14 DAY TRIAL // Gears of War 4 is a third-person shooter built around the concept of cover, and the developers at The Coalition are saying that they want to make the title as engaging as possible in both multiplayer and single player.
Rod Fergusson, the studio head, tells Gamespot that his team has explored a lot of ideas about the narrative that they will tell and has decided that they want to offer a mix of the best moments seen in previous installments in the franchise.
The game maker explains that he is bothered by the way critics talk about stories in video games, mentioning both Uncharted and BioShock Infinite as examples of titles that seek to introduce a new kind of balance between narrative and gameplay but often generate strong reactions among players.
For Gears of War 4, he aims to offer at least a few scenes that have the same impact as the biggest moments of the previous titles.
Fergusson adds, "what I think helps separate Gears, we’re not lunkheads just doing shooting. We allow ourselves some moments of humour, sadness, and darkness. That stuff can exist in our world but at the same time it’s a shooter. You have to recognise that and to stand here and say, 'I’ve come up with a whole new way to do narrative with a gun,' when you’re talking with bullets… It’s just so hard to do."
Gears of War 4 will need to boost sales for the Xbox One
The home console needs its exclusive releases to perform better this year if it aims to close the sales gap that the PlayStation 4 from Sony has managed to open up.
Gears of War 4 is the first Xbox One installment in a series that showed what the Microsoft platforms could deliver in terms of both gameplay and graphics, and there's pressure on it to redefine the third-person shooter genre.
The story of the game will be focused on JD Fenix, the son of Marcus, and his encounter with a new enemy, called The Swarm, and limited information has been offered so far about the multiplayer mode.
Gears of War 4 will get a multiplayer beta on April 18 for those who have tried out the Ultimate Edition on the Xbox One or the PC, and one week later for the general public.
The shooter will be offered only on the Microsoft home consoles on October 11 of this year.