Gears of War: E-Day Review Roundup: 87 Metacritic Score

Gears of War: E-Day has launched to a Metacritic score of 87 and an OpenCritic rating of 88, putting the prequel's critical reception among the best the franchise has posted in over a decade. The verdict from the roundup of reviews published ahead of today's launch: the campaign is a genuine return to form, built on sharper combat and a more personal story about Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago, even though almost every outlet reviewed it without access to Versus or Horde Siege multiplayer.

The verdict: what Metacritic and OpenCritic say

As of launch day, Gears of War: E-Day holds a Metascore of 87 on Metacritic, built from 64 critic reviews, with the lead Xbox Series X|S version landing in "Generally Favorable" territory — 93% of those reviews are positive and none are negative. The PC version, reviewed separately by Metacritic, currently sits a few points lower at 83.

Over on OpenCritic, E-Day carries a Top Critic Average in the high 80s and a headline score of 88, earning the site's "Mighty" distinction and placing it in the 98th percentile of all games the outlet tracks. Of the 72 reviews OpenCritic had logged by launch, 92% recommend the game. Both aggregator figures have moved slightly since the first wave of reviews went up around October 1-2 — some early roundups cited 88 on Metacritic and 87 on OpenCritic — which is normal as more outlets file scores and the two trackers settle; the numbers above reflect each aggregator's own page as of launch day.

For context on what those numbers mean: this is comfortably the best-reviewed mainline Gears release since 2019's Gears 5, and a sharp rebound from last year's more divisive Gears of War: Reloaded remaster. It also arrives after a long, unusually transparent development cycle — The Coalition confirmed via Xbox Wire in September that the game had gone gold and detailed its full PC specifications ahead of a September 29 pre-install window, giving players a head start before today's simultaneous worldwide launch.

How E-Day compares to Gears 5 and Gears of War: Reloaded

E-Day doesn't quite match the franchise's high-water mark — Gears of War 3's 91 from 2011 remains the series' critical peak — but it's a clear step up from Gears 5's 84 and a much stronger showing than the remaster Gears of War: Reloaded, which landed at 79 last year after a mixed critical reception. Several reviewers framed E-Day explicitly as a correction after Reloaded's reception, praising The Coalition for leaning back into the claustrophobic, horror-tinged tone of the original trilogy rather than the larger, more open design of Gears 5.

What critics are praising: combat and campaign storytelling

The consensus across the roundup is unusually consistent for a long-running franchise's ninth major entry: the moment-to-moment combat and the character writing are both standout.

Pure Xbox's 10/10 review put it bluntly, writing that "Gears of War: E-Day is the consequence of a studio that irrefutably gets what makes these games so special. The Coalition isn't just delivering a world-class campaign, it's raising the bar for Gears' combat, pushing cinematic storytelling forward."

IGN's Ryan McCaffrey similarly praised the writing, saying E-Day "carries its own satisfying emotional weight, with additional welcomed backstory for Marcus and Dom leading the way — oh, and the action is pretty top-notch, too." His review highlights the Weapon Mod and Tactical Gear systems layered onto the classic Gnasher-and-Lancer combat loop, and calls the game's final act "a tightrope act of giving us a heartfelt prequel with strong characters even when we know how it ends," concluding that E-Day "evolves the enemies, weapons, and combat you'd expect to deliver a Gears of War campaign that stands toe-to-toe with any of the others."

TechRadar's review, which awarded the PC version 4 out of 5 stars, called out "some of the highest visual fidelity in gaming" among its strengths, while praising the competitive multiplayer modes it did get hands-on time with during its slightly later review window — its reviewer noted spending over 25 hours with the game, including several hours in the PvP deathmatch mode, which it called "excellent" even in its simplest form. Other outlets picked up similar threads: TheSixthAxis described E-Day as "a reminder of just how bloody good this series can be," and multiple reviews singled out the new industrial setting of Kalona and the reworked Weapon Mod system as meaningful, if not radical, evolutions of the classic formula.

That combat loop is built around a deliberately mixed arsenal of old and new weapons. IGN's review walks through several of them individually — the bayonet-equipped original Lancer alongside its chainsaw-equipped prototype, the Breechshot "first introduced in the often-forgotten Gears of War: Judgment," and crowd-pleasers like the Torque Bow and Incinerator — all of which can now be customized through a new Weapon Mod and Tactical Gear system that lets players slot in accuracy enhancers, scopes, and squad-support abilities as they explore the ruined city of Kalona.

What critics didn't love

The criticism is comparatively mild, but it's there. TechRadar's pros-and-cons breakdown flagged that the "campaign lulls in the middle" and that the story "feels drawn out overall" despite its strong opening and closing acts. Lower-scoring reviews, including Wccftech's 7.4/10 and GameSpot's 7/10, were more measured about how much the core combat has evolved after two decades, with critics in that camp enjoying their time with the campaign while wishing the series pushed its mechanics further rather than refining them. IGN's Ryan McCaffrey also flagged an inconsistent AI companion issue, noting that downed players were "occasionally" left unrevived by squadmates during his roughly 15-18 hour campaign playthrough — something he hopes gets patched.

The multiplayer asterisk: what hasn't been reviewed

The single biggest caveat on every score above is multiplayer. IGN's review carries an editor's note stating plainly that "this review currently only covers Gears of War: E-Day's story campaign, as that's all reviewers were given access to ahead of release. It will be updated with a finalized score and multiplayer impressions once we spend some time with the Versus and Horde Siege modes." Windows Central's own roundup of the coverage makes the same point: "all these reviews only cover the single-player campaign, as the multiplayer modes were unavailable to test during the review period."

In other words, the 87 Metacritic and 88 OpenCritic scores circulating today are built almost entirely on campaign impressions. Versus deathmatch, Versus Arcade, and the new 12-player Horde Siege mode weren't open to most reviewers before launch, though a handful of outlets with slightly later review windows — TechRadar among them — did get a few hours with competitive multiplayer and came away positive. Expect some outlets, IGN included, to revise or finalize their scores over the coming days and weeks as Versus and Horde Siege go live for everyone.

Individual outlet scores

Scores for individual reviews above are drawn directly from each outlet's published review or from OpenCritic's aggregator, which tracks and verifies critic scores as outlets publish them. As with the aggregate totals, expect some of the pending or early scores to shift slightly as the full review cycle, including multiplayer, wraps up.

Is Gears of War: E-Day on Xbox Game Pass day one?

Yes. Xbox's own listing for the game confirms it's "Available October 6, 2026 on XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, and with Game Pass," and Pure Xbox confirmed that "Gears of War: E-Day will be available for Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers on October 6th, in line with the full release." Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers get the Standard Edition at no extra cost starting today; players who want the Premium or Collector's Edition content, which unlocked a short early-access window ahead of the global launch, still need to buy those editions outright. For a full breakdown of what each Game Pass tier includes, Pandromeda's guide to Xbox Game Pass tiers covers the differences between Ultimate, PC, and the rest of the lineup.

It's worth noting that Game Pass subscribers get the Standard Edition rather than any of the bonus content bundled into the pricier tiers. Pandromeda's earlier coverage of Gears of War: E-Day's release date, early access windows and edition pricing breaks down exactly what the Premium and Collector's Editions add on top of what's included through Game Pass.

What's next for Gears of War: E-Day's reviews

The review picture will keep moving over the next couple of weeks. Outlets like IGN that published campaign-only, score-pending reviews are expected to update with final numbers once Versus and Horde Siege are live and tested on public servers rather than in pre-launch beta builds. Metacritic's and OpenCritic's aggregate scores will likely shift as more reviews — and any multiplayer-inclusive updates to existing ones — come in over the following days. Now that E-Day is out and reviewed, the open questions are how its multiplayer holds up against live competition and whether The Coalition's post-launch content plans keep pace with the strong campaign reception. Readers who want to see how another big October release fared with critics can check Pandromeda's Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve review roundup for comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gears of War: E-Day's Metacritic score? 87 out of 100, based on 64 critic reviews, as of launch day on the Xbox Series X|S version; the PC version sits at 83.

What is Gears of War: E-Day's OpenCritic score? 88, with a "Mighty" rating and 92% of critics recommending the game across 72 reviews.

Is the multiplayer included in these scores? Mostly not. Versus and Horde Siege multiplayer modes were unavailable to most critics ahead of launch, so the scores above are based primarily on the single-player and co-op campaign.

Is Gears of War: E-Day on Xbox Game Pass? Yes, it's available day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass with the Standard Edition.

How does E-Day compare to Gears 5? It scores higher — 87 versus Gears 5's 84 on Metacritic — and higher still than last year's Gears of War: Reloaded remaster, which scored 79.

Written byJonah Reyes

Jonah Reyes leads Pandromeda's gaming coverage: console and handheld hardware, release dates, pricing changes, patch notes and the business moves behind the biggest franchises. He sources every date and price from the platform holders and publishers themselves, and says plainly when something is still only a rumour.

More from Jonah ReyesAll Gaming coverage