It's time to finally wrap up this Gears of War: E-Day review, having now been able to grab a significant chunk of time in the multiplayer Siege mode.

For the review build, Gears of War: E-Day's new PvE multiplayer Siege mode was disabled. It felt odd to me to score a game I hadn't fully experienced as I and many others likely intended to play it. As such, this had previously been a review in progress. But now I'm ready to put a final say on proceedings.

Gears of War: E-Day is something of an important game for Xbox. It carries the flag for Microsoft's return to exclusive Xbox Series X|S games, and likely has some oversized pressure upon it to deliver. We're not here to review that aspect of the product, though — only what is here sitting in front of me.

Even upon reflection, my feelings on the campaign are a bit mixed. Thankfully, Gears of War: E-Day is a multi-faceted game, and Siege mode is an undeniably fun and genuinely well-considered evolution on the Horde-style gameplay, vastly elevating the overall package.

Gears of War: E-Day has some of the most stunning visuals I've ever seen committed to the medium, with absolutely immaculate lighting treatment, immense and meticulous city detailing, and gorgeous character work. The gunplay is also fantastic, smoothing off some of the series' rough edges with boosted mobility, without sacrificing the Gears feel.

But the overall campaign gameplay structure does the overall game a pretty sizeable disservice in my view, preventing it from reaching its full potential. Thankfully, Siege provides a satisfying canvas for future play, and the problems are by no means unfixable. Let's get into it.

Gears of War: E-Day review — Story, Art, and Tech

Gears of War: E-Day takes place over a decade before Gears of War 1, offering us a front-row seat to the brutal and genocidal opening to the Locust's attack on humanity.

The city of Kalona serves as ground zero for that invasion. Kalona is known as a city of science and technological progress, and was instrumental in developing the COG's weapons tech and industrial war economy during the civil war against the UIR. E-Day takes place six weeks after the UIR surrenders, and Dominic Santiago and Marcus Fenix are picking up the pieces and mourning lost friends and family.

The character work on offer in E-Day is absolutely top-shelf. The trauma of loss and the shock of the Locust invasion comes through incredibly well in every single aspect of the game's delivery. The cityscape is immaculately detailed, with interiors fully rendered with a lived-in feel, complemented by some of the best lighting I've ever seen in a video game.

I wish Gears of War: E-Day ran better on my Xbox Ally X, but it's hard to expect such a visually rich game to perform well on every potentially niche device. On its main platforms, namely Xbox Series X|S and compatible desktop PCs, Gears: E-Day absolutely sings. Make no mistake, Gears of War: E-Day is at the absolute apex of Unreal Engine technological prowess, and the game deserves awards on that basis alone, most likely.

Rendering the city in so much detail really helps serve the story. Gears of War's more recent games take place in a ruined world, where the Locust have effectively already won and decimated humanity and most of its cities. For E-Day, The Coalition had to show a city that was still thriving and populated, and the horrors therein.

From the very first cutscene, The Coalition pulls no punches: this is a horror story, a war story, and a tale of survival and desperation. The COG army is decimated and blindsided, besieged by an unknown threat that they immediately underestimate as monsters without a plan, only to discover later just how smart and organized the Locust actually are.

Civilian NPCs litter the city, sometimes fleeing, sometimes in dismembered puddles on the ground. The reactions from the characters and their development throughout the game really help to elevate that sense of loss and fear — they're not the battle-hardened survivors of the original Gears trilogy. They're young, war-weary from fighting the UIR, and in some cases wholly traumatized already.

I don't want to give too much away about the story, but this very much felt like the first game in a new planned trilogy ... there were aspects of the delivery that suffered as a result. Some plot threads felt designed to be resolved in future games (or DLC?), leaving me wanting somewhat. But the fact that I am eager to learn more about this Emergence Day story arc is probably a plus. It would be far worse if I didn't care, and I find myself caring a lot about the new characters, their struggles, their past lives, and what will ultimately end up happening to them ... given that some clearly aren't present in future installments.

Gears of War: E-Day's setting, visuals, and story delivery represent its best aspects. The game's performance on Xbox Series X is top-tier, with slowdown only occurring during some particularly heavy sequences towards the end. I didn't experience a single crash, and it's great to see a modern game offer split-screen co-op in the modern age as an option.

The new characters are interesting and engaging, and finding out new layers of existing characters is also rewarding as a long-time fan. I think Gears of War: E-Day could've benefitted from leaning more into civilian-oriented side stories potentially ... but as I'm going to explain in the gameplay section, Gears of War: E-Day's campaign is let down a fair bit by its gameplay structure all up.

Gears of War: E-Day review — Campaign Gameplay

Let's get the good stuff out of the way first: this is still very much Gears of War. Everything you've loved previously about Gears is still here, and in most cases, elevated to the 11th degree.

E-Day boosts the player character's mobility by a huge amount. Sprint is now more instantaneous and on the left stick like a standard modern shooter. Cover is far more dynamic than it was previously, with the ability to take cover in lower spaces than before, making environments feel more varied and natural. You can now also climb and vault, allowing The Coalition to build on the game's verticality. Given that Kalona is a city-state with large buildings and urban environments, having these features serves the game incredibly well.

The gunplay is also very polished. Chainsaw-ing dudes in half is more rewarding than ever, with almost embarrassingly satisfying sound treatment and chunky gore physics. Watching a severed torso flip onto the floor never gets old.

There's a variety of new weapons which are also instant classics. The Locust have been scavenging the battlefields of the Pendulum wars, adapting old UIR guns with horrifyingly inhumane enhancements. As such, that satisfying M1 Garand "ping" returns from the UIR Markza, repurposed into the axe-hilted Locust Breechshot rifle, for example.

The gunplay lets itself down a bit when it comes to fighting some of the game's bigger enemies, though. Drones, wretches, and some of the earlier enemies are by far the most satisfying to fight, reacting to your bullets and even having destructible armor that makes combat feel more dynamic and modern. I'm not sure why The Coalition didn't extend this gameplay style to some of its bigger enemies, which is where I would argue it'd be far more crucial.

Indeed, in Act 1, Gears of War: E-Day starts so strongly, and I was sitting there wondering if this was going to end up being the best game Xbox ever shipped, but over time, that feeling began to unravel.

Reavers, Brumaks, and other larger enemies barely react at all to gunfire, making them feel like robots or bullet sponges — something Gears 4 was heavily criticized for. You end up just watching the enemy's health bar in some cases for at least some semblance of reactivity, instead of the visuals The Coalition's art team painstakingly worked towards. Towards the end of the game, these types of enemies become more common too, robbing the game of some of its dynamism.

Another irritating aspect of Gears of War: E-Day pertains to its open-but-not-actually-open world design, which to me smacks of rushed or changing game design priorities throughout development.

Kalona is a fully realized 3D city, with a huge variety of urban exterior and interior locations. It's a great canvas that The Coalition can build upon when designing future content, potentially both for Siege and Versus mode. The problem is, it doesn't lend itself particularly well to the campaign mode.

Gears of War: E-Day starts incredibly strongly, with a linear cinematic segment that really sets the tone for the game. Then, it opens up into this odd semi-open world structure that seemed interesting in previews, but in practice, it doesn't really reach further than the glimpses we got over the summer.

There's a map that offers the illusion of large explorable spaces, but in practice, all the segments are very linear. Even the side objectives take place in a structured way, undermining the need or desire to really explore. It felt like The Coalition tried to shoehorn in more reasons to explore by spreading weapon mods and collectibles around, but I just found this aspect of the game to be irritating and pace-breaking.

There's dozens upon dozens of weapon mods to find in the field, but half the time it'll be for weapons you don't really want to use. The game pings you with an annoying pop-up every few seconds saying "hardcase nearby," which just served as a distraction given that the reward was mostly just junk items. Even the collectibles were annoying to find, given that you had to jump through several menus then go manually searching for the item you just found from a huge list. There were more mods to find than there was gameplay canvas upon which to place them ... E-Day really would've benefitted from some kind of vendor system instead here, allowing you to buy mods at your leisure, rather than feeling forced into boring hide-and-seek gameplay every 3 minutes.

These might seem like minor gripes, but given that there's not much else "new" here on offer across the general Gears formula, they stand out a bit like a sore thumb.

It doesn't help that, as a result of the game's structure, you end up revisiting the same locations multiple times as part of the story, which felt anticlimactic and choring, particularly towards the end of the game.

The campaign does have some incredibly epic, cinematic, and deeply emotional moments — don't get me wrong. There are some fantastic sequences spread throughout the game, showcasing Emergence in all of its reptilian, subterranean horror. I just wish they'd doubled up on these moments instead of trying this odd "open" world experiment, which seems ill-conceived and poorly executed, with features that detract rather than elevate the overall experience.

Gears of War: E-Day review — Siege Mode

Let me preface this by saying I've never been a big fan of Gears' brand of PvP combat, and you might want to look elsewhere for a take on that. Instead, my preference for Gears multiplayer has always fallen to its Horde mode, which has taken on a whole new life in E-Day.

Siege Mode takes twelve players split into teams of four, and drops them into a portion of Kalona's devastated township. Here, you take on the role of one of the Gears during E-Day in progress, tackling side objectives, battling waves of enemies, setting up killzones, and grinding upgrades. This is where some aspects of the campaign's "open world" gameplay really shines through in ways that it didn't when there was a cinematic story to tell on top of it all.

The new mobility gives Siege maps a great deal of verticality and strategical elements. Four character classes offer some soft class roles, with snipers lending cover while medics revive fallen players. As you progress, you can hybridize a bit, equipping your medic with a sniper rifle for example from the outset, while still maintaining access to your "ultimate" ability kit items that can change the tide of battle for your squad.

It's impressive how well Gears of War: E-Day's multiplayer maps work in practice, they're incredibly large and have a lot going on simultaneously across the play space, giving it a sense of frantic urgency. As you're completing your missions, you may cross paths with another squad as is often the case in the campaign, leading to epic and emergent gameplay moments.

Invasion events spawn huge bosses like Brumaks and Corpsers, charging all 12 players to come together to bring them down. My complaint about them feeling a bit "spongey" persists here, but it's far more exciting tackling these towering behemoths in a big multiplayer setting, all while getting swarmed by lesser enemies like wretches and drones.

There's some mild and quite forgiving extraction gameplay here too. Side objectives and invasion events reward you with parts to upgrade your weapons and classes. If your squad fails to complete your mission for whatever reason, you will lose those weapon parts. Siege does give you a lot of leeway to avoid failure, though, even on the higher difficulties, detracting from the sense of urgency a bit.

I think The Coalition could've done a bit more to enhance the "emergent" gameplay moments and social interaction aspects. There are no emotes for example, which feels odd. Siege clearly takes some inspiration from Helldivers 2, but omits some of its more interactive and engaging innovations, which is a shame. But hey, it's all potential things to include in future seasons and updates, maybe?

We're not reviewing the future though, we're reviewing the now. And the now of Siege mode is already fantastic. Getting a capable squad together and putting yourself through the meat grinder is a ton of fun. Setting up batteries of mortar sentries and watching them rain down shells like an explosive hailstorm is endlessly satisfying. The potential here is clear and exciting.

What The Coalition has built here is as technically impressive as it is infectious. If the update cadence is solid, I can see me sticking with Gears of War: E-Day's Siege Mode remaining in my multiplayer rotation for some time.

Gears of War: E-Day review — Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed Gears of War: E-Day overall, and am already enjoying my second playthrough on a higher difficulty, but I would be lying if I said the game didn't have large campaign issues — particularly given how easily avoided many of them could've been.

Kalona is an immaculate canvas ripe for telling epic stories. The new, horror-laden tone is absolutely the right direction for Gears of War: E-Day. The existential dread oozes throughout every character delivery, and the city design is among the best the medium has ever seen.

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The gameplay structure placed on top of the campaign becomes the problem. It could've used a lot more iteration and forethought. It felt a bit like E-Day was originally intended to be some form of open-world, but at some point, they retreated, leaving it feeling disjointed. The "open world" aspects work far better in Gears of War: E-Day's siege mode, where side objectives, upgrades, and mission rewards actually feed a far more satisfying upgrade loop. In the campaign, they feel a bit more like irritants and roadbumps.

If I were to score the game based on the campaign alone, I'd probably give it an 8/10 overall — it's still incredibly fun, and the downsides are frustrating but not game-breaking. Siege mode elevates the overall package to a 9/10 for me. What doesn't work as well in the Campaign works incredibly well in Siege, and the potential for its future is quite clear.

The Coalition could probably do a little more to think outside of the box to stave off franchise fatigue and defy expectations, but the consistency of this franchise feels like coming home every time — which certainly has its own merits in today's times.

Long may Gears live.

Gears of War: E-Day launched October 6, 2026, exclusively on Xbox Series X|S on console with Xbox Play Anywhere for PC, it's also on Steam and Xbox Game Pass.

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Microsoft has been responsible for some pretty compelling innovations in the gaming space over the years, from everything including DirectX in decades past to more recent stuff like Xbox's disc-to-digital program or Xbox backwards compatibility on console and now Windows PC. Microsoft is now formalizing a team dedicated to exploring these unique and potentially transformative features.

Dubbed "Xbox Labs," Microsoft is formalizing the team that will research and work on new technologies across its gaming stack. The team there will work on new compatibility layers, such as bringing Xbox games to Apple silicon and WebGL, while also exploring the rise of reverse-engineered AI mods and games such as the recent 128-player Halo title that went viral a few weeks ago.

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Microsoft, like many in the gaming industry, are wondering about how to reach more users. Xbox announced "XP" recently, designed to bring more of its franchises into the real world via marketing collabs, merchandising, and even theme parks. Microsoft has also been putting its biggest franchises onto PlayStation as it seeks more users therein, and also pushing Xbox Cloud Gaming as an option for those who don't want the upfront cost of buying a console.

Microsoft has struggled to maintain pace with the growth of the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch platform, or Steam on PC, but made a sprint of acquisitions in a bet to at least sell games on those platforms. Titles like Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Forza Horizon are dominant off Xbox, but the decline of Xbox as a platform has been painful for fans to watch.

Incoming Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is charged with reviving Xbox's fortunes in this space. There's been a lot of promises to fans, including returning to exclusive games (starting with Gears of War: E-Day), and doubling down on new updates for Xbox Series X|S consoles, which recently included the addition of Mythic completion achievements. However, it has come at the cost of thousands of Xbox job losses via redundancies and divestitures, leaving a vast trail of disrupted lives in its wake.

Sharma noted in a town hall meeting with Xbox staff last week that it can't rely on past wins as it seeks to shape the future. AI and other technologies are rapidly disrupting what gaming will actually be in the next decade, as attention and access gets disrupted by AI-borne RAMpocalypse. The content cadence is likely to vastly saturate the addressable audience too, leading to a dilution in attention and spend.

In my view, it's pretty clear Sharma is right that technological platform innovation is absolutely necessary to navigate this "new world" being foisted upon us (by, well ... Microsoft itself), but it remains unclear when Xbox Labs' first innovations will materialize for users or developers. For those interested, a bit more "wait and see" is likely on the menu.

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I grew up a SEGA and Sony kid, at least until XBOX started tempting me with exclusives. I didn't make any of my own money until the XBOX 360 era, but when I did, one studio had the killer apps in my eyes: Remedy Entertainment.

During the OG XBOX era, I split my gaming between a PlayStation 2 and the family PC, which was chiefly used to play Max Payne.

Its slow-motion, John Woo-esque gunfighting gameplay landed at the perfect time; I was already obsessed with The Matrix, after all.

Obsessively playing Remedy's noir shooter while dipping my toes into the PC modding scene convinced me that Remedy were icons.

Indeed, I held them in the same regard as Rockstar Games and Valve, as gaming stalwarts that could seemingly do no wrong, especially after Max Payne 2 delivered everything I had hoped. For their next adventure, I'd need Microsoft's new console, so I started saving my money.

XBOX 360 — Alan Wake

Mechanically, Alan Wake isn't much different from Max Payne. It's a third-person shooter with a strong narrative focus, pushing me toward cutscenes and literal story scraps as I unravel a mystery of light vs. darkness. Enemies creep out of the shadows, totally invulnerable until I burn away their armor with a flashlight, flare, or whatever other luminous weapons I have on hand.

It started as a more open-world game, but the clever twist on the otherwise familiar run-and-gun mechanics drew me in. I didn't even mind giving up the slow-motion 'Bullet Time' feature that defined Max Payne, because it still lingered in Alan Wake's gameplay loop, showing up in well-timed dodges. This time, Remedy's writing was less clichéd and more sincere — I wanted more.

Of course, I had plenty of other games on the XBOX 360 to tide me over, including Grand Theft Auto IV and Gears of War, so I wasn't bereft of choice after buying into this iconic console. Besides, Alan Wake's American Nightmare arrived soon after as the game's largest DLC expansion, but we wouldn't see a true sequel for another couple of generations.

XBOX One — Quantum Break

Would another time-bending action shooter convince me to buy into Microsoft's latest console? It did, and I went all in on its unified platform with the XBOX One, a Nokia Lumia 735 running Windows 10 Mobile, and, of course, a Windows 10 PC. I even bought the console's official digital TV tuner, fully adopting the all-in-one media pitch, though I'd never get my hands on the promised DVR feature.

And what better game to start with than Quantum Break with its live-action cinematics, cut like a TV mini-series? It certainly had some interesting combat mechanics that let me completely freeze time in isolated bubbles, but it felt more like a treat for the eyes. Visually, the game was (and still is) incredible.

If Alan Wake were a Stephen King novel blended with David Lynch's Twin Peaks sensibilities, then Quantum Break is more like Tenet's time-twisting motif wrapped around the gratuitous slow-motion bullet barrages of The Matrix. It's still easy to recommend, with Remedy's refined storytelling DNA on full display, and it can be beaten in a single weekend if you have the time.

XBOX Series X — Alan Wake 2

Thirteen years after the first game, I finally had the Alan Wake sequel within reach, and I wanted to savor every moment. This is the game that not only convinced me to pick up the XBOX Series X console, but also a 4K OLED TV with HDR and all the other trimmings. It annihilated my savings, but it was worth it in the long run, since my wife and I play on this console almost daily.

Alan Wake 2 had some launch bugs, but they were soon cleaned up, and it didn't tarnish my view of this brilliant sequel. It's Remedy in top gear, running at maximum speed with a twisting story, gorgeous visuals, and layers upon layers of references and outright fan service. I loved almost every minute.

There are some sudden stops, like a playable representation of the co-protagonist's "Mind Place" that had me connecting yarns to various photographs and clue scraps. It betters the story, but ultimately, I always wish I could speed past some of this part when I replay the game. Nevertheless, it's one of the best games I've ever played, and I easily forgave its missteps. Don't miss out.

Project Helix — Will there be another killer app?

Microsoft's plans for a follow-up console fall under the 'Project Helix' codename as an "XBOX-PC hybrid", with no set release date. Game studios might expect to receive developer-centric hardware sometime in 2027, but for now, the company is simply encouraging those devs to keep "developing for Xbox on PC". You know, I'd be more excited if it weren't for the ongoing memory shortage crisis.

Remedy announced a 'Max Payne 1 & 2 Remake' in 2022, and I haven't heard much about it since then. It's a partner project with Rockstar Games, and Take-Two still owns the series IP, making it the most mysterious project that I've ever felt this excited for. If this silence continues, it might just launch on Project Helix, but will it be unique (or exclusive) enough to keep me from playing it on PC?

It's almost impossible to predict, but I'd rather be an optimist when I can. With any luck, RAM and storage production costs will gradually return to more reasonable levels over the next year, which could kick-start an exciting lead-up to the reveal of whatever Project Helix calls itself. What kinds of games do you hope to see in the next generation of XBOX?

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Gears of War: E-Day is seemingly still full of surprises, and according to the latest Xbox US store data, the game is flying off (digital) shelves. It has secured the number one spot, overtaking titles like Minecraft Dungeons 2 and the critically acclaimed Star Wars: Galactic Racer.

Gears of War: E-Day reaching the top spot in the US isn’t the only news, too. The game also topped the UK store and many others across the globe, which is great to see.

I will say, I am a bit surprised, obviously given the games on Game Pass, that does come with a certain, how would you say, online drama? Especially as it's often thought Xbox gamers don’t buy games, which of course has been debunked time and time again, but I digress.

We also know, thanks to reporting from TrueAchievements, that Gears of War: E-Day is 2026’s second-biggest Xbox launch. It surpassed Halo: Campaign Evolved by 8.6% but fell just shy of Forza Horizon 6, managing only 67.3% of Forza’s player count at launch, which of course was a massive success on both Xbox and PC.

I’m impressed with how well Gears of War: E-Day has done, and it's honestly well deserved. Having beaten the game myself, it has given me the Gears itch, and I am probably going to run through Gears 2, 3, 4, and 5 on Insane, just like I have done with the first game and E-Day.

Hopefully, everyone has enjoyed E-Day as much as I have, and I hope the game continues to perform well. There was, of course, reporting from Alinea Analytics, which estimated 230,000 copies sold across both Steam and Xbox. Steam accounted for 168,000 of those, with Xbox (console and PC) selling 62,000.

Alinea also estimated that 1.7 million people played the game via Game Pass, and of that 1.7 million, 722,000 paid for the five-day early access upgrade. Alinea also reported that the game grossed $37 million in revenue, and they called for the game to be released on PlayStation 5 too to help recoup development costs.

I won’t dive into that drama, though. Don't worry. For now, let me know your thoughts on E-Day, how it's performed, whether you're impressed, or if you expected it to do better, in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll!

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Following Xbox's recent push to simplify development for its platform, we have a new engine joining the party with official hardware support: Defold. For those unfamiliar, Defold is a game engine originally created by King, the studio behind Candy Crush, which is now owned by Microsoft.

Naturally, given its origins, the engine was heavily utilized for mobile titles like Blossom Blast Saga. However, it has since evolved into a solid option for indie developers, with existing support for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation consoles.

While Defold might not be the first engine that comes to mind for most people, I’m a strong believer that making development easier across whatever engines people choose is a fantastic move. In this case, it seems Defold has managed to make Xbox support as straightforward as possible.

According to its creators, Xbox support is now available in Defold 1.14.0, provided free of charge to approved developers. This completes a major expansion of the engine’s console capabilities, meaning it now supports all three major platforms.

Developers must first be approved for Xbox console development through programs like ID@Xbox before they can access the specific resources. Once approved, they can request access to the Xbox extension, which includes platform integrations such as user management and game saves, along with the necessary tools and workflows for building and testing Xbox games.

The engine itself has been around since 2008, so it’s been a long wait for official Xbox support. When asked why it took so long by @Danielon5538 on X (formerly Twitter), Defold responded:

“We (at Defold Foundation) developed Xbox support alongside our ongoing work on Defold, using the Foundation's own savings. Defold is free and all its console ports are completely free for approved developers too. We sustain development through partnerships and community donations. It took some time and sweat, but we're happy to finally make it available!”

You can also help fund Defold, which helps pay developers, and support core services, donations can be made here.

Hopefully, this is a sign of more things to come to make development easier for Xbox. While I can’t speak to what other engines might be lacking in the Xbox development space, lowering barriers in any way possible is one of Xbox’s best chances of getting as many developers on board with their platform as possible.

Let me know in the comments if you use Defold, if you’re glad it now has Xbox support, or if you just heard of the engine today. And, as always, don’t forget to take part in our poll!

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