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Gears of War is one-third of the Xbox holy trinity, and a series I've loved for almost two decades thanks to its unique cover-based brutality. No matter which entry you boot up, chainsawing through a shredded Locust simply never gets old.
It's been a long six years since Gears 5, and whilst I've been champing at the bit to finally get my hands on Gears of War: E-Day, after spending time with its multiplayer, I came away wondering whether it's suffering something of an identity crisis. It’s undoubtedly fun, but whether it still feels like Gears is another question entirely.
I got hands-on with the game as part of a big preview event, where I played both E-Day's PVP and its impressive 12-player Horde Siege mode, which was easily the highlight of the whole experience.
Horde Siege is bigger, bolder, and bloody good fun. The Coalition has absolutely cooked with its evolution of the staple co-op survival mode, where players build defences and hold out against increasingly challenging waves of Locust beasties.
If you’re unfamiliar with Emergence Day, this was when the Locust first burst from below the ground and began massacring humanity. Pretty gruesome stuff. Horde Siege does an incredible job capturing the overwhelming scale and brute force of the Locust invasion. It’s the first version of Horde that’s made me feel like it truly fits within Gears, and I can easily see myself spending a lot more time with the mode than I ever did in previous Gears titles.
In this new iteration, three four-person squads deploy across various locations within a sprawling district of Kalona, taking on a mix of primary and secondary objectives. From bomb defusal and destroying enemy intelligence, to assassinating high-value targets, the secondary objectives provide a lot of variety to the core missions.
You’ll, of course, still hunker down in familiar defensive encounters, holding out against waves of Locust in locations like a bistro district, and a destroyed university campus. Only this time, you’re expected to help the other squads, fight off massive invasion bosses like the Corpser and Brumak, before extracting by helicopter.
Classes return, each bringing their own unique abilities, such as the Breacher’s Adrenaline Injector and the Markman’s Pulse Drone. New to Horde are Weapon Parts - collectible upgrades scavenged from supply drops or earned by completing objectives. These can be used to enhance your arsenal, such as improving your accuracy to popping a bayonet to your Gnasher.
The Golden Quarter map is easily the biggest, densest, and more expansive Gears map to date, and I'm suffering from proper withdrawal. I'll admit, Horde wasn't my go-to mode in previous titles, but will definitely get much more of my attention going forward.
Horde Siege also highlights another major shake-up to E-Day: Movement. Navigating Kalona between objectives gave me plenty of time to get to grips with The Coalition’s overhauled mobility system, and it’s easily the biggest departure from classic Gears.
As a prequel telling the story of Emergence Day - arguably the most significant event in Gears history - we’re playing as a much younger, fitter version of the iconic Marcus Fenix we left in New Ephyra.
I’ll admit, my first reaction to The Coalition’s new movement mechanics was to reject them. E-Day is, without doubt, the fastest-feeling Gears to date, giving players far more freedom to move around the place. Our beloved roadie run is no more, replaced with the ability to kneeslide into and around cover, and even jump, all whilst lugging roughly 80 pounds of COG armour.
That said, it’s genuinely so much fun to play. Few things beat pulling off a perfectly timed cha-cha kneeslide before blasting grubs into bloodied bits with the Gnasher. It is thrilling! But that’s also where my biggest gripe lies.
The new movement is fast and fun, sure, but it often feels like speed is rewarded more than positioning, making cover feel less important than it ever has before. For a series that’s built its identity around methodical, cover-based combat, that’s a big ol’ shift.
It’s far less noticeable in Horde Siege where the new movement feels like a natural fit. In fact, that’s where it really shines, making me optimistic about the campaign. It’s when you jump into scraps with other players in PVP that things start to feel a little less…Gearsy.
Competitive PVP remains largely familiar, with Team Deathmatch and Conquest (an updated version of Control) featured, but every match is fundamentally shaped by the new movement. The dreaded wall-bouncing has been nerfed to a degree, replaced with sliding around like a jacked up Bruce Springsteen. I’m conflicted because ultimately, it is fun, but it just doesn’t feel like a Gears multiplayer.
I felt this might simply be down to the preview build, but it doesn’t look like The Coalition has brought chainsaw duels or meatshields into the gameplay loop. The latter could just be a pass because of the faster pace, but losing those iconic chainsaw battles feels like a significant omission.
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.