Key Takeaways
- Gears of War: E-Day serves as a prequel to welcome new players, bridging the series’ past and present.
- The Gears of War series has faced decline since Gears of War: Judgment, struggling to regain its magic.
- Gears of War: E-Day offers character growth and accessibility for newcomers, with rich storytelling opportunities.
The Gears of War franchise has long been a cornerstone of Xbox gaming, known for its emotional storytelling, action-packed gameplay, and memorable characters. However, after almost two decades of installments, the Gears of War series has shown its age, primarily in its ability to introduce new players to the series today. This is where Gears of War: E-Day comes in, with a chance to welcome newcomers in with open arms, thanks to its prequel status.
At its core, Gears of War: E-Day bridges the gap between the past and present of the Gears universe. With its story centering around Emergence Day — the day the Locust Horde emerged from the surface of Sera, and the most important event in Gears history — it could potentially act as a new entry point to the series for new players, while simultaneously enriching the series’ lore with fresh insights into the Locust War’s origins for Gears veterans.
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The Pros and Cons of Gears of War: E-Day Being a Linear Game
Since Gears of War: E-Day will be a more linear experience than its recent predecessors, it’s time to look at how that might impact the game overall.
Gears of War: E-Day Offers a Chance to Start Over
Gears of War Has Been Through Quite a Few Rough Patches Lately
Apart from a major dip when Gears of War: Judgment was released in 2013, the reception of the mainline Gears of War series has become increasingly negative with each release. The original trilogy has been widely praised for its gameplay and emotional narrative, but even it saw a slight decline in its reception with the release of each game. Gears of War: Judgment, a prequel to the original game, lacked the depth of its predecessors and therefore fell flat, garnering the worst reception of all titles in the Gears of War series. Since then, the franchise has been doing its very best to regain the magic that it lost, but neither Gears of War 4 nor Gears 5 that followed have managed to accomplish that.
Gears of War: E-Day Starts at the Beginning of It All for the Series
Now, Gears of War: E-Day has a chance to reignite a fire in the series that it arguably hasn’t had since Gears of War 3 in 2011. Since Gears of War: E-Day is an origin story of sorts for the series as a whole, it could serve as a new entry point for the franchise — a chance to start over that no other sequel in the series has ever offered. Even Gears of War: Judgment, which takes place 14 years before Emergence Day, making it a prequel, is not enough of an origin story for the series to make it an entry point. However, since Gears of War: E-Day revolves around the most important event in Gears of War history, it could spark change for the series from here on out and welcome in newcomers with ease.
With Gears of War: E-Day potentially acting as a new entry point for the series, newcomers could see a level of character growth for Marcus and Dom that even veteran players have never witnessed. In Gears of War: E-Day, Marcus and Dom will be thrown into the thick of it with no experience in dealing with the Locust Horde, which will ultimately create new challenges for them to face that will encourage growth in both of them. In light of this premise, newcomers could potentially grow alongside Marcus and Dom, especially if the series plans to continue after Gears of War: E-Day with more titles like it.
Gears of War: E-Day
has a chance to reignite a fire in the series that it arguably hasn’t had since
Gears of War 3
in 2011.
Finally, since Gears of War: E-Day is a self-contained narrative as a standalone title, it should be more accessible for newcomers who are unfamiliar with the series. Players can dive into the chaos of the Locust invasion without needing extensive backstory, and since everything will also be new to the playable characters, new players likely won’t feel left behind. Of course, just because Gears of War: E-Day is an origin story doesn’t mean veteran players will be left behind either. By focusing on a foundational event in the timeline, E-Day serves as a rich storytelling opportunity for longtime fans while introducing the series’ core themes of survival, camaraderie, and war to new players. In the end, Gears of War: E-Day might be what the series needs to come alive again.
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