Outer Space: War Gears

Gears of War: E-Day is a prequel entry that maintains the Gears of War formula, according to a 3-hour preview of its Horde mode.

After about 10 hours with the Gears E-Day multiplayer beta, Xbox's long-time shooter series is making some smart gameplay changes.

Gears of War: E-Day may be rewinding the clock to create a Marcus and Dom prequel that's pure nostalgia bait, but its smart approach to gameplay design makes it much more interesting than that.

It's been a long time since Gears of War creator and original designer Cliff Bleszinski was guiding the franchise, but he eagerly watched the premiere of new footage of the latest game, Gears of War: E-Day, during the Xbox Games Showcase. And like a proud father, Bleszinski shared his enthusiastic response to what he saw. "Loved the struggle with that one Locust, but it's weird how the other ones (not the 'naked' ones) went down so easy," wrote Bleszinski on X. "The tough one didn't seem to be drastically armored different to show that it's a badass. Great rescue and reveal, though." Bleszinsk

Horde and Versus without the chaff.