Gears 2 Info Hits The Net News

Ever since confirmation of Gears of War 2 emerged at GDC 2008 earlier in the year, gamers - as you'd expect - have been crawling the walls for more information on the continued adventures of Marcus Fenix and his COG posse.

Some information has now been released, in the form of a Game Informer preview shredded and posted onto NeoGAF's labyrinthine-like forums.

Set six months after Fenix killed General RAAM and obliterated part of a subterranean Locust nest, Gears 2 is naturally to include the various tech improvements detailed at GDC, including soft-body physics, ambient occlution, character lighting, and mass hordes of characters. Besides lifting the bar of visuals on Xbox 360, the game is also set to include drop-in/drop-out multiplayer co-op, a deeper storyline writer by scribe Joshua Ortega, and the usual mix of new weaponry and enemies.

New characters are also being thrown into the "darker and more heartfelt narrative", including Dom's wife Maria, Chairman Prescott (the head of the human resistance against the Locust), along with two new COG members: Dizzy and Tai Kaliso.

Additional Locust types include the shaman-like Kantus, along with "creatures that make the Brumak look like a baby panda bear", according to Cliff "Cliffy B" Bleszinski.

It all sounds like pretty exciting stuff, with Epic also promising further improvements to the multiplayer. Expect lots more info on Gears of War 2 in the run up to its November 2008 launch.