waves of Horde on Gears 5, and then play Siege you will see what I mean. There is some similarity in some of the enemies, yes, but their movement is very different. Equally, the movement of the Gears is very different too, and where you used to slam into cover in previous games, there is less of a slam now.

I am probably going to be playing some more today, but this time with my son. When we play Gears 5 together, we know where we want to set up on a map, and where we want our defences. In Siege I could not really decide where to stand (as a Sniper), and one of the times I played there was no elevation at all and because I did not know where the Grubs were going to come from, I spent the first wave of three just trying to find somewhere to stand.

What have you played in the Beta? What do you like, and is there anything you do not like? What modes have you played, and is there one you think to be best? Also, how much time did you spend playing Gears 5 Horde, and when did you stop playing it?

Again though, I know you are not shocked that I did not really like what I played last night. Nor am I, but that is because I was right in what I thought in that it didn't look like Horde, and now that I have played it, it does not feel like Horde as we know it. I did not set out to not enjoy it (although I had a sense of genuine trepidation before starting my first game), and there is some fun to be had with what I played. It's just it's not what I want, and it's not something I can see me playing long-term, which is majorly disappointing...

You've completely lost me, @ILuvGames, what happened to a reasonable discourse? What happened to us just discussing things? How on Earth does me criticising elements of the game effect your enjoyment of it? That makes zero sense to me. I'm not playing the game with you. I'm not sat beside you trying to grab the controller out of your hands. All I am doing is passing an opinion on this website, which you cannot see or read whilst you are playing. How can that possibly affect anything?

Surely you agree that just as you are entitled to praise the game, I have as much right to criticise it? If the majority are praising it, then my not liking it will make zero difference to anyone. On the other hand, if the majority are criticising it, then perhaps The Coalition will (or should) respond to those criticisms. However, it is their game, and if they are happy with their product, and do not agree with the criticism, then they will just ignore all that we say. That is their right because they are the developers.

At this stage in development, (and let's remember that it is a Beta and that The Coalition have asked for us to tell them what we think) what do you honestly think they can or will change anyway? Any changes will be pretty small, mostly balance changes, nothing more. They might add in chainsaw battles, or add in the Boltok or even bring back meatshields, but if they do any or all of that, how will that ruin your experience? The core fundamentals of the game are already in place. They will not change now. They are affectively set in stone. It's going to remain 12 players in 3 teams, and the maps are done, they're not going to start all over again at this stage. The Coalition have made their decisions, and now we either play it or we don't. The game will either thrive or whither and eventually die. Such is the nature of Live Service games. As you say yourself, it has much in common with Helldivers 2, which is still going strong, so E-Day has a strong chance of survival. My criticising design choices makes no difference whatsoever to anyone. They are just my thoughts, and everyone is free to ignore them.

Honestly, mate, it doesn't matter what I think of the game. The game is what it is, and if you are enjoying it, that's great. I'm not upset that you are loving the game, and you shouldn't be annoyed that I am not. It matters not what I say or what I think, it will not affect your enjoyment of the game one iota. You may not like what I think, that's fine, but it honestly does not affect you at all. They are just my opinions and you are free to ignore them, just as much as The Coalition are. Just enjoy your time in the game and don't worry about those of us that are not doing so...

I do consider myself a 'super fan*', of that there is no doubt at all, @ILuvGames, but my opinion counts for diddly-squat just like everyone else's.

I apologise for tagging you into my thoughts, I only did so because we had talked at length about it prior to the games launch. I am not for one second attempting to tell you that your opinion is wrong, nor that my opinion has any more value than your own. I was just attempting to talk to you regarding my thoughts on the game. Nothing more, nothing less. I just saw it as two fans of the franchise discussing their views, and that's it. I'm just trying to discuss the game, certainly not talk you out of enjoying it. We may have different views, but that's life.

I am most certainly not on some kind of crusade. I don't read Reddit (as you will see from where I asked FraserG how to find it). I do not leave reviews on games, so if it gets marked down, that has nothing to do with me.

As for the franchise, you will know, if you ever read my comments, that I am one of those that actually enjoyed 4 and 5, and I bummed that we did not get 6 before E-Day because I wanted to see the resolution to that particular story. I am also not one of those that thinks the original trilogy is some holy grail, that cannot be criticised. I also do not think that the first game is a horror game as so many people seem to suggest.

Anyway, I apologise if I have offended you, because that really was not my intention. I was just conversing about a franchise I love, and that's it.

*Just to be clear, the reason I would consider myself a 'super fan' is because I own the Gears of War 3 Collectors Console, the Gears 4 Collector's Console, the Collector's Editions of 3, 4 and 5 (and soon E-Day too). I also have numerous Gears f War controllers. I have blankets, and I have two of only 500 hand crafted life-sized busts of Locust Heads that cost £500 each, plus I have the Chainsaw Lancer replica (which is about 5 feet long!), and I have a canvas painting from GoW3 that is 6ft by 4ft. Oh, and all the books! So, I don't just play the games a lot, I am really into the franchise... 😂

It's all good, @ILuvGames. I honestly don't think anyone will be swayed by what I have to say, particularly not because the game is available to play on Game Pass, and as such people can find out for themselves whether they like it.

I think the truth is that as much as you are gutted that I speak unfavourably of the game, I am far more gutted that I don't like it. I am glad that there are those that do like it though because those are the people that are going to keep this game alive, and without such people the franchise will not continue into the future...