Gears of War: E-Day is a prequel told through the eyes of Marcus Fenix

Microsoft has announced the next mainline entry in the Gears of War series.

“Gears of War: E-Day is an origin story that depicts the horror of Locust invasion on Emergence Day through the eyes of Marcus Fenix,” according to Xbox Wire.

It follows younger versions of the series’ original protagonists, Fenix and Dom Santiago, as they battle against the invading forces.

Featuring a new instrumental version of ‘Mad World’, the track featured in the original Gears of War’s iconic 2006 commercial, the reveal trailer above was created by The Coalition in collaboration with Blur Studio using in-game assets in Unreal Engine 5, Microsoft said.

“It’s going to feel like a new Gears game, because that’s what it is,” creative director Matt Searcy told the site.

“It’s us revisiting the tone and the feeling of what makes Gears great, but we’re tapping into new techniques, new processes, and new technology that’s going to make the gameplay feel better than ever. It’s going to be awesome, a game that feels both truly new, and authentically Gears.” 

Kate Rayner, studio technical director at The Coalition, claimed the game will offer an “unrivalled visual experience”.

“With the advancements in Unreal Engine 5, the leap in technical capabilities is tremendous,” she said. “This includes over 100 times more environment and character details than Gears 5, hardware raytraced lighting, reflections and shadows, next generation destruction and gore, and cutting-edge animation technology, to name just a few of the countless improvements that will make Gears of War: E-Day an unrivalled visual experience.

“Our ambition is to, once again, set a new standard in technical excellence,” Rayner adds. “We have fully modernized gears from the ground up, infusing the DNA of Gears with the full capabilities of modern gaming technology. Every character, environment, and animation in ‘Gears of War: E-Day‘ has been completely rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, allowing us to portray the Gears universe with unprecedented detail and fidelity.”