By Dexerto | Created at 2026-09-30 15:36:08 | Updated at 2026-09-30 21:50:43
6 hours ago
The developers of Gears of War: E-Day have explained why classic features like lancer duels and meat shields haven’t made it into the prequel.
Taking place 14 years before the original game, Gears of War E-Day finally takes fans back to the beginning. It details the events that unfolded after the Locust army burst out of the ground and began its assault on humanity.
The game introduces a number of new features, including a revamped gore system and the ability to jump for the first time.
But a couple of mechanics from past games haven’t made the jump, including Lancer duels, where players would have to mash buttons as two chainsaws locked together, and meat shields, where Marcus and co. would use enemies to block incoming fire.
E-Day devs reveal why they dropped meat shields & Lancer duels
In an episode of Dexerto’s Fall Damage series, Studio Creative Director Matt Searcy responded to a fan question and revealed why these systems aren’t in E-Day.
“They haven’t learned how to do them yet,” Searcy joked, before explaining: “The real answer is we built this game from scratch. That’s an empty hard drive; everything is new, every mechanic, every animation. So even though it feels like the Gears you love, it’s a brand-new game, and it took us a long time to build up.”
Ultimately, the team had to make a choice about which features were most important, and meat shields and lancer duels were two that didn’t quite make it.
“We didn’t have that foundation,” he added. “There’s a lot of really cool features in there, a mix of old and new, and the package we have is where we got to.”
However, this doesn’t mean that they will never appear in the game, as [name] left the door open for them to be added in a future update.
“We love chainsaw duels, we love meat shields. So we’ll see what the future brings.”
Gears of War: E-Day launches on October 6 on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
