E-Day is a prequel starring Marcus Fenix and a returning Dominic Santiago that aims to bring back the horror – WGB
Xbox’s big showcase event is in the can and it was a strong show for the struggling brand. The highlight for me is an easy choice: Gears of War is back, baby!
But it isn’t back in the way we probably all expected. Most of us, myself included, were all expecting to see either the long-rumoured remastering of the original three games, or Gears 6. Hell, even one of the actors from Gears 5 seemed to be hinting at a sequel getting shown off at the Xbox Games Showcase.
We didn’t get either of those things. Gears of War: E-Day was instead announced by The Coalition, not only bringing back ‘of War’ but also bringing back two very familiar faces: Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, who you might remember died during the events of Gears of War 3 all those years ago in a heart-rending scene.
As the name suggests, E-Day is a prequel that takes place some fifteen years before the original game, telling the story of Emergence Day when the Locus horde first appeared. The trailer depicts Marcus Fenix getting his ass handed to him by a Locus Drone before Dom steps in to save him, all while the haunting melody of Mad World plays in the background.
A prequel is a peculiar move though, when Gears 5 ended on a cliffhanger. So what’s the deal? In a lengthy post on the Xbox Wire, the Coalition explains that while figuring out how to keep working during the pandemic, they took some time to reflect, to figure out what they and the fans were passionate about.
“We realized that a lot of the words we use to describe the franchise were what our fans also use, phrases like brotherhood, brutality, pathos, awe” said Searcy, the Creative Director of The Coalition. “Why E-Day? That’s the moment it all comes together. It’s the heart of the Gears universe. Everything that happens is shaped by this day.”
However, the post does also address the future, saying that a new Gears is still very much coming.
“We’re super proud about Gears 4 and Gears 5 and the stories that were told. We’re not retreating from that storyline in any way. But in [this] moment, we had an opportunity to write our next step, and this one just felt too good to miss.” said Brand Director Nicole Fawcette
One key point mentioned in the post addresses something I’ve been saying for years: the series needs to return to its horror tone of the first game, painting the Locus as monsters. The Xbox Wire states that The Coalition are aiming to present the Locus as “living nightmares”.
Studio Art Director Aryan Hanbeck says that since players are going to be seeing the Locus through the eyes of characters encountering them for the first time, they wanted to redesign the Locus Drone which had become mere cannon fodder.
“We transformed the drone into something fearsome, physically intimidating, and utterly brutal,” Hanbeck said.
Above all else, it’s the return of Dom that feels like the most important part of the trailer. At this stage, Marcus and Dom aren’t the brothers we know and love. Dom has just lost his brother Carlos, who died on the battlefield fighting side-by-side with Marcus Fenix
“We’re telling the origin story of Marcus and Dom and their bond… this is the bond that defines the franchise,” Searcy said. “They’re not the characters we know from Gears 1 to 3. They don’t have 10 years of fighting the Locust between them. When the game opens, there’s supposed to be peace on Sera, and they’re trying to figure out life without this person they both loved.”
No release date was even hinted at, so it’s unclear how long we’ll have to wait. But as a Gears fanatic, I’m hyped to hell for this one. I can’t freaking wait.
