Summary
The Coalition’s upcoming mainline entry in theGears of Warseries,Gears of War: E-Day, will bring players back to the beginning of the Locust War. ThroughoutE-Day’s announcement trailer, teases are woven in to set up themes and events players will encounter in the game, such as Gears getting acclimated to fighting the Locust drones.
By the end of the trailer, Marcus is almost swallowed up by an Emergence Hole before being saved by Dom as they overlook a city being consumed by E-Holes and attacked by Locust forces. While this city has not been identified, it may be the city of Jacinto, a location familiar toGears of War 2fans that could play a pivotal role inGears of War: E-Day.
Gears of War: E-Day, COG Cities, and Jacinto
When the Locust first attacked the surface, all human organizations were ill-prepared for a military attack coming from underground.Queen Myrrah and Locust High General Raamspecifically targeted the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) and remnant Union of Independent Republics (UIR) nations and cities to begin their culling of the human race. It’s estimated that 25% of all humans on Sera were killed onE-Day. However, some cities were protected by natural elements, such as island-based cities or cities built on top of thick bedrock.
Jacinto was one such city spared by its natural defense of bedrock in the Jacinto Plateau. It was located in the nation of Tyrus and served as a COG stronghold for most of the Locust War. Despite these natural defenses, many cities in Tyrus and the plateau were attacked onE-Day,including the former COG capital city of Ephyra. A portion of Ephyra’s Locust invasion can be seen inthe prologue ofGears of War 4,with the player defending the House of Sovereigns alongside Corporal Minh Young Kim.
The Fall of Jacinto
14 years afterE-Day, Jacinto became the new COG capital following the fall of Ephyra.InGears of War 2, the Locust planned to use a giant riftwormto sink the city into the nearby sea to destroy both the COG and Imulsion-infected Lambent in the Locust Hollow. Marcus and Delta Squad managed to evacuate most of Jacinto’s forces and sink the city before the Locust could evacuate the Hollow. This event crippled both the COG and the Locust military.
Jacinto’s Potential Roles in Gears of War: E-Day
While Jacinto was largely unscathed from the Locust invasion onE-Day, The Coalition could still havea few E-Holes appear on the edge of Jacinto inGears of War: E-Day. With the game’s emphasis on horror and the surprise attack of the Locust, even a few Locust squads could cause chaos in the city inE-Day. This small Locust force may serve as a simple scouting party for Raam and could illustrate how destructive even a small Locust force can be to ill-prepared Gears. If portions of Locust lore or perspectives are shown inE-Day, having an attack on Jacinto could set up Queen Myrrah’s plan to tame the giant riftworm and eventually destroy Jacinto and other cities.
While Jacinto City first appears in 2008’sGears of War 2, Dom actually breaks Marcus out of Jacinto Maximum Security Prison at the beginning of 2006’sGears of War 1.
If the city shown in the trailer isn’t Jacinto, the city could still play a pivotal role in the game. Marcus and Dom could begin the game in Jacinto and watch news reports of the Locust invasions across Sera in the city. Perhaps the pair could encounter some civilians claiming that the Locust attacks are fake or that they’re a scheme made up by UIR remnants before they’re deployed to another city to address the Locust invasions. This could provide players with some beneficial world-building forthe state of the COG after the Pendulum Wars. It could further contrast the peaceful lifestyle of civilians in Jacinto to the horrors inflicted on other cities in Tyrus and the Jacinto Plateau inGears of War: E-Day.
Gears of War: E-Day
WHERE TO PLAY
The Story of E-DayFourteen years before Gears of War, war heroes Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago return home to face a new nightmare: the Locust Horde. These subterranean monsters, grotesque and relentless, erupt from below, laying siege on humanity itself. New FoundationsBuilt from the ground up with Unreal Engine 5, Gears of War: E-Day delivers unprecedented graphical fidelity.
