June 18, 2015 by Paul Curtin
We’ve known for over a year that The Coalition, a new Microsoft studio (previously going under the name Black Tusk Studios) has been developing a new Gears of War game. But after Gears of War 3 wrapped up the story of Marcus Fenix and Gears of War: Judgment told the story of Fenix’s crew members before the events of the first Gears game, the downward-trending future of the franchise has been uncertain.
Rod Fergusson, former executive producer at Epic Games for past Gears games and now producer for The Coalition, took the stage at Microsoft’s media briefing and gave those in attendance and watching around the world a first look at Gears 4. In his live hands-on demo you can get a pretty good idea of what the next game is going to be… more Gears… that looks to hopefully bring the series back to its original darker and scarier roots.
Unfortunately, like the Halo 5 demo shown before it, even as a huge fan of Gears… you can’t help but still feel a bit underwhelmed by what the developers have chosen to show off. Seeing a giant tornado rapidly approaching at first seemed exciting, but quickly realizing how linear the entire demo played out doesn’t give much hope for Gears competing with newer current-gen games that are opening up more options and freedom to the player. Even the new lead JD seems about as generic as generic male protagonists in video games go and the safest option to follow the charismatic previous members of Delta Squad.
With a new development team, a new more powerful current-gen console, and new monsters, we’re still looking forward to seeing more of the game — hopefully what we see next will help create more excitement surrounding the franchise’s big return. Maybe a first look at the new multiplayer will do the trick just like it did for Halo 5 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III at this year’s E3.
Gears of War 4 is set for release on Xbox One towards the end of 2016.
