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- Posted Aug 18, 2008 9:10 am PT
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It's a bit ironic that today's Leipzig keynote focused on Gears of War 2, which likely won't be released in Germany due to the country's laws regarding in-game violence. Still, any chance to check out Gears 2 is welcomed, even by people who might not get a chance to play the game.
Forget Cliff Bleszinski's "bigger, better, more badass"; the alliterative trio of adjectives he used to describe the upcoming Gears of War 2. If you ask Epic Games' president Mike Capps, those three words would be "new, better, more." Capps gave a standing-room-only presentation on the development of the sequel to one of the biggest games of 2006, focusing on the aspects that the team at Epic looked to improved with heading back to war with the Locust horde. He also delighted the crowd with a play-through of the same demo the company was showing off back at E3 in July.
Capps defines GOW 2 as the first "true" sequel the company has created, and said that creating sequels brings with it a unique set of challenges, one of those being the heightened expectations of the fanbase. When a new game is released, Capps said, it's expected to be bigger, longer, with more features packed inside. While Capps said he expects Gears 2 to be longer than the original, the development plan for has been focus on "fun-per-minute."
As a result, Capps and the Epic team developed the "new, better, more" plan, a comprehensive method of breaking down the first game in the series, figuring out what worked and what didn't, then choosing the most essential elements and focusing on them for the sequel. Part of the focus of this approach is to spend time improving not just the areas that were strong in the original game (such as the cover system) but on the areas that were relatively weak. Capps pointed to the story line of the original game as an example. While the four Delta Squad members felt like fleshed out characters practically from the start, Capps admits that the first Gears was a bit thin on the plot. That should change with Gears 2, Capps said, because the team felt more comfortable in telling the story, now that the player has had a chance to immerse himself in the world of Sera.
There seemed to be a myriad of examples from Capps of improvements that resulted from the "new, better, more" approach. From a technology standpoint, there will be a new crowd systems, destructible environments, improved cover methods (as well as destructible cover), and better graphics. In multiplayer, you'll find AI bot support, new MP game types including the CTF-inspired "Stranded" and "Horde," which will pit you and your buddies against wave after wave of oncoming bad guys. Speakikng of co-op play, Capps said this area was a huge focus for Epic as well; the result will be better drop-in/drop-out play as well as more chances to drive vehicles together. And by "vehicles" I mean monster trucks with tanks on top of them. So, yeah, in addition to paying attention to Capps' "new, better, more" mantra, it seems like the team still had room for some "badass" as well.
Gears of War 2 is still on track for a November release.
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