E-Day is the Perfect Excuse to Make the Locust Tougher

Gears of War: E-Day is set to transport the franchise back to its inciting event, once again placing fans in the shoes of Marcus Phoenix. Announced during the Xbox Showcase in June 2024, the title’s first teaser introduced a younger Marcus and Dom, as they clashed with enemies on E-Day, the day that the Locust Horde emerged and laid siege to Sera. The Locust have been a focal point of the Gears of War series since its first title. Recent entries have seen bigger, bolder, and tougher variations of the Locust join the fight, as the series’ heroes grow more capable of overcoming the Horde. However, Gears of War: E-Day presents a unique opportunity to re-introduce the original Locust in a new light. With the title’s heroes caught in a battle with a then-unknown enemy, Gears of War: E-Day is the perfect excuse to make the Locust Horde tougher than ever.

Gears of War: E-Day follows Marcus, Dom, and potentially other familiar faces on Emergence Day, as they face off against the Locust Horde on Sera. While E-Day is a well-documented event in the original series of titles, Gears of War: E-Day is expected to expand the lore surrounding the series’ inciting event and offer insight into the motivations of its original protagonists. During E-Day’s announcement trailer, Marcus can be seen fighting a Locust soldier in a cramped living space, before being saved by Dom at the very end. However, little else is known about the title, including which Locust enemies will be featured on Emergence Day.

Gears of War: E-Day’s Locusts Need to Up the Ante

Gears of War: E-Day is in a unique position. While fans have spent decades fighting against the Locust Horde, E-Day’s protagonists were unfamiliar with the enemies. Prior to Emergence Day, Locusts remained in the subterranean region of Sera, called the Hollow. However, Emergence Day saw them rise to the surface and lay siege to Sera’s other life forms. When Marcus and Dom come face to face with the Locusts in Gears of War: E-Day, they are facing an overwhelming force that they know little to nothing about. Because of this, the title is in a unique position to up the ante with its Locust combat.

E-Day’s Locusts need to pose a major threat, despite fans’ years of experience fighting them, and there are a few ways that this feat can be accomplished. The title could simply make the enemies far more durable, dealing considerable damage while refusing to go down. E-Day could also make the Locust’s difficulty a major part of the narrative, as its protagonists discover key weaknesses, while growing into the heroes that fans know and love. Either way, Gears of War: E-Day could, and should, make the Locusts tougher than ever before, as the destruction and chaos they wreak over the course of its narrative needs to set the stage for everything to come in the mainline Gears of War series.

Gears of War: E-Day Could Introduce Early Variants of Classic Locust Enemies

One last way that Gears of War: E-Day could introduce a difficulty spike is by introducing new variations of classic Locust enemies. With Emergence Day marking the introduction of the Locust Horde to the surface, it stands to reason that a variety of Locusts, including some that don’t appear in later titles, could emerge alongside those fans are familiar with. Likewise, indigenous creatures from the Hollow or new Locust-engineered creatures could be introduced for the initial assault on Sera, making for new and formidable challenges in its campaign.

While Gears of War: E-Day could up the challenge by introducing new enemies, it would better serve the overall story, and the lore, to make the normal Locust enemies more difficult. E-Day is a well-documented and incredibly important event in the Gears of War timeline, and any additions to Emergence Day, no matter how small, could contradict, or convolute, the series’ canon. It remains to be seen just what Gears of War: E-Day’s retelling of events may entail. Until more details are revealed, fans eagerly anticipate the series’ return to Marcus, Dom, and the original narrative of classic Gears of War.