Scratch one grub! Gears of War: E-Day has emerged onto Xbox and PC, taking gamers back to the day the Locust invasion started. And you know what that means: we're updating our guide to the Gears of War games in order.
The Gears of War series takes place in an alternate universe on the Earth-like planet Sera. After the 79-year-long Pendulum Wars between the COG and UIR — two human factions fighting for control of Imulsion (a very valuable resource for energy and tech advancements) — the Locust Horde emerged from Sera's underground and wiped out a quarter of the planet's human population.
You can play all of the Gears games on Xbox currently (and the more recent entries are on PC too), and they're all available through Xbox Game Pass. So, whether you're a returning fan or new to the series, it's time to rev up those chainsaws and clear out those grubs. But with a bunch of prequels and spin-offs, it can be tough to know which games fit where in the timeline — that's where our Gears of War games in order list comes in.
Mild spoilers ahead (key story and world-building beats) for the entire Gears of War franchise.
GEARS OF WAR GAMES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
- Gears of War: E-Day
- Gears of War: Judgment
- Gears Tactics
- Gears of War
- Gears of War 2
- Gears of War 3
- Gears of War 4
- Gears 5
1. Gears of War: E-Day
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC | Developer: The Coalition
Humanity has been locked in a brutal cycle of combat for millennia, culminating in the 79-year-long Pendulum Wars. But now, the war is over, and peace can finally reign over Sera.
Psyche! Just six weeks after the end of the war, a race of subterranean creatures called the Locust emerge from the planet's underground hollows to wage a genocidal campaign of destruction against humanity. This is the origin story of the Gears series, and we finally get to see it unfold in Gears of War: E-Day
Gears E-Day shows us the first day of the Locust invasion (known as Emergence Day), and follows series protagonists Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as they battle to save the city of Kalona from this new foe.
2. Gears of War: Judgment
Platforms: Xbox 360 | Developer: People Can Fly, Epic Games
Gears of War: Judgment focuses on Baird and Cole, two major secondary characters in the mainline Gears of War games, during the early months of the Locust War. The story is told via flashbacks recalled by Baird and his team during a COG military hearing.
It was Baird and his team who used a lightmass missile to destroy Locust forces that were occupying a key COG location. While the 'Kilo Squad' is thoroughly court-martialed, the team ends up being acquitted due to the resulting victory.
3. Gears Tactics
Platforms: PC, Xbox One/Series X|S | Developer: Splash Damage, The Coalition
Gears Tactics is a squad-based strategy game inspired by the XCOM series. It takes place roughly one year after the events of E-Day. Sgt. Gabriel Diaz (Kait's father) and Major Sid Redburn are tasked with assassinating a key Locust figure, a scientist known as Ukkon, who might've found a way to acquire regeneration powers.
Redburn reveals he was at New Hope, a research base where the Locust — as well as Ukkon — were created as genetic experiments. Without getting into further spoilers, Tactics is ultimately a key entry in Gears canon despite belonging to an entirely different genre from the mainline games.
4. Gears of War
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Developer: Epic Games, The Coalition (Ultimate Edition)
Gears of War, the first-ever Gears game, takes place 14 years after E-Day. Marcus Fenix has been imprisoned for roughly four years, and the COG forces are trying to assemble a last-ditch offensive to destroy the Locust Horde with a lightmass bomb to be deployed into their tunnels.
Marcus is reinstated into the COG army at the start of the game and joins Dominic Santiago, leading Delta Squad after a while alongside him and two other soldiers, Augustus Cole and Damon Baird, as they try to complete their seemingly suicidal mission.
See also: Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (2015), a graphical update to the original game.
5. Gears of War 2
Platforms: Xbox 360 | Developer: Epic Games
Gears of War 2 happens roughly six months after the 'Lightmass Offensive' and follows Delta and a larger COG army as they try to stop the Locust from sinking the human city of Jacinto. After learning about the origins of the Locust at New Hope and their true nature, the COG attacks Mount Kadar, where the Locust capital of Nexus was built.
It turns out the Locust are fighting their own underground war with a faction called the Lambent — organisms infected with Imulsion that have been forcing the Locust out of the Hollow and into the surface world, and Gears of War 2 establishes them as the final threat of the original trilogy.
6. Gears of War 3
Platforms: Xbox 360 | Developer: Epic Games
Three years after Jacinto's intentional sinking by the COG to stop the Locust evacuation of their underground world, the remaining human population has settled on the island of Vectes, which was untouched by the Locust War. However, the Lambent have begun to emerge.
Former COG Chairman Prescott returns with news of a targeted radiation weapon that's being developed in secret with the help of Adam Fenix, Marcus' father. This weapon can destroy both the Lambent and Locust for good, and so the last stand against what remains of the Locust and the Lambent invasion begins.
7. Gears of War 4
Platforms: PC, Xbox One | Developer: The Coalition
Gears of War 4 fast-forwards the Gears universe 25 years into the future after humanity won the war with the Lambent and Locust. The new story follows J.D. Fenix (Marcus' son), Kait Diaz, and Delmont Walker, a new trio of heroes affected by the Locust War in different ways. Older surviving characters from the original trilogy play important roles as the story progresses too.
The COG actively pursues the group for a while, believing they're responsible for a string of kidnappings. It's soon revealed a new menace called the Swarm — Locust who were 'evolved' by the Imulsion countermeasure — has been rising and transforming humans into soldiers for a new army.
8. Gears 5
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S | Developer: The Coalition
Gears 5 takes place only months after the events of Gears of War 4, and follows the previously established characters, now from the point of view of Kait, as they try to combat the Swarm while trying to understand Kait's connection to the Locust and her (unwanted) place in the future of the Swarm.
Ultimately, the conflict reaches New Ephyra, a major city where the COG tries to repel the Swarm and kill Queen Reyna. As it stands, the Gears timeline and overarching story have been put on pause around this point. The expansion-like DLC Hivebusters adds a bit of post-Ephyra plot, though, and we highly recommend it.
GEARS OF WAR GAMES IN RELEASE ORDER
- Gears of War (2006)
- Gears of War 2 (2008)
- Gears of War 3 (2011)
- Gears of War: Judgment (2013)
- Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (2015)
- Gears of War 4 (2016)
- Gears 5 (2019)
- Gears Tactics (2020)
- Gears of War: E-Day (2026)
