A Cog in the Machine

Besides adding a number to the end of its name, what's new about Gears of War 2? A lot.
7/7/2008 1:00 AM | 1 Comments | Page 2 of 4

Crispy Gamer: One of the biggest criticisms about the first game was the story, or lack thereof. It sounds like you're doing a better job this time.

Bleszinski: We are. And there are multiple ways we're doing that. We're repeating the objectives and what's going on a more regular basis, we're using discoverables like a newspaper that might tell you about Emergence Day, and there are levels that have loudspeakers and characters who comment on what's going on. And we do have some cut scenes, but we're not fans of long cut scenes because it's a videogame and you want to play.

Crispy Gamer: It seemed, though, that some of the story problems in the first game could've been alleviated if that little movie had been integrated into the game. Why didn't you do that?

Bleszinski: We wanted to get you right into the action. But in hindsight, if we were to do it again we probably would've had it come up. When you fire up Gears 2, there is a two- to three-minute, "Previously on '24,' " kind of thing to catch people up to speed.

But it's kind of good problem to have if the biggest criticism of your game is that people wanted to know more.

Crispy Gamer: To flesh out the story you brought in writer Joshua Ortega who has written such comics as "Spider-Man Unlimited" and "Star Wars Tales", as well as his own novel "((FREQUENCIES))." Why him?

Bleszinski: I met him one day when I was up at Microsoft. We just totally bonded over sci-fi and graphic novels. I hadn't read any of his stuff, so he sent me a bunch and it was all really good. He's just fuckin' eager, he's the most eager guy. The first couple of months we thought we were going to strangle him because he'd send these emails where he'd ask if someone was left-handed or right-handed and questions like, "What's Cole's blood type?" But we really mind-melded on a lot of stuff.

Crispy Gamer: Will we, in the new game, get to see any of the Locust's society, any of their cities?

Bleszinski: You very well might...

Crispy Gamer: Do they actually call themselves Locust, or is that just a slang term we use for them like Charlie or Jerry?

Bleszinski: No, they call themselves Locust. Humans call them Grubs.

Crispy Gamer: Will you be addressing our racist attitudes towards them in the game?

Bleszinski: Well, that's kind of part of war...

Crispy Gamer: Have you added any new weapons this time out?

Bleszinski: Yes, though we haven't revealed them all. The Scorcher is a blast. That's a flame-thrower. There's something so satisfying when you use it in multiplayer, especially when you get the Active Reload going and it shoots flames even further. The semi-automatic pistol is also good, though it's a little too powerful now. We have to dial it back. But there's something great about taking someone hostage and using them as a human shield and using that pistol to cap other guys in the knees.

Crispy Gamer: Yeah, when you use a Locust as a, well, not a human shield but a Locust shield, can you only use a pistol?