Roundup: Here's What The Previews Are Saying About Gears Of War: E-Day 1

The first round of previews for Gears of War: E-Day have dropped and they're all saying the same time - Horde mode rocks.

The Coalition's next game is a prequel to the original Gears of War, focusing on the iconic brotherhood between Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Set during the darkest chapter in Gears history, Emergence Day has been built from the ground up, introducing major changes to movement and the series' staple co-op survival mode, Horde.

We took part in a multiplayer preview event, getting an in-depth look at the new Horde Siege mode alongside the traditional PVP multiplayer experience.

Here's what the first previews are saying about Gears Of War: E-Day:

Pure Xbox

"After just nine hours with Gears of War: E-Day, I’m not ready to deliver a final judgement. The Coalition has certainly built something that’s very fun to play, and Horde Siege alone has me excited to jump back in. The new movement completely changes how Gears feels, and it’ll take more time to decide whether that’s what the series needed - or, in trying to modernise itself, Gears has lost a little of what made it special in the first place."

IGN

"Gears E-Day features some important changes to how the series has traditionally controlled. The A button is fully dedicated to taking cover and moving around cover now, while sprinting (aka The Artist Formerly Known as Roadie Run) is now mapped to a left-stick click (LS) by default, and the Y button is dedicated to vaulting – and you can actually jump in this game! It took quite some time for me to rewire my brain since we've all been so used to the A button controlling all of these actions depending on the context you press it. But once I acclimated with the new controls, I couldn't really go back."

Metro

"Movement feels fast and solid, your slimmer but still chunky soldiers slotting positively behind cover, while guns look and sound dangerous, their recoil and muzzle flashes conferring a real feeling of power. That’s undermined by exceptionally bullet spongey enemies, with Boomers and other larger foes comfortably taking several clips of ammunition directly to the head before they finally keel over. Levelling up does start to help make it feel less like you’re wielding a peashooter, but it’s a gradual process."

Windows Central

"I'm not sure what the future will hold for Gears of War: E-Day overall, but one thing I can say for sure is that Gears of War: E-Day Horde Siege mode is a metric f*ckton of frantic, frenzied fun, wrapped in some of the best visuals the franchise has ever produced. I can see myself playing this for a really long time across Xbox Series X|S and particularly the Xbox Ally X."

Independent

"Having played Gears of War: E-Day multiplayer for around four hours on PC...It’s incredibly fun being back in the gnarly, gritty world of Gears of War, going toe-to-toe with rival squads and the Locust."

There you have it, plenty of positives surround Horde Siege, and some concerns around the new controls and movement changes. I'll admit, the further removed I am from the preview session, the more I want to jump back in and play.

The Coalition will host an Open Beta on August 6th for players who pre-ordered Gears of War: E-Day, or have a Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscription. The full game will be available day one on XGP, Xbox Series X|S, PC, cloud, and is Xbox Play Anywhere.

Interested in Gears of War: E-Day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!