Gears of War 2 is probably the most anticipated sequel this year, coming this November from Epic Games. With a short introduction from lead designer, Cliff Bleszinski, we are given a brief over-view of what we can expect in the trailer itself. At the Game Developer’s Conference, earlier this year, we were treated to a nice tech-demo explaining the new features that we can expect to see in Gears of War 2. With strides taken in the development of the Unreal Engine 3, Gears of War 2 looks to take what Gears of War did and push it to the next level.

Click Read More to continue.

Moving on, we jump into one of the levels later in the game where we are riding Derrick’s, which are big trucks, that are towing devices called grindlifts. These devices seem to help the COG team dig into the ground and locate where the Locusts are living. In this level, Fenix and his team are trying to survive a locust attack on these derricks and you must defend them. Inadvertently a large locust monster looms in on the team firing on all cylinders. Console owners will finally get to experience the battle of a huge locust, unless they were fortunate enough to buy the PC version of Gears of War and play the extra level against the large locust.
 
With a flood of Locusts heading to take over your Derrick’s, you continue to move forward with new combat techniques. The chainsaw attacks seem to be improved and run more smoothly. The biggest addition to the chainsaw gameplay is chainsaw battles. When you lock saws with another locust you must keep pressing one designated button as long as possible to cut up said locust. Another new feature is the ability to force a takedown on a locust and pick up his body to use as a human shield. It seems you can use this as long as you need too, although it limits your movement.  

With new chainsaw animations and combat techniques shown, the trailer ends with a nice cinematic of Fenix and the COG team defeating the large locust. Cliff Bleszinski ends the trailer with his final thoughts and announcing the release date as this November, exclusively on the Xbox 360. Here is a run down of what I’ve noticed overall in the trailer…

• Chainsaw Battles!
• Locust body shield!
• Console version takes a stab in the back to the PC version as console gamers can now take on the Burmak’s
• Locusts can now sink entire cities
• The ability to snap a Locusts neck (Yes!)
• More Locusts on screen and more havoc and destruction in general.
• New/More vehicles and hopefully the ability to drive them in more than one level.
• New Chainsaw animations
• Gameplay looks more smooth and fluid

Overall, Gears of War 2 may seem like an over-whelming sequel after viewing the trailer, but I believe that is part of the fun. Having the ability to use a locust body shield or even snap a locust’s neck is probably every fan’s dream. Let’s not forget, however, that while we may get excited about the gameplay, we can’t forget that Gears of War 2 needs a story to tell. They didn’t let us in on much of the story. According to several different previews in magazine publications, it seems like the story will pick up where the first title left off.