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Visual Inside Look: Gears of War

by Alec Matias, Jul 05, 2005 1:40pm PDT

Related Topics – Epic Games, Games: Console

At this past E3, the title that best displayed the power of the Xbox 360 was Epic Games' Gears of War. It wasn't a port, it wasn't a sequel.. it was an original title built specifically for the Xbox 360 that was both visually striking and intensly immersive. While many of us are very familiar with the frantic action we've seen in the various trailers, one thing that many failed to realize was that Gears of War has a very deep backstory and is a character-driven game.

Here now is a visual inside look of Gears of War. Learn about Sera, the planet that houses this conflict; Emergence Day, the event where the creatures arose from within the Earth; and Marcus Fenix, the hardened prisoner that players will control. This is everything you wanted to know about Gears of War presented with breathtaking artwork by the team at Epic Games and described in detail by Cliff Bleszinski, Jerry O'Flaherty, and Eric Nylund.

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31 Threads | 93 Comments

#88

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By: nardman x Show Full Post

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Further proof that writing plot for an Epic (or ID, for that matter) game is fighting with fan-fic for the lowest rung on the creativity ladder. I could have pulled a better story outta my pee-hole. Yay for yet another iteration of bipedal lizard-men as foes....at least Half-Life 2 was original.

Jul 06, 2005 6:58am PDT

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Further proof that writing plot for an Epic (or ID, for that matter) game is fighting with fan-fic for th... : nardman
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
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  Just to further pan this schlock, even the main character's name is contrived. "Let's name him Fenix, bec... : nardman
  - Make H.O.T. an all-female team, and wham!, you got yourself a blockbuster. Congratulations. : rorshack
- I liked H-L2 somewhat, which is more than I can say for most games, but really, it wasn't that original. ... : GreatGooglyMoogly

#92

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By: kristof13 x Show Full Post

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That was an awesome read. I'm very excited to play the game now.

Jul 06, 2005 11:52am PDT

That was an awesome read. I'm very excited to play the game now. : kristof13

#91

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By: the_algor x Show Full Post

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Incredible visuals... don't like the huge arse armor the good guys are always wearing, but what can you do?

Jul 06, 2005 7:58am PDT

Incredible visuals... don't like the huge arse armor the good guys are always wearing, but what can you d... : the_algor

#15

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By: Luminair x Show Full Post

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I like this quote the best: http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/xbox360/Gears+of+War/1/gearsofwar/10_fenix.jpg

"In creating the look of the COG soldiers, we went through over a month of concept iterations. From SWAT-style soldier to futuristic samurai, we tried to come up with a design that was new and distinct. Eventually we arrived at our final design: the Unreal guy."

Jul 05, 2005 2:13pm PDT

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I like this quote the best: http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/xbox360/Gears+of+War/1/gearsofwar/10_feni : Luminair
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 10 replies.
- LOL, its so true : yAak
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  Yeah, I think the futuristic samurai idea was a lot more unique. : Carfaz11
  - You know, I would have let even a blatant lightsaber swipe go if they had gone with that definitive Cyber : Ajax
  - toggle
    Like this? :P http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/neocontra/screens.html?page=33 http://www.gamespot.c... : rorshack
    - A cyborg samurai. Heh, how cheesy is that. : cyb0rgninja
    - That's such a half-ass though. That looks more like it should have been preliminary design rather than a ... : Ajax
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  They rolled a guy around in a big pile of sticky armor until he was big enough. : GloriousCow
  - Katamari Samurai? : Ride-My-Rocket
- Hehe, yeah. i{New}i indeed. : GreatGooglyMoogly

#69

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By: Dynotaku x Show Full Post

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I always like reading up on the backstories that games are supposed to have, but in virtually every game I've ever played, (with a few notable exceptions) none of the story came through in the game itself. Maybe you'd get a blurb in the manual if you bothered to read it, but not much more.

Serious Sam for example, had a suprisigly involved backstory, but the only place you could read up on it was Croteam's website. Actually I think large portions of the backstory were scrapped before the game was published, cause now there's no mention in any of the games of Sam being the captian of the ship that alerted Mental to Humans presence in the galaxy, etc. Not that I think Serious Sam would have been a better game with hours of cutscenes. I'm just saying that for all the pre-release story developers work on, it's rare to see much of it in the game itself.

Jul 05, 2005 6:15pm PDT

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I always like reading up on the backstories that games are supposed to have, but in virtually every game ... : Dynotaku
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- This is where Blizzard games shine. No shooters, i know... : perforierer

#5

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By: Magus x Show Full Post

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pfffft, prerendered. still looks nice, though. :)

Jul 05, 2005 1:47pm PDT

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pfffft, prerendered. still looks nice, though. :) : Magus
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 9 replies.
- I heard it wasn't prerende...eh, nevermind. My heart's not in it. : afty04
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  It's not prerendered. : tomwiththeweather
  - toggle
    Yea, all the stuff that isn't "painted" artwork is in-game. : Alec Matias
    - toggle
      Alec I missed the part of the story where you explain where these scans came from :( : Luminair
      
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      They came from an artbook given out at E3. : Alec Matias
      
      Where were they giving that out at, I didn't see those anywhere, I would've picked one up. : ColoradoCNC
      
      So you mean it's like an advertorial? :( : SpaecKow
- I saw it running realtime, nothing is prerendered. : freshview

#40

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By: kraemer x Show Full Post

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PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD no more shoulderpads!!!! People arent playing football in space. How could any conceptual artist think that shoulder pads help in a combat situation????

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!

Jul 05, 2005 3:29pm PDT

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PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD no more shoulderpads!!!! People arent playing football in space. How could any... : kraemer
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 13 replies.

#80

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By: sosorrydude x Show Full Post

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Hey look it's one of the Locust's distant relatives from Babylon 5:

http://www.oinc.net/B5/Enc/images/gkar.jpg
http://www.b5tech.com/narn/narnxenohistory/narnxenohistory.jpg

Jul 05, 2005 8:01pm PDT

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Hey look it's one of the Locust's distant relatives from Babylon 5: http://www.oinc.net/B5/Enc/images/... : sosorrydude
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- Lens Flare'd : tomwiththeweather

#28

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By: not work safe x Show Full Post

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"tattooed enemies are easy. Branding? Far more rough and nasty. Tough, savage, yet intelligent." While I'll thank the writer for such a compliment, I'd like to see an intelligently designed hero with tattoos, I'll keep it easy and simple, just good tattoos, then for the next project we can do brandings on a hero.

I for one am tired of boring bad guys with stupid body art.

Jul 05, 2005 2:58pm PDT

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"tattooed enemies are easy. Branding? Far more rough and nasty. Tough, savage, yet intelligent." While I'... : not work safe
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
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  Biker and Lucy from Quake 3 Arena had some of the best tattoos ever! : Ajax
  - Primal for PS2 had a hero with a funtional tattoo, she good looking to boot! : drabid
  - nah, that award should go to tresspasser : Unleashed

#19

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By: Zann x Show Full Post

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This looks damn pretty, but I can't get excited about something that sounds so insanely derivative. It practically screams "generic techy fps." All we need is a teleporter-accident oriented storyline and it'd be perfect.

Jul 05, 2005 2:24pm PDT

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This looks damn pretty, but I can't get excited about something that sounds so insanely derivative. It p... : Zann
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 8 replies.

#29

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By: mp7rox x Show Full Post

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I'm guessing the COG somehow orchastrated the Locusts and E DAY surprised them thinking they could control these creatures. In the end the secret is revealed you kill the "mad" scientest and some govt offical and defeat the devil spawn.

Jul 05, 2005 2:59pm PDT

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I'm guessing the COG somehow orchastrated the Locusts and E DAY surprised them thinking they could contro... : mp7rox
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 9 replies.
- or you force him to create an antidote that wipes them all out! omg! : grimiv
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  The last boss is Hitler himself in Mecha Armor. : CliffyB
  - This reply needs more love. : notd665
  - toggle
    that'd be the best boss evah! btw, game is looking great man, i got a chance to see some footage at E3 a... : ColoradoCNC
    - ... : Ajax
  - Metal Gear Hitler? : Ride-My-Rocket
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  lemme guess! you think he is your friend throughout the entire game until the end when he is revealed to... : grendel
  - HOLY SHIT IT'S A GOOD THING YOU'RE NOT JADED! : Ajax

#73

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By: intothefray x Show Full Post

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wow, thx for widescreen love on the pics.

Jul 05, 2005 6:57pm PDT

wow, thx for widescreen love on the pics. : intothefray

#27

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By: GreatGooglyMoogly x Show Full Post

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Seems to be a disproportionate amount of backstory/pretentiousness for a game that largely appears to be about hiding behind rubble for 15 minutes until something "interesting" happens. (I seem to recall Epic saying, flat out, that they were aiming for something "interesting" to happen "every 10-15 minutes", which, is kind of funny if you think about it.)

Jul 05, 2005 2:50pm PDT

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Seems to be a disproportionate amount of backstory/pretentiousness for a game that largely appears to be ... : GreatGooglyMoogly
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
- At first glance the story is the exact same as quake2... : not work safe
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  Ya considering they said that before you did, and you comfirming that for us. your post is mute heh : buckshack
  - All posts are "mute" unless you use some kind of text-to-speech synthesis. : GreatGooglyMoogly

#64

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By: DryHump x Show Full Post

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well, I'm still on the fence about the game but I really enjoyed this media as a way to debut the story. Great stuff. hope to see more companies do something like this.

Jul 05, 2005 5:34pm PDT

well, I'm still on the fence about the game but I really enjoyed this media as a way to debut the story. ... : DryHump

#59

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By: palin x Show Full Post

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Isn't Jerry O'Flaherty (along with Todd Porter) responsible for Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3? heh.

Jul 05, 2005 4:46pm PDT

Isn't Jerry O'Flaherty (along with Todd Porter) responsible for Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3? heh. : palin

#56

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By: Dan 101 x Show Full Post

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I'm am all kinds of hyped for this. The story sounds amazing. Can't wait.

Jul 05, 2005 4:33pm PDT

I'm am all kinds of hyped for this. The story sounds amazing. Can't wait. : Dan 101

#52

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By: MrLobo x Show Full Post

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Good stuff. Can't wait to play this.

Now I need to work on making a better game with the same engine ;)

Jul 05, 2005 4:18pm PDT

Good stuff. Can't wait to play this. Now I need to work on making a better game with the same engine ;... : MrLobo

#8

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By: yourname00 x Show Full Post

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Very cool. Love the artwork and the back story and the designer notes to go with it.

Jul 05, 2005 1:54pm PDT

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Very cool. Love the artwork and the back story and the designer notes to go with it. : yourname00
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
- Yeah, you don't see stuff like this too often (at least, not free?) very cool, I especially like the conc... : yAak
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  Yeah. From all those generic or semi-generic FPS games around, this has got to be the one with the best g... : rorshack
  - its not an fps though : gndagger

#50

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By: grendel x Show Full Post

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I am getting tired of the character design from these guys, but the game could be a lot of fun and I will likely pick it up along with the XBOX360.

Jul 05, 2005 4:13pm PDT

I am getting tired of the character design from these guys, but the game could be a lot of fun and I will... : grendel

#45

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By: gnoleb x Show Full Post

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This stuff looks pretty awesome. I like the backstory, and those environments look pretty cool.

Look forward to seeing a movie of this.

Jul 05, 2005 3:45pm PDT

This stuff looks pretty awesome. I like the backstory, and those environments look pretty cool. Look f... : gnoleb

#2

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By: jrock x Show Full Post

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" frentic " - frantic or frenetic, pick one? :)

Jul 05, 2005 1:43pm PDT

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" frentic " - frantic or frenetic, pick one? :) : jrock
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
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  I'm trying to create a word and hoping it catches on. : Alec Matias
  - frentic (fren tik) (adj): The state in which an acquaintance is infested with ticks. After playing with : schnitz76

#34

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By: buzzfunk x Show Full Post

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This game looks amazing. I saw this at GDC and it looks like a cgi movie but in realtime..

Jul 05, 2005 3:06pm PDT

This game looks amazing. I saw this at GDC and it looks like a cgi movie but in realtime.. : buzzfunk

#24

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By: marblehead x Show Full Post

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Great read Alec. thanks!

Jul 05, 2005 2:43pm PDT

Great read Alec. thanks! : marblehead

#21

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By: SpiderMonkey x Show Full Post

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one thing that many failed to realize was that Gears of War has a very deep backstory

I'm a big fan of subtle wit, good work Alec. :)

Jul 05, 2005 2:29pm PDT

one thing that many failed to realize was that Gears of War has a very deep backstory I'm a big fan of... : SpiderMonkey

#20

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By: wunderbred x Show Full Post

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This looks pretty great. Thanks for posting this, Alec.

Jul 05, 2005 2:29pm PDT

This looks pretty great. Thanks for posting this, Alec. : wunderbred

#18

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By: Sniper21 x Show Full Post

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Very cool stuff, I'm glad the shack got it.

it won't make me buy an xbox 360, but it's still fun to look at.

maybe, just maybe, we'll get a pc version

Jul 05, 2005 2:23pm PDT

Very cool stuff, I'm glad the shack got it. it won't make me buy an xbox 360, but it's still fun to lo : Sniper21

#14

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By: Stangs44 x Show Full Post

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as if i wasn't pumped enought already....

Jul 05, 2005 2:12pm PDT

as if i wasn't pumped enought already.... : Stangs44

#9

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By: jrock x Show Full Post

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Awesome content, Alec. Thanks for this!

Jul 05, 2005 1:58pm PDT

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Awesome content, Alec. Thanks for this! : jrock
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- Agreed, enjoyable read. : xZanU

#10

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By: jayares x Show Full Post

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3rd pic dosen't work

Jul 05, 2005 2:01pm PDT

3rd pic dosen't work : jayares

#1

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By: pupismyname x Show Full Post

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shacknews original content. bitch.

Jul 05, 2005 1:43pm PDT

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shacknews original content. bitch. : pupismyname
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- well, maybe not original. online exclusive then? : pupismyname

#3

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By: Carnivac x Show Full Post

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Neat stuff. I read about this book being handed out at E3, nice to get a chance to take a look.

Jul 05, 2005 1:45pm PDT

Neat stuff. I read about this book being handed out at E3, nice to get a chance to take a look. : Carnivac

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