2026’s slew of summer time sport showcases is nearly over, and whereas they’ve offered a reasonably sturdy gamut of choices, one flavour has felt distinguished this yr: nostalgia. A brand new Resident Evil that’s a remake of an previous Dreamcast sport. A brand new God of Battle that goals to meld collectively the sequence’ previous (2018) and older (2005) approaches. A brand new Virtua Fighter, the primary mainline addition to the sequence in 20 years. A brand new Loopy Taxi, of all issues.
Xbox’s showcase, or not less than its opening third, relied on nostalgia extra closely than most. A translucent inexperienced Collection X console, identical to that 2004 particular version Xbox. A remake of 2001’s Halo: Fight Developed, now even shinier than its shiny remaster. Playground’s Fable reboot, that includes the villain from the 2004 authentic. And Gears of Battle, rewinding time to place Marcus and Dom again on the frontlines collectively for the primary time since 2011.
There’s little query as to why Xbox is retreating to its glory days, nevertheless it’s additionally apparent why the previous has taken such a agency grip of triple-A growth on the whole. The promised huge bucks way forward for dwell service, which more and more dominated the state of play for the very best a part of a decade, is collapsing beneath the complete trade. The following era of gamers appear to solely be serious about messing round in user-created content material machines like Roblox and Fortnite – they couldn’t care much less about carefully-constructed degree design, character growth, or impactful selections.
And so it’s the old-school console viewers, now completely sporting rose-tinted glasses after enduring nearly a whole console cycle obsessive about regardless of the subsequent “perpetually sport” can be, who’re the present liferaft for gaming’s most conventional sector. And, like all of the dads who rushed to the cinema for the primary time in 25 years to see High Gun: Maverick, we’ll all fall prey to the nostalgia honey entice.
And after I say “we”, that very a lot consists of myself. I (and doubtless you, primarily based on the stuff IGN readers appear to flock to) need video games that transport us to completely different worlds. Video games that spin a unbelievable story with sensible characters, instructed via compelling and artistic gameplay. It’s why so many people are right here, and it has been the bedrock of triple-A gaming for generations. It by no means actually went away – most of what I play each single yr falls into that class – however the endless risk of unsustainable budgets, dwindling gross sales, and the “demise of single-player”, regardless of how reliable, has more and more made these items really feel like they’re on the brink. As if we’re in peril of shedding them. So no surprise we’re nostalgic.
It’s simple to sneer at gaming’s nostalgia entice, and lots of will. There’s positively house to critique the way it arrests our medium’s growth. However I strategy each sport within the hope that it’s going to excite me, and nostalgia can nonetheless do this, offered it’s wielded appropriately. As an illustration, I am keen on Halo, however can’t say a remake of Fight Developed was ever on my want listing. Fable, in the meantime, feels much more thrilling; a sport that takes the concepts that fuelled a beloved authentic, however reinvents them with assistance from an entire new workforce with a brand new, extra trendy perspective – a Fable in a post-Witcher world.
However of all of the throwbacks, it’s Gears of Battle: E-Day that captivated me essentially the most this yr, which has taken me by full shock.
Feels Like Gears, Performs Like New
When E-Day was first introduced in 2024, I wasn’t wholly satisfied. Whereas I felt that The Coalition’s takeover of Gears following authentic developer Epic Video games’ tenure had shifted it into flawed territory, I hoped that the studio would have course corrected for the subsequent chapter of Kait’s currently-hanging-from-a-cliff story. As a substitute, it was going backwards. E-Day’s first gameplay trailer, proven because the opening strike of this yr’s showcase, additionally left me unenthused and disillusioned. Not solely was this prequel rewinding time in-universe, it additionally gave the impression to be rewinding its design, again to an period of cramped, confined hall capturing. Sure, Gears 5’s open world is tough, nevertheless it not less than pushed for one thing new and bold. Was The Coalition going to go away that each one behind?
Sure. But additionally no. The 27-minute E-Day Direct that adopted Xbox’s showcase turned my disappointment into renewed pleasure. Positive, the open world is gone, however this prequel isn’t a retread beholden to a two-generation-old design system. Throughout the direct, The Coalition’s studio inventive director, Matt Searcy, defined that the objective was to create one thing that “looks like Gears, however performs like new” – the thought of a sport that feels nostalgic regardless of being pushed by model new concepts.
“We took benefit of [Unreal Engine 5] to carry Gears on top of things with the place trendy gaming is, with out shedding what makes it genuine,” Searcy instructed Xbox Wire in a brand new interview. “You’re enjoying a sweaty Gears sport — nevertheless it’s solely constructed from scratch to seize the emotional core of these older video games.”
Whereas the proof will finally be within the enjoying, there have been a number of issues within the Direct to point that there’s real ambition underpinning E-Day. The sport has been constructed on what the devs time period an “empty arduous drive” – all the pieces has been constructed from scratch, and so nothing is shackled to something from the previous for both legacy or growth pipeline sake. Every little thing from cowl to reloading to headshots to navigation has been crafted for the way it ought to really feel in 2026, not for the way it was once. As an illustration, now you can slide into or underneath cowl, mantle obstacles greater than your head, leap throughout chasms and drop down from rooftops – the type of motion that after would have been thought-about unlawful for the hulking human tanks of the COG.
Nevertheless it’s E-Day’s strategy to its world, the sprawling metropolis of Kalona, that has me essentially the most . Whereas I disliked Gears 5’s barren open world, I hoped that The Coalition would construct on its foundations to make it work. The studio has not executed that. As a substitute, it’s executed one thing that, not less than on paper, appears significantly better. Like all the pieces else in its “empty arduous drive” strategy, it’s scrapped what got here earlier than and reconsidered what authentic Gears might be in 2026.
“We’re not an open-world sport, however this [Unreal Engine 5] expertise has allowed us to construct a whole metropolis that feels alive,” Searcy instructed Xbox Wire. “In earlier video games, you see linear ranges which are typically disconnected — you load from one to a different, they’ve completely different vistas, and don’t really feel tremendous cohesive. After we take a look at Kalona within the [UE5] editor, we will actually carry up the digicam and take a look at this whole, built-in metropolis.”
E-Day is a linear sport set in a non-linear metropolis. This could hopefully imply that, as we work via the marketing campaign, Kalona’s districts will really feel like precise metropolis streets quite than ranges that funnel us from one encounter to the subsequent. The Direct defined that, whereas there will probably be linear ranges, they’ll lead us into open districts the place we’ll have the liberty to discover. The slides and jumps that create the brand new, extra kinetic fight system are repurposed right here to navigate via a extra realistically-scaled metropolis neighborhood. At a time once we’ve change into so accustomed to the liberty of open-world video games however nearly sick-to-death of their prevalence, this looks like a really perfect reinvention of Gears’ marketing campaign construction.
That elevated house opens up extra fascinating fight alternatives. The Direct confirmed us how one can strategy an encounter head-on, basic Gears type, or search out a flanking route because of optionally available entrances right into a constructing, and even climb up excessive to a balcony and snipe from afar. It’s not precisely the “play the way you need” sandbox of one thing like Far Cry, nevertheless it’s a widening of the Gears expertise solely unlocked via a big rethink of Gears’ playspaces.
The results of all that is one thing that looks like a 2026 follow-up to the unique Gears of Battle, quite than the sequence at massive – type of how all these new Alien and Terminator initiatives attempt to be a sequel to the great originals and never the unhealthy stuff that got here after. These initiatives have had combined outcomes, however I feel the strategy may work right here. I feel that is good nostalgia, the sort that revisits beloved concepts with out being beholden to them.
Loads of gamers now discuss how they only need Xbox 360 video games with higher graphics, and whereas I perceive the sentiment, that’s not what I need. I need new video games, constructed with new tech, crafted with new concepts, which have the coronary heart and soul of Xbox 360 video games. Or, as Searcy places it, a sport that “looks like Gears however performs like new — a return to the emotions we had once we performed the unique video games, now reimagined, advanced, and enhanced with the ability of a brand new engine.”
And so I’ve acquired an excellent feeling that Gears of Battle: E-Day could have the juice. And after I say “juice”, I imply gallons and gallons of gloopy crimson stuff erupting from chainsaw wounds.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s Government Editor of Options.