New Gears of War 3 Screenshots Emerge

Epic Games has released new Gears of War 3 in-game screenshots. These are showing the much-vaunted mech suits and some other new features from the latest installment in the franchise. The pictures might not be modified for marketing, as they contain ammo counters and some rough texture patches, meaning that this is the first chance we have to see how the game might really look.

One of the pictures depicts Marcus firing his Lancer at a mutated Locust with assistance from the new female character that will join the game's cast in Gears of War 3. Another one shows a Gear soldier maneuvering the new mech suit and stomping an enemy Locust grunt. The power armor is armed to the teeth and fits perfectly in the Gears of War universe. Also, the grenade launcher is also depicted in the screenshots, with Dom firing it at some Locust warriors.

Gears of War 3 will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 on the 5th of April, 2011, in North America and on the 8th of April, 2011, in Europe. The biggest new features are a four-player cooperative multiplayer campaign, new playable characters and the mech suit from the screenshots. The game is supposed to tie in most of the plot threads from the first two games. The story is being created by Karen Traviss, writer of two released Gears of War novels and of three others that will soon be available.

Epic Games has another project in the works, a first-person shooter entitled Bulletstorm. It is developed by an Epic subsidiary studio, People Can Fly, which worked before on the Painkiller series. This new title is meant to return to the traditional roots of the genre, focusing on over-the-top action and huge weapons. Bulletstorm will promote creative mayhem, as gamers who play in the most spectacular way will get bonuses and points to upgrade their character. The tentative release date is set for 2011.