I am crying, screaming, and throwing up because The Coalition has done what no one expected – they’re running Gears of War back to the good(?) ol’ days on Xbox. No, I’m not talking about the heavily rumored Gears Collection, the studio’s literally making a Marcus and Dom-fronted prequel: Gears of War E-Day. Sorry, Gears 6 wanters, but the Xbox Games Showcase has sent us into demon time. The only problem? There’s not even a whiff of a release window.
Right at the end of the event, Xbox president Sarah Bond announced she had one more treat in store before they’d sling the proceedings over to the Black Ops 6 showcase. As soon as that blood-red ‘world premiere’ screen flashed up, I knew it was Gears of War. What I, and I’m sure everyone else, never anticipated after months of rumors and reports surrounding both Gears 6 and a possible Gears of War Collection for the iconic multiplayer game series was a bonafide prequel. We’ve been had, and I’m definitely not complaining.
Finally, after nearly two decades, we’re going to get to experience exactly what happened on the fateful day the Locust’s unprecedented sub-terranean assault on the people of Sera began. During the trailer for the Xbox exclusive, we can see a considerably younger Marcus struggling to take down a single Drone. After successfully blowing its brains out, his brief respite is rudely interrupted by an emergence hole opening up below him – shit.
As Marcus is about to fall, a hand reaches down to grab him. A piano instrumental of ‘Mad World’ – the iconic trailer track for the original Gears of War – begins to play, the camera pans up, and we see Dom. (Sobs). As the pair survey the city from the destroyed building, we catch a glimpse of a load of E-Holes turning the planet into a block of swiss cheese, as well as a complement of Corpsers scuttling up the local architecture.
I’m gonna say it: we’re so fucking back. Yes, we were most likely going to see Gears 6 announced today – we predicted as much – and I’m sure it would’ve also been incredibly hype seeing as it’s been a whole five years since Gears 5 dropped. And yes, the rumored Gears Collection was at the top of my showcase wishlist, but this is so beyond my expectations and I’m absolutely gassed.
This shock announcement could also lend credence to the materialization of a Gears Collection – it’d be rude to have an Unreal Engine 5-powered prequel without the sauce to follow it up – but I’m still collating my thoughts on what could be in store for some of the best Xbox games for now. Be sure to drop our Google News feed a follow for when those go live later this week.