How to Play Gears of War: E-Day: Beginner Guide

Your first hour, in order

This sequence follows how the game itself introduces things, using the training modes The Coalition described in its multiplayer overview.

1. Finish Boot Camp. It teaches the new controls and unlocks the FNG achievement.
2. Open Combat Training and try each pre-made control scheme. It runs on a multiplayer map, lets you spawn short Locust encounters and supports four-player co-op.
3. Start the campaign. Alone, you control Marcus while the AI runs Dom, Mags and Lucas; your squadmates will come to revive you when you are downed.
4. Tap LB for Tac-Com whenever you lose track of the squad or hear the collectible sound cue.
5. From Act 2, stop at every Supply Cache. They refill ammo, let you change loadout and are the only place to equip weapon mods.

Moves that are new to the series

On the default layout, A handles cover, clicking the left stick sprints and Y jumps or vaults.

Cover and reload habits that keep you alive

You can only cancel a move into cover within about 1.5 metres of the object, so the rapid wall-bouncing from earlier games no longer works. Movement carries momentum: stopping is quick, reversing direction takes a beat, and that beat is when you get shot.

The active reload bar sits just below the reticle unless you move it back to the top-right corner in settings. A perfect reload speeds up your next magazine; a mistimed one jams the weapon. The Gnasher and Breechshot load one round at a time, so you can fire again after a shell or two instead of waiting for a full reload.

• When you are down but not out, a counter shows how many downs you have left before the next one kills you outright.
• Projectiles have travel time, so lead moving targets beyond a weapon’s comfortable range.
• Smoke blocks sightlines for both players and AI. Use it to move, not to hide.

What the Locust do differently

Drones no longer stand still. In the official campaign preview they dove for cover, retreated, flanked, and in one case threw smoke and walked through it to attack at close range. The developers say enemies can climb the same vehicles and ledges you can.

Armored Wretches can catch you in a scream that limits your actions. Boomers soak up far more damage but can be executed with the Lancer chainsaw once their health is low, which makes a coordinated push faster than a long firefight.

Ready for a harder difficulty?

Several reviewers found Normal demanding when playing alone. Before moving up, check that these are routine.

• You hit perfect active reloads more often than you miss them.
• You slide into cover instead of sprinting across open ground.
• You visit Supply Caches and actually equip the mods you find.
• You listen for grenade beeps and roll away from them.
• You revive squadmates quickly, and they revive you.

Quick questions