Gears of War: E-Day Became One of the Most Anticipated Games of the Year

Gears of War: E-Day has steadily climbed the list of upcoming games worth watching, and for some players, it now sits among their most anticipated releases. Even without hands-on time with the game's alpha, beta, or multiplayer tests, the upcoming prequel has built plenty of excitement.

A big part of that comes down to what The Coalition can do with the story. Because Gears of War: E-Day takes place before the original trilogy, the developers have some freedom to explore characters and relationships that already have an established future. You know where some of the major characters eventually end up, but that does not mean there is nothing left to explore.

The prequel format gives The Coalition a chance to add more layers to the relationships among its central characters while introducing other members of the group who may not make it through the story. It creates a situation similar to Rogue One, where you can follow a group of characters without everyone needing to survive to the point where the original story begins.

That gives the campaign room to take some risks with its supporting cast while still keeping the main characters within the larger story that fans already know. Even with a clear endpoint, there is still plenty of room to develop new characters and relationships along the way.

The story matters because the Gears of War series has had its ups and downs narratively.

Gears of War 2 is often considered a high point, while Gears of War 3 also delivered some strong emotional moments. Since then, the series hasn't always maintained that same level of storytelling, which makes Gears of War: E-Day's return to the franchise's early days particularly interesting.

Returning to the relationship between the series' central characters gives The Coalition another chance to build on what the original trilogy established. Gears of War: E-Day can't just recycle familiar characters; it can use its prequel setting to show how those relationships formed and provide context for what followed.

Knowing how a story ends can make a prequel feel limited, but it doesn't have to.

Games and television have shown that stories set before an established ending can still create meaningful characters and situations. As long as the developers give themselves a way to connect those stories back to what comes later, there is plenty of room to experiment.

That also applies to the action. The Coalition has already shown it can deliver large-scale set pieces, and the technology behind Gears of War: E-Day appears to be another major part of the experience. During an Xbox showcase, the developers highlighted some of the game's technical features, including environments and buildings breaking apart in the background.

Visuals are not necessarily the most important part of a Gears of War game, but they still matter when the series is known for its technical presentation. Gears of War: E-Day looks set to push that side of the franchise further, with detailed environments, destruction, and large action sequences playing into the game's identity.

The multiplayer side of Gears of War: E-Day is another major reason the game has become so interesting.

Multiplayer has always been an important part of Gears of War, even if traditional competitive modes have never been easy for everyone to master. Horde mode, in particular, has remained one of the series' most recognizable multiplayer experiences.

Gears of War: E-Day seems to take that idea and expand it into something much larger. Instead of operating as one group, players can split into multiple teams, with each squad working toward its own objectives while still being able to cross over and support the others.

That structure could make the mode especially interesting when those separate squads eventually interact.

You might be focused on your own objective, only to move outside your usual route to help another team. That kind of cooperation could make the experience feel much bigger than a standard squad-based multiplayer mode.

The large-scale approach is what makes the Horde mode particularly appealing. Rather than simply expanding the number of enemies or sticking more players into the same space, E-Day seems to be building a multiplayer experience around several groups operating within the same larger environment.

The idea is somewhat reminiscent of older large-scale multiplayer experiments, such as Mag, which supported huge player counts. Gears of War: E-Day isn't doing the same thing, but by taking a traditional Gears multiplayer experience and expanding the number of players, squads, objectives, and enemies, the mode gets its own identity.

That variety could also make Gears of War: E-Day a game that works for different types of players.

One player could focus primarily on the campaign, while another might be interested almost entirely in multiplayer. Horde mode could then give players another reason to return with friends and spend more time in the game after finishing the story.

The campaign itself doesn't necessarily have to be huge to be impactful. A tight 10- to 15-hour story solo or co-op would go a long way. If the story develops its characters well and makes the most of the prequel setting, it can deliver plenty of potential without stretching the campaign unnecessarily.

At the same time, the competitive multiplayer could offer another layer for players willing to put in the time. Traditional team deathmatch-style modes and free-for-all could still provide the familiar Gears experience, while the expanded Horde mode gives players something much larger to work toward.

That blend is part of what makes Gears of War: E-Day different from the upcoming Gears games.

You've got a prequel story that can take the series' characters in a different direction, large-scale action that plays to The Coalition's technical strengths, traditional multiplayer, and an expanded Horde experience centered on multiple squads.

It has also been a while since players have received a completely new Gears of War game. While the series has had releases and re-releases in the meantime, E-Day represents a return to an original entry rather than another version of an existing game.

For The Coalition, that creates an opportunity to revisit the foundation of Gears of War while using what the studio has learned since the original trilogy. The setting gives developers room to expand the lore, the technology lets them create larger, more detailed action sequences, and the multiplayer systems can push the series beyond its more familiar formats.

Gears of War: E-Day is shaping up to be more than just another Gears of War campaign.

Whether you spend your time following the story, playing traditional multiplayer, or joining a squad for its larger Horde experience, the game is being built around several different ways to play. The prequel setting also gives The Coalition a chance to add new context to characters and relationships that have been part of the franchise for years.

With its focus on story, large-scale action, technical presentation, and expanded multiplayer, Gears of War: E-Day is shaping up to be a significant return for the series. Most importantly, it gives The Coalition the chance to revisit where the franchise began while building something new around it.