Gears of War: E-Day Reviews

Gears of War: E-Day is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7 / 10
Oct 18, 2026

While Gears of War: E-Day delivers a solid online multiplayer experience, its single-player campaign plays it safe, offering little new in the way of storytelling or level design, and despite a 20-year gap between the original Gears of War and E-Day, the gameplay shows no meaningful evolution, let alone two decades worth of progress.

Review in Persian | Read full review

9 / 10.0
Oct 17, 2026

Gears of War: E‑Day shows the franchise’s enduring strength, delivering a visceral look at Emergence Day with new threats and classic, weighty combat.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day is a stunning comeback with fun, fast-paced cover shooting, smart enemies and the best visuals in the series, held back only slightly by stiff NPC animations and some ragdoll glitches.

Review in German | Read full review

Ryan McCaffrey
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Oct 12, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day’s stellar story campaign is complemented by an excellent multiplayer suite, particularly its evolved Horde Siege PvE mode.

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4 / 5
Oct 9, 2026

Though there's still plenty of waist-high cover, ebb-and-flow firefighting, and braindead machismo, Gears E-Day proves that looking back can, indeed, help you look forward, too.

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PC Gamer
Top Critic
77 / 100
Oct 6, 2026

Great cover-based shooting with terrific multiplayer. Shame the main campaign is an exhausting, endless firefight that outstays its welcome.

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Polygon
Top Critic
Unscored
Oct 1, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day has an opportunity to step up and take the Xbox franchise crown from atop Master Chief's helmet. It's just about good enough to. Long live Marcus Fenix.

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7 / 10
Oct 1, 2026

For better or worse, E-Day is distinctly Gears, and I had a good time with it, even if the story is disappointing and the open areas are fairly dull.

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3.5 / 5.0
Oct 8, 2026

Returning to the fold with some good and some bad.

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Oct 1, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day brings the series back to its literal roots, delivering all the blood-soaked action and characters that made it a hit. Filled with expansive maps, tons of thrilling enemy encounters, a slew of weapon modifications, and a truly gripping action-movie narrative, it's the must-own Xbox exclusive of 2026.

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Metro GameCentral
Top Critic
7 / 10
Oct 1, 2026

A prequel that looks and feels far too similar to the 20-year-old original and while it’s a vastly more entertaining experience in co-op, it still feels worryingly old-fashioned and overfamiliar.

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9 / 10
Oct 9, 2026

Gears of War excels when it leans into humanity versus monsters, is painted with a brush drenched in blood, and offers vicious, savage gameplay that belies surprisingly rich stories and heartfelt characters.

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8 / 10
Oct 6, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day is a reminder of just how bloody good this series can be. After twenty years, perhaps Gears didn't need another revolution, it just needed another Emergence Day.

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9 / 10
Oct 2, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day features an action-packed co-op campaign, intense PvP multiplayer, and an endlessly replayable Horde Siege mode.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day hits all the right notes for veteran Gears and newcomers alike. Witnessing the fall of Kalona is terrifying, but it's filled with the level of action you'd want from a Gears title.

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Oct 1, 2026

E-Day boasts the best combat in 20 years of Gears games – but everything surrounding it is disappointing

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85 / 100
Oct 9, 2026

The story does an excellent job of bridging a gap between the Gears world before the locust invasion and after.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day is a good entry point.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 5, 2026

The Coalition modernizes movement and cover mechanics without sacrificing the series' hallmarks-such as its sense of weight and brutality-delivering a spectacular campaign, a Versus mode that intelligently revives old-school multiplayer, and Horde Siege, an ambitious and compelling evolution of the classic Horde mode. Add a top-tier technical presentation to the mix, and the score speaks for itself.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7.4 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2026

Gears of War: E-Day has been promoted as the most ambitious game ever made by The Coalition, but to be honest, it feels like a step back from Gears 5 in several ways. The narrative is a lot less memorable, and the side content is forgettable. Its saving grace is that the third-person shooter gameplay is better than ever, thanks to improved movement and fluidity, making combat encounters generally a lot of fun. Still, it's not the kind of masterpiece that sells a console like the original did.

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