Gears of War: E-Day Horde Siege and Versus Multiplayer Hands-On Preview

GameRant was recently invited to go hands-on with Gears of War: E-Day‘s new Horde Siege mode and try the game’s take on the series’ signature PvP experience. Three days of playing E-Day left me feeling incredibly optimistic about the game and its potential to bring Gears of War back to its glory days.

Horde Siege is an Exciting Spin on a Classic

Most of my time with Gears of War: E-Day was spent playing the revamped Horde mode, Horde Siege. Instead of four players working together to fight off endless waves of enemies, Gears of War: E-Day‘s Horde Siege shakes things up by expanding the number of players in any given match to 12, spread across three teams all playing on the same map simultaneously.

There was only one map available in my preview sessions, but there will be three at launch. The available map looked great, with beautiful fall foliage standing in stark contrast to the war-ravaged city. I never got bored playing on it, though it will definitely be nice to have some variety come launch.

At the start of a Gears of War: E-Day Horde Siege session, players choose between four different classes. Assault is the classic, all-around class, while Breacher is more about up-close offensive plays. Marksman and Medic classes are self-explanatory. I dabbled in all four classes but found the Breacher class to be the most fun. Each class has a special ability they can activate, and the Breacher class’s instant healing allowed me to play far more aggressively, pushing up on enemies that would have typically kept me pinned down and rushing out into the open to save fallen teammates.

The E-Day Horde Siege classes were capped at level 10 for the preview, but level 30 will be the cap at launch. Each class can be upgraded, and loadouts can be customized, but I wasn’t able to get a sense of how much impact those systems will have in the full game. Instead, the focus was entirely on the core gameplay experience in Horde Siege, which I’m happy to report is as exhilarating and action-packed as the best modes in previous Gears of War games.

There are two types of modes available: Blitz, which has shorter objectives, and Siege, which has longer objectives. In both, players are tasked with core objectives like defending a machine called a R.I.G., or repairing said machine by finding its various parts strewn across the map. On their way to the main objective, players have the opportunity to participate in side missions that, if completed, yield extra perks that can make the latter stages of the match a little easier.

Playing with randoms that weren’t exactly operating as a team led to some frustrations in E-Day, but when a team clicks, it’s easy to see the potential of Horde Siege. When I’m able to play with a full group of my friends on launch day, or during the Gears of War: E-Day beta tests, I think I’ll have even more fun with it, but even with randoms, there’s plenty of excitement to be had.

Most of my sessions had players making a beeline for the main objective and ignoring the side missions, which consist of things like finding items or staying alive in a specific area for a certain amount of time. The main objective plays out like a typical Horde match, where players hunker down at one position, defend their R.I.G., and are encouraged to spend points to refill ammo, purchase new weapons, or build turrets.

Combat is classic Gears of War, built entirely around cover-based shooting. Players have the usual arsenal to play with, along with new weapons like a heavy gun that fires a hook through enemies and a shotgun that shoots acid. Once players have successfully leveraged their tools of destruction to complete their main objective, the next step is exfiltrating, which is one of the most chaotic pieces of the Horde Siege puzzle.

For the most part, I rarely encountered the other two teams in my Horde Siege sessions, with the exception being the exfil sequence. Exfiltration takes place in a large, mostly open area, where there are even more enemies to contend with as all the teams are trying to extract at the same time. Players are encouraged to work with each other to make things a little easier. How much that will happen in live sessions is hard to say, but the chaos is fun regardless.

I came away impressed with Horde Siege and excited to play more. Most of my time will likely still be spent in standard Horde when E-Day launches, but Horde Siege is still a compelling mode that may become even more enticing when I have access to everything the progression has to offer and can increase the difficulty level for more focused sessions with my friends.

E-Day Movement Changes Make All the Difference in PvP

Gears of War: E-Day‘s biggest change to the status quo is how it handles movement. At its core, E-Day is still about charging to cover and rolling around to avoid enemy fire, but there are many more options as well. Gears of War: E-Day‘s Versus experience is still unmistakably Gears of War, but the movement changes add an interesting new dynamic to the proceedings. Players can now climb on top of objects, jump, and slide, opening the door for many unique opportunities that weren’t possible in previous entries.

One of my most exciting moments came when I slid under a small gap in a wall, immediately exploded an enemy with my shotgun, and then ran over to his partner in cover and blew him up too, before rounding the corner and picking up my downed teammate. The over-the-top gore and intense one-hit-kill encounters that are a trademark of the series’ PvP are in full force in E-Day, and lead to all kinds of adrenaline-fueled fights and watercooler moments.

That being said, I don’t think E-Day‘s multiplayer is going to convert any detractors. Hardcore Gears of War players still have a significant advantage with their wall-bouncing trickery, and as a more casual Gears Versus player, it can still sometimes feel a little overwhelming. Still, it’s fun regardless, and should be even better in a full squad of friends.

Gears of War: E-Day Has All the Potential in the World

After three days of playing Gears of War: E-Day‘s Versus and Horde Siege, I can confidently say that the game is now one of my most-anticipated of the year. I noticed some rough edges here and there that will almost certainly be polished out by the time E-Day releases on October 6, if not by the open beta when it starts on August 6. Based on what I’ve played, The Coalition has nailed Horde and Versus in Gears of War: E-Day, and I do not doubt that the same will hold true for the campaign’s Marcus and Dom-led prequel story as well.

Systems

Released

October 6, 2026

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios