[UPDATE] On the first day of E3 2005, we didn't hesitate to rush up through Microsoft's mazelike, city-sized floorspace to see Epic Games' recently revealed sci-fi tactical shooter Gears of War. Demonstrated behind closed doors by lead designer Cliff Bleszinski, who incidentally confirmed that the game is being developed exclusively for the Xbox 360, Gears of War is a visually stunning game that will obviously appeal to Xbox fans biding their time for Halo 3. Bleszinski billed Gears as a "new big franchise" from the company that created the excellent Unreal Tournament series of shooters, and we can see why--prior to getting to see the game in action, we got to listen to Bleszinski quickly rattle off a lot of details about the game's premise. At any rate, when we finally got to see the game running, we were certainly impressed--running on a beautiful HD screen, Gears of War delivered some gorgeous-looking environments and spectacular firefights.

Gears of War looks like it'll be one of the best showcases of the Xbox 360's muscle.

We got to see a good 15 to 20 minutes of Gears of War in action. While we couldn't play the game ourselves (not until later in the week, anyway!), the gameplay was clearly being controlled right in front of us. Only single-player content was shown--two levels in particular--and Epic confirmed that Gears of War would primarily be a single-player-focused game. A versus multiplayer mode is planned, but Epic was mum on the details. However, we did learn that cooperative gameplay would be a significant feature in the title--we were told that a second player would be able to bust into the single-player game at any time, either by picking up a second controller or even via Xbox Live. When asked for specifics about the number of co-op players the game would support, Bleszinski noted that the company was considering allowing up to four players at a time.

As for the gameplay, it's intended to combine the best elements of tactical shooters and survival horror titles--namely, the vicious action and "weapon lethality" of the former, and the tense pacing and freaky moments of the latter. Use of cover will play an important role in the game, as you'll be able to duck your head behind anything in the environment that could help keep you from getting hurt, and you'll even be able to make your own cover by kicking over tables, toppling pillars, and so on. The firing-from-behind-cover mechanics in the game instantly reminded us of Namco's kill.switch, a game that didn't make a big splash when it was released a couple of years ago but did help usher in the concept of blindfire and context-sensitive cover into action gaming.

When we finally got to play Gears of War, we quickly noticed that the game's controls already handled the use of cover well. The main character would automatically duck behind anything we approach. Pulling away from the object would cause him to get back up and keep running. While behind cover, it's possible to weave side the side while keeping your head down, fire blind just by pulling on the right trigger, or take aim by pressing and holding the left trigger (when firing blind, there's no aiming reticle). Weapon switching is easily accomplished with the D pad. We liked the shotgun the most, due to the cool Terminator 2-style reloading animation. The main character's movement speed is noticeably slower than you'd expect from a typical first-person shooter, but seems realistic in the context of the game, what with all that heavy armor and weaponry being lugged about.

At any rate, Bleszinski concisely explained that Gears of War would be "stop-and-pop" instead of "run-and-gun." Players will have to rush (and dive) behind cover, wait for an opening, and cleanly take out their targets before moving on. They'll always get to fight alongside friendly soldiers, as well, which is intended to make the action more dynamic and to evoke a Band of Brothers kind of feel.

As cool as a lot of the gunplay was, what with all the bloody in-your-face shot-gunning and machine-gunning and grenade-tossing going on, it did leave us wondering what else was in store in terms of play mechanics. We specifically asked about whether we could expect any good up-close melee combat, since the main character Marcus Fenix looks like he could easily hold his own in a scuffle. Plus, the big, honking guns in Gears of War look like they'd be perfect for cracking some skulls. Bleszinski replied that melee combat, which wasn't ready to be shown at E3, would eventually involve struggles between Fenix and his foes. Quick minigames or button-pressing actions at certain times will cause Fenix to use his chain-saw bayonet against an enemy, crack its head against a wall, or maybe shove a grenade down its throat--sounds good to us. The description of these mechanics reminded us of recent hits like God of War and Resident Evil 4, which used context-sensitive minigames to make for some dynamic and great-looking combat...probably just the ticket that Gears of War is going after.

Speaking of Marcus Fenix, he's a hardened soldier and someone who Bleszinski called "an intelligent badass." He's someone who "could kick your ass in a barroom brawl, but would rather talk you out of it." Gears of War takes place on the once-peaceful Earthlike planet Sera, which fell into disarray not long after a powerful energy source called imulsion was discovered. Warring nations tore the planet apart fighting over it, and, taking the situation from bad to worse, imulsion seemed to awaken a sleeping menace in the form of the locust horde--a voracious race of monsters that bursts forth from the ground. The locust horde turns out to be the real threat, causing the citizens of Sera to settle their differences for a time and form the Coalition of Organized Governments, or COG. Its military arm, in turn, is called the Gears--hence the name of the game.