I’ve playedGears of Warsince the very beginning, andE-Dayis one of my most anticipated games. It would be impossible for me to calculate how many hours I’ve put into the series, but there are many hundreds contributed just fromGears 2and3alone. I have cherished memories of playing each campaign with friends and frantically bouncing between walls in each installment of multiplayer.
While I’m looking forward toGears of War: E-Day, the long wait sinceGears 5does have me worried. While I think an Emergence Day prequel is a great idea, I’m skeptical of it taking precedent over a properGears 6, considering where5left off. If The Coalition wants to pull off a big comeback for the series, there are a handful of thingsE-Dayneeds to get right.
10E-Day’s Campaign Should Build On Gears 5’s Open Zone Design
Don’t Take A Step Backward
The series' last mainline entry,Gears 5all the way back in 2019, brought some significant changes to its level design, mainly throughthe introduction of two openly explorable zones. One is a frozen tundra near Mount Kadar in the game’s first half, and later you’re set loose in the desert of Vasgar. It’s a pretty huge departure for a series that built its reputation on cover shooter gameplay.
InGears 5, you can follow a handful of side objectives in the open zones, and while it’s not exceptionally fleshed out,E-Dayhas a chance to improvethe idea. InGears 5,side content adds some optional levels that reward you with resources to allocate toward character progression, abandoning which would feel like a step backward for the series. Plenty of chaos on Emergence Day could give Marcus and Dom bonus objectives to complete.
9Give Marcus & Dom A Vehicle
Another Gears 5 Iteration
A key component ofGears 5’s open zones is the Skiff, a two-person bobsled pulled by a sail. I don’t think this exact vehicle will work well in what is likely a more urban game inE-Day, butco-op vehicle gameplay similarly shouldn’t be abandoned one game after its introduction.
Gearsis well known for its co-op campaigns, and giving players a way to get around quickly is already a nice change of pace. The only major change I would like to see is added vehicle combat. Emergence Day offers a chance to fight unprecedented hordes of grubs, andit would be incredibly satisfying to have some sort of mounted weapon to mow them down with.
8Maria Santiago Deserves A Big Role
Dom’s Wife Lacks Screen Time
Gears of War: E-Dayis set to be the triumphant return of Dominic Santiago, Marcus Fenix’s beloved right-hand man who sacrificed himself to save the rest of Delta Squad inGears of War 3. A major piece of Dom’s character and story is his wife, Maria.Maria’s parents and the two kids she had with Dom are all killed on E-Day, sending her into a deep depression and subsequent self-imposed exile, during which she disappears.
The search for her is a major storyline in the beginning ofGears of War 2, where she’s found emaciated after being in Locust captivity. Dom mercifully ends her suffering. Despite weighing so heavily on Dom in the first two games,Maria does not get much screen time in the games. The tragedy of Emergence Day is almost incomprehensible (25% of Sera’s human population is killed in E-Day’s 26 hours), but giving Maria a central role can really drive home the unimaginable loss.
7Gears Of War: E-Day Can’t Forget The Pendulum Wars
Sera’s Global Conflict Ended Just Six Weeks Prior
Gears of Warhasdealt with the Locust for almost two decades, butthe Locust War is almost immediately preceded by the Pendulum Wars, a planet-wide conflict between the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) and the Union of Independent Republics (UIR) that lasted 79 years.Gears 5finally started to reckon with the legacy of the Pendulum Wars, and even though the Locust Horde is the new threat,E-Dayis a great opportunity to expand on the prior conflict.
For years, I’ve wanted a Pendulum Wars prequel game, but going back to Emergence Day instead feels like a sign that the developers aren’t looking to give us a glimpse of pre-Locust Sera. Still,Marcus Fenix earned his fame in the Pendulum Wars– at the Battle of Aspho Fields, specifically, two years before E-Day. So despite the new threat, the long conflict should still loom large over the COG.
6Multiplayer Needs To Remain Simple
Live Service Won’t Do
Gears of Warfeels almost from a bygone era, where the multiplayer component had straightforward progression and DLC was still map packs. The industry has veered hard into live-service monetization, butE-Dayis arguably too late to jump on the trend, and would be celebrated for delivering a more classic experience.
One of the greatstrengths ofWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2is that it commits to an almostGears-like set of modes: a campaign, multiplayer matches, and dedicated co-op missions. I’m afraid Microsoft is going to chase live-service money withGears of War: E-Day, butall it really needs is a focused, balanced experience. It would be a disservice to drown it in monetization and overbearing progression systems.
5Character Skins Should Be Abundant In E-Day
But Hopefully Not Monetized
Part ofGears' now-old-school appeal is that it makes character skins easily usable. It has a large cast of characters, andmost of them have featured in the multiplayer and Horde modes throughout the series' history. DespiteE-Day’s setting, it would be great to see every version of each character be playable – let me play asE-DayMarcus, the original Marcus, old manGears 5Marcus, and every Marcus in between.
Some unlock requirements would be fine, butanything too involved (or expensive) would just be obnoxious. Part of the fun in multiplayer is seeing everyone’s favorite characters. The second-best option would be letting me create a custom Gear and Locust to play as.
4Don’t Let The Gnasher Shotgun Dominate The Multiplayer Meta
The Two-Piece Era Is Over
I love the Gnasher Shotgun as much as the nextGearsfan, but every time a new game comes out, I worry it’s going to completely dominate multiplayer gameplay again. I had a great time bouncing off walls and two-piecing my opponents inGears of War 2, butthe series has since done an admirable job diversifying the viable weapons in multiplayer, dampening the Gnasher’s superiority.
IfGears of War: E-Dayis going to have any significant longevity, it will come through its multiplayer – and potentially Horde mode if it can compete with the many incredible co-op games on the market. Old heads might love the Gnasher duels, butmore variety in the arsenal makes for a more interesting competitive scene.
3Horde Can See Some Major Upgrades In E-Day
It Fits The Narrative Perfectly
Horde has gone through plenty of iterations since it debuted inGears 2with the addition of classes, Fabricators, and more, but six years on and counting from its last version,E-Dayfeels like the perfect opportunity for a big leap. I’ve long wanted to see Horde receive its own dedicated maps, though I admit it’s a double-edged sword. You get the benefit of bespoke design, but there would likely be fewer of them.
WithE-Daycentering on the all-out Locust invasion, there’s never been a better time for Horde to shine. It’s a classic co-op game mode, butthe genre has exploded since it was first introduced. Games likeHelldivers 2andDeep Rock Galactichave added significant spins to horde shooter gameplay, but with the backdrop of Emergence Day,E-Daycould reclaimGears' throne.
2It’s Time For Weapon Attachments In The Mainline Games
Gears Tactics' Biggest Contribution
It may make game balance more tricky, butmainlineGears of Warseems overdue for the addition of weapon attachments.Gears Tacticsbrought weapon customizationto the series, but there hasn’t been a new release since, so attachments so far remain sequestered to the spin-off.
There’s already some precedent for the idea in-game. The Retro Lancer showed that the iconic chainsaw wasn’t always mounted under the barrel, andGears 5took this further with the Lancer GL, which sports a grenade launcher. It could be tough in a third-person shooter, since optics are common attachments, butgiving players more control over their loadout would be a big step for the series.
1You Can’t Forget The Cole Train, Baby
“Nobody Plays This Game Like Me! Nobody!”
It’s difficult to know if Augustus Cole will be a Gear inE-Day;he canonically volunteers for the COG Army three days after Emergence Day. Prior to E-Day, the Cole Train was a renowned player of Thrashball, a sport resembling American Football. Cole joining the COG reportedly resulted in an enormous uptick in recruitment for the war effort.
IfE-Dayis strict about its name and takes place over those first 26 hours (the length of a day on Sera), thenCole may be understandably absent aside from a cameo. After he joins the Army, however, there’s about three months before Cole is involved in the events depicted inGears of War: Judgmentas a member of Kilo Squad with Damon Baird. Cole is among a select few characters that have appeared in everyGearsgame, and it would be a shame to not see any of the Cole Train inGears of War: E-Day.
