14 DAY TRIAL // The focus for Gears of War fans is at the moment on the coming Ultimate Edition of the first title in the series, which was recently revealed as also offering gamers access to the other entries in the franchise using backwards compatibility on the Xbox One.
But the team at the newly rechristened The Coalition is already working hard on the new Gears of War 4, the first entry in the universe that is designed from the ground up for the new Microsoft home console.
Red Fergusson, who leads the studio, says that the reveal trailer shown during E3 2015 was designed to be understated because the developers wanted to recapture the essence of the first title, which managed to make the enemies seem scary and mysterious.
The story of the new video game will also stay away from Marcus Fenix because his veteran nature makes it hard to show him being scared, and The Coalition wants gamers to relate to the protagonists.
The developer tells IGN that "The stories have changed a lot from 10 years ago. Back in the day people expected stories to be black and white, there’s good and bad. Today, people want a lot of grey, a lot moral ambiguity, things that are open to interpretation about what’s right and wrong."
Gears of War 4 aims for grit and personality
JD and Kait, the characters shown in the first gameplay footage, are scared by the forces they face, and The Coalition will try to make sure that their feelings get transferred to the players.
It seems that Gears of War 4 will not feature four-player cooperative gameplay because the studio believes two is better suited to the core mechanics.
Other elements of the series, like the cover system and the third-person view, will remain largely unchanged although some fans have already complained that the core of the franchise is being affected by the tweaks.
The trailer also showed some familiar weapons, but given that the enemies are evolving, it's highly likely that gamers will also be getting access to some new guns to take them out.
Gears of War 4 is coming only to the Xbox One and will probably be launched during the 2016 holiday season.