The upcoming launch ofGears of War: E-Dayhas set some pretty high expectations for fans of the longstanding franchise. After so many years of relative silence, the Microsoft IP is taking things back to the roots of the series with an ambitious prequel to the mainline story that players know and love. Of course, another massiveGearstitle is set to release beforeE-Day, with theGears of War: Reloadedremaster launching on August 26.
Gears of War: E-Dayhas largely drawn so much excitement thanks to its nature as a prequel, taking things back long before any other title that the franchise has seen. Not only willE-Dayoffer a more raw and vulnerable glimpse at iconic franchise characters like Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, but it will also shine a spotlight on the series' most important event.E-Daywill finally put humanity’s devastating losses on Emergence Day on screens, and PlayStation’sHorizonfranchise features a similar overarching narrative that could do well with its own cataclysmic prequel.
Gears of War and Horizon Both Feature Massive Humanity-Threatening Events
The entireGears of Warfranchisetakes place after humanity’s bloody war against the Locust hordes. In the series, humanity lives on an Earth-like planet known as Sera, with a subterranean race of genetically altered humans bursting their way through to the surface. This catastrophic event was known as Emergence Day, with all major Sera cities being attacked simultaneously, leading to millions of deaths and widespread destruction.
The firstGears of Wargame takes place a staggering 14 years after the events of E-Day, meaning humanity and the COG forces are hardened against the nature of the Locust and the damage done to Sera. The upcomingE-Daywill crucially peak behind this steely curtain, giving huge amounts of context to what is arguably the most fateful and important event to occur.
Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago will both be 22 years old in the events ofE-Day, giving an insight into just how unique their portrayals may be compared to what fans have seen before.
The rich lore ofGears of War, even beyond the games themselves, is deserving of such an entry. Many other franchises employ the same narrative premise of a catastrophic event happening years before the mainline story. PlayStation’sHorizonfranchise fits this bill quite well, with much of humanity being wiped out by Faro Plague around1000 years before the events ofHorizon Zero Dawn. Both of these franchises' apocalyptic events were caused by human experimentation, which is another example of the interesting overlap between both series.
Character Callbacks Could Still Appear in a Horizon Prequel While Maintaining a Lot of Originality
Of course,Gears of War: E-Dayhas the benefit of being able to feature a range of fan-favorite characters as part of its origin story, something that is not as feasible in aHorizongame that focuses on the beginnings of the Faro Plague. This kind ofHorizonprequel could feature Dr. Elisebet Sobeck, however, and give more of a direct view of the origins of the Zero Dawn program and the sacrifices that were necessary for its completion.
While it’s expected thatGears of War: E-Daymay be a return to basicsin many ways, aHorizonprequel game could redefine itself through completely distinct and unique gameplay compared to its predecessors.
Some players argue thatForbidden Westwas too similar toZero Dawnin terms of its gameplay loop, and a prequel that takes things back 1000 years to the fall of humanity would surely avoid repeating these criticisms. The excitement surroundingE-Dayspeaks for itself, and while theGearsfranchise has had more time to flesh out a prequel,Horizon’s narrative backstory is rich enough to warrant its own fascinating origin spin-off somewhere down the line.
