Running out of health in the Gears of War: E-Day campaign does not kill Marcus outright. He drops to his hands and knees and waits for a squadmate to pull him back up, and the number of times he can do that is tracked on screen. Wounded enemies work the same way in reverse, dropping to a crawl so you can finish them with a melee. Here is exactly what each state looks like and what you can do in it.
What the downed screen shows when Marcus goes down
When Marcus’s health is gone, he drops to his hands and knees and the picture loses its colour, turning grey with red blood spatter around the edges. The weapon panel disappears. In the centre of the screen a red cog-shaped Crimson Omen fills the middle.
If you were carrying a heavy weapon when you went down, you drop it. At the courthouse the Vulcan is left on the ground after the revive, so you have to pick it up again before you can use it.
The four Downs Remaining markers
On Normal difficulty, your marker count is four. When Marcus first falls, the display shows four white arrows; shortly afterward, the final marker changes to a red X, leaving three arrows. With every subsequent knockdown, one more white arrow turns into a red X.
A second fall soon after the first uses another marker immediately. If Marcus gets revived and is downed again a few seconds later, the display goes from three arrows and one X to two arrows and two Xs. The markers refill later, meaning the first knockdown in a new fight leaves three arrows. What happens once all four markers are gone is not covered here.
How you get revived
A squadmate automatically comes over and hauls Marcus back up. The Gear heading to him has a green cross above them, and when the revive takes effect, the X glyph’s ring shifts from red to yellow-green. The image regains its colour and Marcus stands with his weapon panel restored, confirming the revive succeeded.
Expect the trip from being downed to standing again to take roughly six to fourteen seconds. Stay close to your squad when you fall instead of going down ahead of the firing line, then crawl toward cover and the nearest Gear. After the revive, take shelter before firing again: another knockdown will use another marker.
When a squadmate goes down
Squadmates can also be knocked down. A red circular icon with a small arrow marks the injured Gear, and their name appears above it while they are on screen. If they are out of view, the red icon moves to the screen edge on the side where they fell.
When a squadmate starts reviving the downed Gear, the red icon changes to a green cross. You can keep shooting while another Gear takes care of the revive. Continue putting pressure on the enemy, and the squad will handle the revive within about ten seconds.
How executions work on downed enemies
Enemies can be downed in much the same way as Marcus. If a Drone takes enough damage to fall without being killed, it drops onto all fours and crawls, its wounds glowing red. Close in and finish it during this opening rather than using more ammunition.
Stand next to the crawling enemy and a skull icon, the word EXECUTE and the B button appear over it. B is the same button the melee tutorial teaches, so an execution is a finishing melee on a downed enemy. You will see this prompt in places like outside the recruitment centre in Act 1 and in the plaza in Act 2.
The prompt reads the same wherever it appears. Walk up to the wounded enemy, wait for the skull and EXECUTE text, then press B to perform the finishing move.
Mods that reward executions
Two mods tie their bonuses directly to finishing enemies this way. On their own, executions do not hand you ammo or health unless one of these is equipped.
| Mod | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Chainsaw Autoloader | Prototype Lancer mod | Chainsaw executions grant a Perfect Reload |
| Blood Mag | Armor mod | Executing an enemy grants a full Perfect Magazine |
Bleed-out timer and checkpoints
There is no bleed-out number counting down on the downed screen. If you spot a seconds counter near the weapon panel, that is the Adrenaline Injector recharging, not a timer on your life.
At the beginning and end of most fights, CHECKPOINT appears in the bottom-left corner, and RELOAD CHECKPOINT is available in the pause menu. What happens if nobody reaches Marcus, or if the whole squad goes down, is not covered here.
