Emergence Day Is Here!

As a long-time Gears of War fan, I’m always excited to hear when a new title in the franchise is announced; Gears of War: E-Day does not disappoint! It’s been 20 years since gamers were first introduced to Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, soldiers in the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG), known as Gears. Gears of War: E-Day is the story I’ve been wanting to experience for years: the story of Emergence Day, the beginning of the Locust War. 

There are very few games that draw me into the story from the start as much as E-Day does, excited to see what’s going to happen next.

Thanks to The Coalition and XBOX, that story is finally being told.

Developer & Publisher // The Coalition, XBOX Game Studios

Platforms // XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, XBOX Handheld, Steam

MSRP & Release Date // $69.99, October 6th 2026

Reviewed On // XBOX Series X

(Note: This review only covers the campaign of Gears of War: E-Day; check out my multiplayer and Horde mode impressions HERE)

What is Gears of War: E-Day

Gears of War: E-Day is the 9th title in the Gears of War franchise (Not counting remasters or remakes). The events you will experience in E-Day are set on the planet Sera 14 years before the events of the original Gears of War, just after the conclusion of the Pendulum Wars. Humanity has entered a time of peace, and many Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) soldiers have gone back to their civilian lives. The game takes place in the city of Kalona, a major industrial center once known for innovation and scientific advancement that was transformed by decades of wartime Imulsion production. 

The term “E-Day” is in reference to “Emergence Day”, the day the enemy, who would become known as the Locust Horde, first made their presence known to the inhabitants of Sera. The Locusts emerge from underground, viciously and violently attacking anyone who crosses their path.

The E-Day campaign consists of 5 Acts that contain 6 chapters each. The acts can vary greatly in length. Playing the game on normal difficulty (mostly; I dropped to easy for two boss encounters) took me between 15 and 20 hours. I spent a lot of time looking for secondary objectives, collectibles, and hard cases. More on those subjects later.

 Set during humanity’s first encounters with the Locust Horde, the story chronicles the opening hours of the Locust War and explores themes of loss, loyalty, sacrifice, and brotherhood. Set during humanity’s first encounters with the Locust Horde, the story chronicles the first days of the Locust War and explores themes of loss, loyalty, sacrifice, and brotherhood.

Meet the Gears

To fight the invasion of the Locust Horde, the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) mobilizes its soldiers, known as Gears. The 4 Gears you will get to know throughout the campaign, designated as Bravo Squad, are:

• Marcus Fenix: Son of the farmed Gear Adam Fenix and a veteran Gear himself. Signature Weapon: Proto Lancer 
• Dominic Santiago: Longtime friend of Marcus, whose relationship has become strained by the recent death of Dom’s older brother, and Marcus’ closest friend, Carlos Santiago, who was killed shortly before the Pendulum War’s conclusion. Signature Weapon: Gnasher
• Mags Carter: former Gear and an employee at Kalona’s Imulsion Refinery. Signature Weapon: Gut Puncher
• Lucas Reyes: A young communications officer with no frontline combat experience. Signature Weapon: Longshot

Together, they battle through the destruction of Kalona over the course of the invasion’s opening days. As defenses collapse throughout the city, the squad rescues survivors, organizes resistance efforts, and confronts the army of the Locust for the first time. 

Along the way, you will meet other COG personnel, including veteran warrior Tai Kaliso and Raven pilot Gil Gettner. As with your squad members, every person you meet and interact with has their own personality and attitude.

A Standout Story

This is where Gears of War: E-Day truly shines. From the start, the player is pulled into the world of Marcus and Dom. The stress on their relationship is immediately felt. You can also tell that they care for each other, even through the pain. As soon as they realize that something is going on that requires their attention, they quickly set all that aside and snap into “soldier” mode. This is when they are joined by “Mags” and Lucas. As the story progresses, you will learn about each character’s motives and what drives them, or haunts them. Each member of your squad has a very distinct personality, as do the other Gears you will meet along the way.

The part that really drew me into the story is that your squad feels like real people with real lives, real hopes, and real fears. I want to know these people, to fight alongside them.

It’s a Mad World

When you first see Kalona, it’s a bright, bustling city full of lights and life; it reminded me of areas that have town squares, coffee shops with outdoor seating, a city that feels neighborly. 

As the days progress, you will witness the town get destroyed around you. You won’t just see the results of destruction in your immediate area, but as you look across the city, you will see and hear ongoing battles between COG forces and the Horde. 

E-Day is not “Open World” so much as it is “Open Area”. Although it is possible to quickly make your way from one battle to the next, exploration has its perks. 

Kalona looks and sounds like a “living” city. You might see a building collapse in front of you, Gears moving bodies or doing other tasks, and civilians doing whatever they can to survive.

Gotta Find Them All

As you work your way through the city, you will find various items to assist you in your mission:

• Hard Cases: Contain weapons, equipment, and armor mods. 
• Collectibles: COG Tags and other materials that give a glimpse into the daily life of the people of Kalona.
• Supply Caches: Where the player can change up loadouts, modify weapons and equipment, and refill ammo.

E-Day will alert you when you are in the vicinity of any of the above items in one of two ways:

• For collectibles, the controller will give a quick vibration as well as a visual alert on your screen.
• With supply caches and hard cases, you will see an alert on the lower left side of your screen.

Once the game has alerted you that an object is nearby, a marker will be added to the map. Once the hard case is open or the collectible is collected, the marker will change to a checkmark.

In order to get the alerts and map markers for the locations of these items, as well as the side missions, you will need to get within close proximity to the location of the item. With some items, you may not have immediate access to the location until you advance further into the story.

Side Missions

Throughout the game, you will be alerted to optional side missions around you. Naturally, you will need to get within close proximity for the marker to show up on your map. You will often hear dialogue, and as you get closer to investigate what is going on, you will see where the mission is.

As a reward for completing side missions, you will receive a weapon or item add-on. 

Tracking Your Progress

Accessible from the main menu is the War Journal. With this journal, you will be able to track your progress throughout the game, broken down by Act. It will show you how many collectibles, hard cases, supply points, and side missions are available in each Act.

(NOTE: After you complete the story, you will be able to load in and go through an act to collect missed items and side missions)

E-Day: How Does It Perform?

Graphics

With E-Day, you have 3 options for graphic settings on console:

• Performance: Targets 60 FPS for smoother motion and responsiveness. (NOTE: Hosts of 3-4 campaign co-op sessions will run at 30 FPS)
• Quality: Targets 30 FPS for visual fidelity.
• Balanced (120Hz Display Required): Targets 40 FPS for a balance of smoothness and fidelity.

(Note: Campaign and Horde/PvP modes can be set differently)

I played on a Series X and opted to use the balanced settings. Visually, the game looks stunning, though I did run into some stuttering and FPS drops in Act 3, Chapter 3. I rebooted my console, which seemed to clear it up; the problem did not repeat.

Audio

The audio is very immersive. I play all my games with a pair of headphones and Dolby ATMOS. The sounds of not only the combat you may be in, but distant explosions, Ravens flying over, COG and civilian chatter asd you make your way through the city, and other environmental sounds all add to the experience.

All in all, it was very clean. I did have one spot where a Horde soldier got stuck in a loop and kept repeating ” suppressing “… ” extinguish “… He was stuck… So I shot him.

Gameplay 

Movement and controls feel very natural to me, being a Fallout player; using Y to jump feels natural, though I know for some it takes a bit of getting used to. When you are walking around, it doesn’t feel like your Gear is floating. The gunplay also feels and sounds satisfying.

The only issue I had is that sometimes the “Snap to” and “Lock On” aim assists did not seem to register at times. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason as to why this happened at seemingly random times during my playthroughs.

Accessibility

The accessibility options in E-Day are pretty well-rounded. It has the standard fare of subtitles and such, as well as menu narration, audio cues, aim assist (as mentioned above), and more.

Some options like Aim-Assist are not available in PvP mode.

Final Thoughts

Gears of War: E-Day does not disappoint; the story starts strong and only gets better. For players who have experienced the previous entries in the franchise, there are plenty of easter eggs scattered throughout. Any graphic and audio-related glitches I ran into were very minor and did not detract from the experience overall. 

For me, this game is in the running for my Game of the Year.

Note – A code was provided for the purposes of this review.