Microsoft is touting “Gears of War 2” as the biggest blockbuster of the 2008 holiday season, as the title is slated to hit store shelves in just a couple of days. Already applauded by the Redmond giant as the top entertainment premiere this holiday season, “Gears of War 2” will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 come November 7, 2008. According to Microsoft, the title is planned to become available in 20,000 stores in no less than 20 countries worldwide.

“Each holiday season in this current console generation, Xbox 360 has led the industry with the best lineup of blockbuster video games, and we are poised to lead the charge again in 2008 with ‘Gears of War 2,’” revealed Phil Spencer, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios.

Spencer indicated that Microsoft had every intent on surpassing the success of the initial release of “Gears of War” with the sequel scheduled for launch ahead of this weekend. “Holding the title of fastest-selling video game of 2006, ‘Gears of War’ has sold more than 5 million units to date, and this next chapter in the franchise will raise the bar yet again,” he added.

Cliff Bleszinski, creative lead of Epic Games team, indicated that the sequel to “Gears of War” evolves the main themes of loss, survival and hope. As an integral part of the launch of “Gears of War 2”, Microsoft informed that no less than 10,000 retail stores would be ready to welcome customers at 12:01 a.m. local time on November 7.

“Epic’s goal was to create an emotionally engaging experience that will not only satisfy core gamers, but also attract new players who want to experience something akin to watching a heart-pounding movie that draws you in and doesn’t let you go until the very end,” explained Bleszinski. “With ‘Gears of War 2,’ we’re taking storytelling in the Gears universe to places it’s never been before, and we hope it’ll deeply connect with everyone playing the game alone or with friends.”