E3 2008: Gears of War 2 Impressions

The opening cinematic narrated by Marcus Fenix is accompanied by a sweeping view of the world that we will return to in Gears of War 2. Ever since the Game Developers Conference earlier this year, it has been hard not to keep a close watch on this sequel. At the Microsoft Press Event to jump-start E3, design director Cliff Bleszinski and senior producer Jonathan Zamkoff were able to play through a brief but exciting section where the locusts have returned and are now sinking entire cities.

After the introduction, we see the destruction that the enemy has caused as Fenix heads down toward the locust sinkhole. The hazy glow of the sun in the background and burning fires in dilapidated buildings make for a sad landscape, but the action is constant, so there is no time to sit back and watch. As Fenix and his buddy Dom traverse deeper into the city fighting off locusts of all shapes and sizes, falling debris trickles down like a waterfall as they run by. The city looks alive because of the constant changes in the environment that really drive the action and intensity of the level.

Like in the previous Gears of War, your objective is given to you when you reach certain checkpoints, and the gameplay is still focused on taking cover. We saw a nice demonstration on how the meat shield is used. After shooting a locust enough to wound it, Fenix walked up to put it in a stranglehold and use it for cover. Once Fenix was done with the locust, he swiftly broke its neck and moved on. A quick peek at Dom showed him chainsawing an enemy cleanly in half, and to change things up, the scorcher provides a bit of entertainment as you watch the locusts writhe in pain.

Once they made it to the bottom, Fenix and Dom ran into an elevator to escape the crumbling city and came face-to-face with a Brumak, which is a gargantuan, towering creature that is normally piloted by locusts. Right before the demo ended, we heard Fenix say, "If they can ride them, so can we."

Epic also talked about its new Horde mode, a five-player cooperative mode where you take on waves and waves of locusts. The brief but sweet demo certainly made us wish for more. Gears of Wars 2 will be released worldwide this November 7.