E-Day IGN Review Explained

As of October 10, 2026, IGN has not published a final scored review for Gears of War: E-Day. Ryan McCaffrey’s current review covers the campaign and delivers a strongly positive verdict. IGN’s campaign-review video gives that campaign a provisional 9/10, while its final assessment of the complete game remains pending until Versus and Horde Siege have been tested on live servers.

The captured IGN game page shows NR, meaning not rated, in its IGN Rating field. That listing does not erase the campaign video’s provisional 9/10. There are also two other numbers to keep separate: the 9 in the written review’s Gears 5 retrospective belongs to that older game, while the captured game page’s 7.8 from 44 ratings is a user rating, not IGN’s editorial score.

For anyone searching for the Gears of War E-Day IGN review, the precise answer is a provisional 9/10 for the campaign, with the final full-game verdict still pending. Do not present the campaign number as a finished assessment of every mode.

IGN’s current E-Day review status

The unfinished full-game rating does not mean the campaign received a negative or indecisive response. McCaffrey’s verdict describes E-Day as a successful return to the emotional and mechanical foundations of Gears. What remains unresolved is the quality of the complete launch package once its multiplayer modes are included.

What IGN praises about the campaign

IGN’s campaign assessment is especially positive about the relationship between Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Because E-Day is a prequel, players already know that both men survive the initial Locust invasion. The reviewer argues that the story still creates meaningful emotional stakes by showing who they were before the original Gears of War and how the disaster changes their lives.

The opening establishes Marcus and Dom at the end of the Pendulum Wars. Marcus is considering another period of military service, while Dom wants to return to Maria and their children. The Locust attack interrupts those plans and places the characters inside a crisis they do not yet understand. According to the review, the campaign uses that uncertainty effectively even though longtime players know the larger history.

The supporting members of Bravo Squad also receive specific praise. Ex-Gear Mags Carter and rookie Gear Lucas Reyes initially meet Marcus and Dom during the opening emergency, then become part of the organized defense. McCaffrey considers them more than disposable additions created to advance the established heroes. The campaign gives both characters meaningful sections and enough attention for their survival and decisions to matter.

Bravo Squad’s four central campaign characters.

That focus supports IGN’s central opinion: E-Day succeeds because it remembers that Gears is not only about large soldiers, violent weapons, and cover-based firefights. Its lasting appeal also comes from personal relationships, loyalty, loss, and the bond between squadmates. The review sees the prequel as an extension of that tradition rather than a story that relies solely on recognition of Marcus and Dom.

How IGN assesses combat and progression

The campaign review describes E-Day’s combat as familiar in its foundations but meaningfully expanded. Returning weapons include the Gnasher, Longshot, Torque Bow, and versions of the Lancer with both bayonet and chainsaw attachments. Newer or less frequently featured choices include the Incinerator, Ripper, and Breechshot. McCaffrey’s assessment emphasizes that these weapons serve different combat purposes instead of feeling like interchangeable tools.

Enemy escalation is another strength in the review. Bravo Squad initially faces recognizable Wretches and Hammerburst-carrying Drones while trying to understand the invasion. More dangerous Locust types appear as the campaign progresses, including heavily armed enemies and creatures with attacks that force the squad out of safe positions. IGN presents this progression as part of both the mechanical challenge and the story’s growing sense of horror.

The Weapon Mod system adds another layer. Yellow Hard Cases contain modifications such as scopes, accuracy improvements, and expanded magazines. Optional objectives can also award weapon upgrades. Each weapon has four mod slots that unlock through progression, allowing loadouts to be adjusted for different encounters. The reviewer says this encouraged him to search for Hard Cases and engage with optional activities, while Supply Caches made it possible to revise weapons and installed mods regularly.

Tactical Gear applies a similar idea to armor and squad support. These abilities recharge after use and can affect nearby teammates. McCaffrey particularly favored the Stim ability because it could heal him and allies within its radius. His broader conclusion is that these systems evolve traditional Gears combat without replacing the recognizable core.

Cover-based combat with a clearly visible weapon and Locust targets.

Boss encounters are also treated positively. IGN characterizes almost all of them as memorable fights that make the expanded weapon selection and loadout choices useful. The review does not suggest that every addition radically changes Gears; its praise comes from how E-Day builds upon established combat while preserving the weight and brutality associated with the series.

The locations and campaign structure in IGN’s assessment

IGN highlights the variety of environments across and around Kalona. The review names the ruined downtown, underground Locust tunnels, an Imulsion refinery, and mountain areas outside the city among its memorable settings. It also distinguishes E-Day’s denser spaces from the more open areas of Gears 5.

McCaffrey considers that density an improvement because optional objectives, hidden objects, and combat opportunities give the larger spaces a clearer purpose. Collectible details provide background about a society emerging from a 79-year war just as the Locust invasion begins. Optional objectives are tied to useful Weapon Mod rewards, connecting exploration to combat progression rather than treating it only as scenery.

The review also approves of the campaign’s pacing. Instead of reserving a long sequence of repeated enemies for the ending, E-Day distributes major tests throughout the story and separates them with quieter scenes. IGN describes the conclusion as satisfying without disclosing its events. That is notable in a prequel where the future survival of Marcus and Dom is already established.

These observations form a campaign verdict rather than a complete review of every mode. They explain the enthusiastic written conclusion and the provisional 9/10 discussed in the campaign video, while the captured full-game listing remains NR.

IGN’s main campaign criticisms

The most substantial gameplay complaint concerns computer-controlled allies during down-but-not-out situations. McCaffrey reports multiple occasions when a nearby squadmate failed to revive him, moved away, or did not reach him before an enemy executed him. He says it was not constant, but it occurred often enough to be a clear frustration.

The review identifies four-player online co-op as an immediate way to avoid depending entirely on friendly AI, while expressing hope that the inconsistent behavior will be patched. That is the reviewer’s suggested workaround and expectation, not confirmation that every revive problem has since been fixed. Solo players should therefore treat it as an observed campaign weakness rather than assume the launch version guarantees reliable AI assistance.

Performance is the other stated concern. McCaffrey encountered occasional but noticeable frame-rate hitches while playing in Performance Mode on Xbox Series X. Based on that experience, he did not recommend the 30fps Quality Mode before further patches. This is a report about the review playthrough on a specific platform and build context; it should not be converted into a claim that every player, platform, or later version performs identically.

Neither criticism overturns IGN’s positive campaign verdict. They do, however, explain why a reader should separate praise for the story, combat, and environments from the practical issues the reviewer encountered.

Why IGN has not assigned a final score

The review is unfinished because pre-release reviewers were given campaign access but could not complete a proper live-server assessment of Versus and Horde Siege. IGN intends to update the article with multiplayer impressions and a finalized score after spending more time with those modes under real launch conditions.

That requirement matters for an online mode. A beta or controlled preview can demonstrate controls, maps, combat systems, and the basic structure of a match, but it cannot fully establish live-server stability, matchmaking behavior, progression, balance, or the way a launch population affects play. The campaign video’s closing discussion explicitly identifies the number as a campaign score. McCaffrey says he expects the nine to remain in the final review, but that expectation is not confirmation that a final multiplayer-inclusive assessment has already been published.

Michael Higham’s separate multiplayer preview does provide useful context, but it is not the missing final review. He reported roughly ten hours with a pre-release multiplayer build and responded positively to the revised controls, greater movement flexibility, and Horde Siege. He considered Horde Siege the most exciting part of the multiplayer package he played. He also made clear that beta progression, unlocks, and rewards were not final at that stage.

A large-scale Horde Siege fight with several players defending the city.

The preview and campaign review therefore answer different questions. The preview describes promising multiplayer systems from pre-release play. The campaign review evaluates the finished story in depth and its video supplies a provisional 9/10. Neither supplies the completed live multiplayer assessment IGN says it needs before finalizing the review of the whole game.

Two different scores of 9: E-Day campaign and Gears 5

One easily misread number appears under a section titled What I said about Gears 5 (2019). That box reproduces McCaffrey’s earlier assessment of Gears 5 and labels that older game with a score of 9. It is included to show the reviewer’s history with the series and provide context for his E-Day judgment.

Three details identify it as an older score:

• The heading explicitly names Gears 5 and the year 2019.
• The accompanying text discusses Gears 5’s campaign and its Versus, Arcade, Horde, and Escape modes.
• The byline information dates the quoted assessment to September 13, 2019.

The written E-Day campaign verdict appears later without a final full-game rating. Separately, IGN’s E-Day campaign-review video discusses a provisional nine and says the score is for the campaign specifically. Both facts can be true: the retrospective box is a Gears 5 score, and E-Day also has its own provisional campaign 9/10. Report the latter with its campaign-only scope rather than deriving it from the older retrospective or calling it a finalized full-game score.

What the provisional verdict means for players

For campaign-focused players, IGN’s assessment is already clear enough to be useful. It views E-Day as a strong Gears campaign with an emotionally effective Marcus-and-Dom story, worthwhile supporting characters, varied weapons, purposeful customization, memorable encounters, and dense environments. Its principal reservations are unreliable friendly-AI revives and performance hitches observed during the review playthrough.

For players mainly interested in Versus or Horde Siege, the current article is not a finished buying verdict. IGN’s earlier multiplayer preview was optimistic, particularly about Horde Siege and the redesigned controls, but the publication deliberately separated those impressions from its final scored review. Waiting for the promised update is the only way to get IGN’s complete judgment of the multiplayer package.

For anyone comparing review numbers, use IGN’s provisional E-Day campaign 9/10 and label the scope clearly. Do not substitute the Gears 5 retrospective score, the game-page user rating, or an aggregation score from another publication. Also do not treat McCaffrey’s expectation that the nine will remain as proof of a published final review. Those figures and statements answer different questions.

The current IGN verdict in one sentence

IGN’s campaign-review video gives Gears of War: E-Day’s campaign a provisional 9/10, praising a heartfelt, mechanically refined prequel, while the final full-game score remains pending until Versus and Horde Siege receive a proper live-server review.