UNEARTHING THE ROOTS: THE THRILLING RETURN TO "GEARS OF WAR: E-DAY"

The gaming landscape is abuzz with things to come, as we await a moment to rediscover an epoch-defining saga with the release of ‘Gears of War: E-Day’, the latest instalment in the Gears of War series. ‘E-Day’ was teased with a cinematic trailer at the Xbox Showcase in mid-March, nearly half a decade after the events of the epic Gears 5. It isn’t just a sequel, however. It’s a return to the beginning, or an origin story for the Gears standouts Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago, told in the raw, untold chapters of between their first encounter on a routine mission gone haywire, to the epic events of the previous games.

THE TRAILER: A GLIMPSE INTO DESOLATION AND VALOR

Meanwhile, backstage at the Xbox Showcase, a trailer that promises, promises, promises shows the heroes of the franchise’s games when they were young, as they are ravaged by the vicious Locust invasion. The trailer without an announced release date … is like a breadcrumb trail, a siren song for the enchanted, beckoning them home.

THE VISION BEHIND "GEARS OF WAR: E-DAY"

Xbox’s blog post follow-up provided a glimpse of where ‘E-Day’ is headed, calling it ‘a birth story, told against the backdrop of Emergence Day’s terror’. The project’s Creative Director Matt Searcy promises a Gears game that ‘feels like a Gears game’ but ‘made with everything we’ve learned about storytelling and technology’. The game is a sequel, but also the reboot of a franchise that the company hopes will ‘draw in lapsed fans and newcomers’.

REVISITING THE ROOTS WITH NEW TOOLS

The Coalition, makers of Epic’s latest ‘Gears 5’, has been dipping its toes into an ocean of Unreal Engine 5 possibilities, teasing technical feats that point to the game’s next evolutionary – revolutionary? – leap, called E-Day. The day will look at some trailblazing work on how games are played, with the goal of making the next game feel like a quantum leap in what gamers have come to expect from the series.

A SOLEMN PROMISE: BEYOND THE BATTLEFRONT

If every voice has value, then The Coalition has pledged a small percentage of all future ‘Gears of War’ proceeds to suicide-prevention charities – a move not only reminiscent of themes like tenacity and brotherhood that help propel the franchise into the cultural arena, but also points to a richer, densely woven overlap between the game’s storylines and the struggles many of us face in our personal lives.

THE EXCLUSIVE DOMAIN OF XBOX AND PC

So much for cross-platform, eh? We now know that Gears of War: E-Day will be available exclusively on Xbox and PC – not exactly a surprise since the game is a Microsoft exclusive. The developer can also be assured of a smooth experience by being limited to Xbox and PC rather than consoles and mobile devices.

"GEARS OF WAR: E-DAY" – A REFLECTION ON ITS GENESIS

For this is closer than you think to ‘Gears of War: E-Day’, the day when humanity finally battles the ferocious Locust Horde from the otherworldly Hollow beyond. Peeling back the blood, guts and action that are the foil of Half-Life 2, the Bioshock, or any other modern ‘shoot ’em up’ the Gears of War trilogy is driven by a story, by a narrative of humanity striving to survive against all odds. And so he brings us back to the beginning; back to the concept that laid the foundations for this most iconic of video game series. This is not a trip down memory lane, but an homage to the seeds that grew an entire franchise, a story of heroism, loss and survival.

THE ESSENSCE OF ORIGIN IN "GEARS OF WAR: E-DAY"

Origin is at the heart of historical, genealogical and evolutionary discourse, and in the tapestry of the ‘Gears of War’ series, E-Day is the dramatic fulcrum that unites past and present – and future – to illuminate the narrative’s themes. The quest to understand the origin of the game is less a matter of backward chronology than an attempt to reimagine on a larger scale what makes a game like ‘Gears’ play well to millions of gamers.

As ‘Gears of War: E-Day’ descends to rewrite legacies, the same event that started a franchise’s saga hovers as the beginning of a story filled with danger, discovery and brotherhood. It is more than a prequel, but it is our history, the inception of Gears of War, the rebirth of a franchise, the never-ending cycle of creation.

Ultimately, then, Gears of War: E-Day is a rallying cry to return to the beginning and re-immerse oneself in the journey that, for a fair few players, defines gaming itself. So, as we edge nearer to the point of rediscovery, one thing is for sure: are you ready to go home?