Canadian video game developer The Coalition has released a 20-min long playable video, dubbed ‘Prologue’ of the upcoming Microsoft exclusive Gears of War 4.
The introductory mission is a kind of a history lesson for gaming tyros and a refresher course for seasoned players of Gears of War. There are a series of playable flashbacks spawning three decade of Gears history, such as the Locust’s siege of Anvil Gate and the COG’s battle at Aspho Fields to acquire the Hammer of Dawn orbital bombardment technology, thus setting you up nicely for the forth installment of the popular game.
What Gears of War 4 Is All About
In Gears of War 4, the surviving Serans, having defeated the Locust and Lambent in a war that took a heavy toll on humanity, are trying to live a life of peace. Among those Serans is Marcus Fenix, the protagonist of the first three games, who is trying to raise a family.
Attaining long-lasting peace, however, remains a distant reality, and 25 years later, Marcus’ son JD needs to hunt down the monsters that threaten humanity. JD Fenix teams up with Kait and Del against a new enemy known as The Swarm, and together in a span of 24 hours, they have to find out ways to defeat the villains for good.
Speaking to EW, Coalition studio head Rob Fergusson said about the game’s story and structure:
‘The thing for us is, you know, we’ll never be a survival horror game. When you have guys this big with chainsaw bayonets, you can never disempower them enough. For me I really like the words “tension” and “drama.” It’s really where we’re trying to push. By the time you get to Gears 3, it felt a little bit like it could be a WWII game in the sense that the Locusts were well understood and you were fighting them like you would’ve fought the Nazi army in a WWII game. Whereas Gears 1, there was still a lot more discovery and still being scared and trying to understand this threat that you had never seen before.
That’s what we’re really trying to do with 4. We’re trying to go back to that feeling, so we’re taking the story down from — if you look at Gears 3 as this sort of planetary genocide or trying to save the human race from extinction — we wanted to get back to the story of three people and one night, and how can these three people survive this one night. Getting that intimacy back with story, and the intimacy back in terms of tone and to allow you to be afraid again.’
Official Release Date
The third-person shooter series will be officially released for the Xbox and Windows 10 on October 11, 2016
Three Xbox One S Bundles
Gears of War 4 has a total of three kickass Xbox One S bundles, each featuring the game and controller, though having different styles and storage capacities.
The White Xbox One S bundle costs $349 and comes with a 1 TB hard drive.
The spectacular blue Xbox One S bundle is way cheaper at $299, but only features a 500 GB hard drive.
The third is really a catch and only for hardcore Gears fans- a limited edition 2 TB bundle that includes the game’s season pass as well as extra digital goodies. It is pretty incredible and also pretty expensive at $449.