One of Xbox's biggest franchises returns tomorrow. Gears of War: E-Day officially launches on October 6 for Xbox Series X|S and PC, and will be available from day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

But The Coalition didn't simply want to bring back the classic formula. For E-Day, the studio rebuilt its gameplay system from scratch.

A RETURN TO THE ORIGINS

Gears of War: E-Day takes us to Emergence Day, the moment the Locust emerge and change the world of Sera forever.

The story once again puts Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago at the center, but this time at a much earlier point in their lives. The campaign aims to show the origins of some of the events that would later define the franchise.

And the studio is going all in on combat. The Coalition says it rebuilt the gameplay foundations to deliver a more consistent experience across campaign, PvE, and PvP.

SOME MECHANICS TEMPORARILY GONE

Here's the surprise: E-Day won't include some classic mechanics at launch, including human shields and chainsaw duels with the Lancer.

Certain weapons, private lobbies, and leaderboards will also be missing.

The studio explained that development began practically from scratch, so it had to prioritize which systems could make it into the launch version.

That said, The Coalition made it clear that these features haven't disappeared from the franchise and could return after launch or in future games.

A MORE PRECISE GNASHER

One of the new features involves the Gnasher. The Coalition created a hybrid system that analyzes shots from both the camera and the barrel to determine which hit best matches what the player expected to achieve.

In addition, the first season will last eight weeks, with Halloween, Gears' 20th anniversary, and Thanksgibbing events. Ranked modes will arrive on October 13.

After years of waiting, Gears of War: E-Day finally launches tomorrow.