Gears of War: E-Day feels like a goodbye to the franchise

There are many perfectly valid reasons why Gears of War: E-Day won't work for anyone but the already devoted.

It has no real beginning or end; it's way too long and poorly paced; the final boss fight is among the worst in modern gaming history; it launches stuck on a platform with an increasingly small player count, effectively killing multiplayer aspirations; and it does very little to update the 20-year-old gameplay.

If E-Day had released ten years ago, it would have helped redefine the genre. Today, it feels hopelessly outdated in many regards. With game development budgets and timelines soaring, it's probably the last game we'll ever see from the franchise and not the start of a new prequel trilogy, as the developers probably hope.

It's important to get these out in the open right off the bat. If you're expecting a reinvention of the franchise or something that will send an entirely new generation to the series and Xbox in general, this isn't it.

But it is the most refined and polished Gears of War since the original trilogy, and that counts for something. For older Gears fans, it is a joy to play, and it's surprisingly emotional to return to this world and these characters after a decade in the dumps with the terrible sequels. If you like, or even just liked it once, Gears of War: E-Day is a must-play title that delivers on almost everything fans desire.

I still have fond memories of the original Gears of War, released in 2006, and how my college roommate and I spent our minimal savings on a pair of Xbox 360 consoles on launch. For a time, this was the premier destination for co-op gaming, with three superlative titles in five years keeping us busy outside of classes. Today, if you don't count the lackluster remaster of the original, it took seven years between Gears 5 and E-Day.

There's no denying I bring this nostalgia along for the ride with E-Day. So it feels odd to discover a game that, despite its semi-open districts and marginal platforming sections, feels closer to a remake of the first instalment than a genuine prequel. At times, it leans so hard into nostalgia bait that even I, someone here for that endorphin rush, felt it was a bit much.

It recycles some of the most memorable parts in the original trilogy, brings back a host of familiar faces, and introduces wholly expendable new ones. (If their names aren't Marcus and Dom, there's little reason to get attached.) Happily, two new additions, Lucas and Mags, are among the series best. Unlike other characters in the thin narrative, they feel like genuine people, and if the series has a future, they better be a major part of it.

E-Day starts at the cusp of the titular event with barely any backstory or setup. It leads to a frustrating narrative experience that demands familiarity with the characters and material while wasting time setting up a new beginning. For example, fans already know Dom's desperate hunt for his wife, Maria, from the original game, set fourteen years later. Guess what takes up a good chunk of the drama here. It's not that tragic foreshadowing doesn't work, but it needs something else to balance it out.

Similarly, there's a lot of talk of the history between Marcus and Dom, specifically their families and experiences in the previous war that is almost exclusively candy for those who've already devoured prior material. At times, the flavor text of an earlier conflict is more interesting than the present, which isn't a great look. (There are also remnants of the ugly late-2000s politics that defined Gears for a time, such as constant references to a fictional 'Emgazi' extraction. Ugh.)

By the end, E-Day only reaches another beginning. It's a thrilling ride, no question, but it's hard to invest in something like this knowing we have another decade of waiting ahead. Seven years of development is a lifetime in gaming, and E-Day arrives at the tail end of the console generation with no plans for the future: don't expect a sequel any time soon.

After so many downers, is E-Day worth it? Yes, I think so. Especially if you're already a fan of the series and have friends willing to join for some extended co-op sessions, E-Day might preach to the choir, but it still delivers a good sermon.

For one, the action is the best in the series to date; set pieces have immense scale and scope, from crumbling cities to claustrophobic underground shootouts; and there's a genuine sense of urgency that gives E-Day a welcome burst of adrenaline. An extended sequence in a gathering storm above a ruined city skyline is breathtaking in majesty and terror. Another, where we emerge from the underground after the first long night, captures the horror the first Gears game only spoke of.

The squad dynamics, thanks to the aforementioned Mags and Lucas, ground the insanity with surprisingly emotional beats I didn't expect from a series this clunky. After all, the prior bar was set by Gears 2; that's not tough to clear. So imagine my surprise when, at a particular high point, E-Day slows down to chart the past lives of the squad, complete with genuine pathos about the cost of a capitalist war machine sold to children as entertainment.

No, it's still not well written, and much of it embraces every genre cliché it can find, whether or not they fit together. Most of the time it's not sombre enough to be a tragedy, nor fun enough to be a Michael Bay-style rollercoaster. It has both in fits and starts, especially when developer The Coalition breaks out its big guns and showcases the graphical prowess the Xbox Series X can muster.

The overwhelming sense of destruction, thanks to dynamic sound design and brilliant art direction, is nightmare fuel in the best way. Fantastic voice acting sells the madness perfectly, and it's always a thrill to hear how game everyone is for this particular brand of melodrama. This does result in some unintentionally funny moments when, even two decades later, Gears still leans into the "gruff men speaking gruffly" trope so hard that some scenes sound like John DiMaggio is arguing with himself.

The gunplay remains some of the best in the genre, thanks to a vast arsenal of weapons and modifications that make E-Day the most personalized Gears of War experience to date. Played solo, weapon choices genuinely affect difficulty, while squad tactics allow for inventive combinations of support and assault gear. It's a blast to coordinate tactics between entire city blocks, where others keep monsters at bay with consistent gunfire, while others barrage the hell out of a plaza with mortars.

E-Day is a surprisingly long game, and not all of it is well-paced, but it's rarely boring. There are three major open districts to explore freely between linear missions, each with sub-objectives and minor beats that flesh out the world. With friends, these parts are some of the best in the franchise that bring genuine tactics and deep immersion into the dystopian fantasy.

Both multiplayer and Horde modes make a welcome return, though it remains to be seen how many people will turn up for either one. Twenty years ago, Gears was a highlight in the multiplayer shooter landscape. Today, I don't know if many will remember it. I hope they do; co-op still rips.

I think the main reason I enjoyed my time with E-Day so much is that it never feels cynical. This could have easily turned into a quick cash-grab, but it didn't. Instead, it celebrates everything that made Gears work in the first place. It returns to the basics and drops the convoluted storyline of parts 4 and 5 entirely, and the streamlined narrative works in its favor. By the time I sat down for a co-op session to chainsaw some uglies, I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

The action is fun, the production quality immaculate, and it plays to the tune of my nostalgia. It's hard to be unmoved by something that tries this hard to recapture something good, even if it's neither new nor inventive. It is Gears of War, and that's enough, especially if this is goodbye.