Gears of War: E-Day enters early access without legacy favourites

Gears of War: E-Day is playable in early access, but without several favourites from the series' past.

Early access, released on 1 October, is open to buyers of the Premium Edition, Premium Upgrade Edition or Collector's Edition. The general release follows on 6 October. The first Season, a timed block of content and challenges, started with early access and runs for eight weeks to 1 December Eurogamer.

Some favourites did not make it. Developer The Coalition said Meat Shields, Chainsaw Duels, select weapons from earlier games, and Private Lobbies and leaderboards are not included at launch.

For newcomers, Meat Shields means grabbing an enemy and using them as cover. Chainsaw Duels are face-offs with the chainsaw blades fitted to Lancer assault rifles IGN. Private Lobbies are player-run match rooms, separate from public matchmaking.

The studio said it rebuilt the game's core systems from scratch. It described starting with an empty hard drive to create a more unified feel across Campaign, PvE and PvP Eurogamer. PvE means player-versus-environment, cooperative play against computer-controlled enemies. PvP means player-versus-player. The team said that rebuild made it impossible to include every legacy feature for launch, and that it is working to deliver a stable launch.

Those features are not gone for good. The Coalition said they are “not gone from the franchise” and could arrive after launch or in its next title, according to a post titled “Emergence Begins – Tomorrow” on the official Gears of War website The Coalition.

What is confirmed next is ranked play. Ranked modes for PvP, the competitive playlists that sort players by skill, arrive on 13 October.

Around the launch, Xbox has lined up two tie-ins. With Prince St. Pizza it has launched “The Emergence Pie”, and with Liquid Death it is offering a collaboration that unlocks a Legendary Pose and other items.

The launch also follows a departure at the studio. Story director Juan Vaca left The Coalition in its most recent round of layoffs.

For fans, this means a choice. Early players get in first and join the opening Season, but without some of the chaotic extras that defined older nights on the couch.