Gears of War: E-Day Devs Detail Campaign's Brutal Tone

The Coalition's creative directors have detailed the campaign for Gears of War: E-Day, focusing on its brutal tone and intimate story set during the first hours of the Locust invasion. In an interview on the Official Xbox Podcast from gamescom, Creative Director Matt Searcy and Campaign Design Director Raul Figueroa explained their approach to the prequel's narrative and world.

A New Standard of Brutality

The team aimed to set a new standard for brutality with the game's recent story trailer, which debuted during gamescom's Opening Night Live. Searcy stated the trailer was designed to introduce the new major antagonist, Vraahk, in "the most brutal way possible." Vraahk is a blight commander who was injured in the Lambent War and has come to the surface with the goal of destroying humanity. This singular purpose drives the game's intense violence. Searcy explained that Vraahk embodies the Locust's brutality, a theme extended to his elite troops, the Scorched Legion. These units feature self-mutilation and spikes, ensuring players feel Vraahk's menacing presence even when not directly facing him.

Brotherhood in a Hopeless World

Despite the overwhelming threat, the developers are weaving themes of hope and brotherhood into the narrative. The story follows Bravo Squad but is populated with many other soldiers and civilians within the city of Kalona, each with their own stories. Figueroa emphasized the effort to create a feeling of camaraderie, as characters help each other understand the unprecedented threat. Searcy noted that by focusing the entire game on the single city of Kalona, the team creates an intimate battle within the larger catastrophic event where two-thirds of Sera's population is wiped out. This scale allows them to explore what it means to seek a victory, however small, in the first two days. "We get to play with what does it mean to try to pull out some sort of victory on the first two days, to have some sort of hope," Searcy said.

The City as a Character

A significant focus of development has been making the city of Kalona a character that players connect with and feel for. The city was built from the ground up to feel like a real place. Figueroa stated the goal is for players to understand what it was to live there and to feel the loss as the city falls apart during the campaign. The team has created memorable landmarks and set pieces that change as the invasion progresses. The game is linear overall but provides moments where players have access to several city blocks at a time while en route to their primary objective. In these areas, exploration is rewarded. Players might encounter another squad fending off Locust or a trapped family. Helping them is optional but provides narrative rewards. The campaign also introduces weapon modding for the first time in a Gears campaign, incorporating elements previously seen in the Horde mode. The urban environment, filled with cars, buildings, and debris, is described as the ideal setting for the series' cover-based gameplay.

The Scale of the Invasion

The prequel setting allows the developers to shows the first encounter with every enemy type. The campaign escalates from seeing the first Wretch and Drone to confronting armored Brumaks, illustrating the scale of the underground army's emergence. Searcy described the progression as moving from a "block-by-block monster attack" to the realization of a full-scale war. This journey fundamentally transforms the conflict from an invasion into the war that defines the franchise. The developers also highlighted the narrative impact of showing the world before its destruction, a contrast to the already-devastated setting of the original Gears of War trilogy. Seeing a functioning society under attack is intended to make the subsequent loss more poignant for players.