E-Day Being a Linear Game

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 26, 2024 4 Views 7 Min Read
E-Day Being a Linear Game

Key Takeaways

  • Gears of War: E-Day will prioritize a linear storytelling experience.
  • Returning to a linear format could enhance the classic Gears experience.
  • A linear approach may limit player agency but allow for a more focused narrative.



Gears of War: E-Day is a bit of a surprise, as it will be a prequel, rather than continuing the story of Gears 5. Even so, it is the most important prequel in the Gears of War series since it centers around Emergence Day, the day that started it all and saw the Locust Horde invading Sera. https://gamerant.com/db/video-game/gears-of-war-e-day/Gears of War: E-Day‘s premise alone indicates that it will prioritize storytelling above everything else, and that was further confirmed in an interview earlier this year with The Coalition devs.

Speaking in an interview with GamesRadar+, creative director Matt Searcy confirmed that Gears of War: E-Day will be prioritizing the series’ classic linear roots. This would be a huge departure from what Gears of War has done in more recent entries — particularly Gears 5, which includes large, open hub areas in certain acts, like the snowy Vasgar region and the red-sand deserts of the Kadar Valley. However, it wouldn’t necessarily be all bad for Gears of War E-Day to go back to a linear style, though it would certainly take away much of what other installments like Gears 5 offered in their worlds.


Marcus Fenix looking up at Gears of War E Day logo and Halo logo

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The Good and Bad of Gears of War: E-Day Being More Linear

The Good: Gears of War: E-Day Being Linear Should Recreate the Classic Gears Experience

Most importantly, Gears of War: E-Day going back to its linear roots would serve to recreate that classic Gears experience The Coalition is going for with this particular entry. Gears of War: E-Day is already reprising the darker themes and horror elements found in the first couple of Gears games, so a more linear adventure would help reinforce those presumably nostalgia-inducing elements even more. That being said, in the same interview with GamesRadar+, Searcy stated, “It’s gonna feel new and also authentically Gears at the same time,” so there will still be some freshness to it.


The Bad: Gears of War: E-Day Being Linear May Limit Player Agency

The most obvious con of Gears of War: E-Day being more linear is that it would potentially (and most likely) limit player agency. In installments like Gears 5, players had more freedom to choose what they did with their time between major objectives, especially since they could explore its open areas at their own pace, discovering side missions, hidden collectibles, and upgrades for Jack. Gears of War: E-Day essentially means that most of that player agency would be out the window, reducing players to something more along the lines of active spectators rather than the primary driving force behind progress in the game.

The Good: Gears of War: E-Day Being Linear Should Allow for a More Focused Narrative

Another good thing about Gears of War: E-Day being more linear is that it should, in theory, allow for a more focused narrative. Unlike a more open-ended experience could offer, a linear format allows for a detailed and emotionally impactful storytelling approach. The player will likely be able to more closely follow key characters like Marcus and Dom, and experience the chaos of Emergence Day with a strong sense of pacing, tension, and drama. In the end, a more linear experience may increase the cinematic quality of Gears of War: E-Day, and since it is set during the most important day in Gears of War history, it could benefit from that immensely.


The Bad: Gears of War: E-Day Being Linear May Reduce the Scale of the Invasion

Finally, Gears of War: E-Day being more linear may end up reducing the scale of the Locust Horde invasion on Emergence Day. Of course, this all depends on how boxed in everything is or isn’t, but a more linear structure may nonetheless make Emergence Day feel smaller or less dynamic. Since Emergence Day is a global catastrophe, Gears of War: E-Day‘s linear approach could struggle to convey the full scope of the tragedy.

There are obviously both ups and downs to Gears of War: E-Day being more linear, with the advantages largely benefiting its narrative and the disadvantages potentially limiting player agency and reducing the scale of the conflict. However, Searcy has made it fairly clear that Gears of War: E-Day won’t be as linear as its oldest predecessors, but that it also won’t be as open as its youngest. In light of that, perhaps Gears of War: E-Day will find a balance between the classic experience it used to be and the more open-ended experience it has become in recent memory.

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