How Long Does It Take To Beat Gears Of War: E-Day?

Published Oct 2, 2026, 2:35 PM EDT Collin is a Guides Staff Writer at TheGamer who has been writing guides for nearly ten years. He is also a professional game/level designer. More importantly, he's still waiting for a new Ape Escape game to release. Gears of War: E-Day is officially available, which means it's time to coat your chainsaw-mounted gun in the blood of subterranean monsters who want to rip your face off. Taking place before the events of all the previous games in this franchise, E-Day tells the story of the Locust Horde's initial invasion, known as Emergence Day. You'll once again step into the bulky armor of Marcus Fenix as he cuts his way through this previously unknown species as they invade the city of Kalona. There's a lot to do in this entry, as it includes the three core modes that this franchise built itself on. So whether you're here for the story or to blast enemies in Horde mode, here's how long this game will take you to beat. How Long Does It Take To Beat? If you are solely hopping into Gears of War: E-Day to just play through the campaign on Normal difficulty, it will take you around 12–15 hours to beat. Keep in mind, Gears of War: E-Dayis a little different from its previous, more linear mission design. While that absolutely exists, once you enter Act 2, the city of Kalona will open up more. This allows players to explore the city, look for collectibles, and engage in some side content before they move on to their next scripted mission. You can, if you want, ignore almost all of this if you just want to go from mission to mission. The side content is largely there to reward exploration, unlock weapon mod slots, squad perks, etc. While this can make your experience easier, it's not necessary if you want a more traditional Gears of War experience. The campaign also features multiple difficulties, and there are achievements tied to beating the game on the hardest setting for those who want a challenge. Gears of War: E-Day's story also features four-player co-op if you want to play along with your friends, which does lend it a little replayability. However, don't expect to get much out of the game on repeat runs if you're alone. Outside of the side content around the city, achievements, and collectibles, the campaign won't hit you with any surprises upon multiple playthroughs. How Long Does It Take To 100%? Here's where things get a bit more complicated, as E-Day continues the long-running tradition of this franchise being quite grindy if you want to unlock everything. A lot of the achievements won't be simple unlocks and will require you to do everything from beating Horde mode on the hardest difficulty to getting over 25,000 kills in PvP. It will take you a hundred, if not hundreds of hours to truly unlock everything in the game if you're trying to just get every achievement. For Gears of War veterans, this shouldn't be a surprise. The franchise, historically, has always been comically difficult to unlock achievements, and this entry is no different. There are also quite a few unlockable cosmetics, and just trying to achieve max level in the revamped Horde Siege mode will take quite a bit of time. How Many Chapters Are There? For the campaign, it is broken up into five Acts, each of which contains individual chapters. These chapters can be picked as starting points from the main menu if you want to replay specific sections. Additionally, Acts 1 and 5 will be the shortest of the group, while the remaining ones can be fairly lengthy — especially if you factor in exploring Kalona. There are a total of 28 chapters, including the prologue and epilogue sections. Below is a full list of all the game's chapters. Keep in mind these chapters are named, so if you want to avoid spoilers, I would stop reading here. Act 1 Prologue Chapter 1: Emergence Chapter 2: Survival of the Fittest Chapter 3: A Gear in Need Chapter 4: Back in the Fold Act 2 Chapter 1: Bravo Squad Chapter 2: Hold the Line Chapter 3: No Gear Left Behind Chapter 4: Flyboys Chapter 5: Overrun Act 3 Chapter 1: Stranded Chapter 2: Enemy Lines Chapter 3: Last Foodhold Chapter 4: The Convoy Chapter 5: Desperate Times Chapter 6: Desperate Measures Act 4 Chapter 1: Hope and Ruin Chapter 2: Technical Difficulties Chapter 3: Tough as Nails Chapter 4: Signals Chapter 5: Paths Converge Chapter 6: Critical Failure Act 5: Chapter 1: One Problem at a Time Chapter 2: Ghost Town Chapter 3: Storm Clouds Chapter 4: Resolute Chapter 5: The Fall of Kalona Epilogue