Gears of War 4 Story Details Emerge

Details on the upcoming Gears of War 4 have been leaked through the cover story of Game Informer’s April edition, which features a full exposition on the third person cover shooter.

The main details, as reported by GameSpot, focus on the gameplay and story aspects of the game, the first in the series following the franchise’s departure from Epic Games and acquisition by Microsoft and The Coalition.

Players in Gears of War 4 will take control of JD Fenix, the son the series’ main protagonist Marcus Fenix. Cooperative mode in the game will only allow for two players to work through the campaign simultaneously, down from four players in Gears of War 3.

GameSpot reported that player one will always play as JD Fenix, while player two will be able to choose between either of the supporting characters, Kait and Del. Game Informer’s article revealed that although the three characters will stick together for most of the game, parts of the story will see them split up. This will lead to differences in events depending on which character player two plays as.

The story of Gears of War 4 will take place over a period of 24 hours, and will take place 25 years after the events of Gears of War 3. Since the defeat of the Locust horde, the remnants of humanity live corralled by the COG forces, living in walled compounds. A splinter group forms outside of this new civilisation, aptly named the Outsiders. Producer Rod Fergusson referred to this group as a mix between hippies and a 1970s motorcycle gang.

Gears of War 4 has already drawn stellar praise from a number of major industry names. Xbox’s marketing executive Aaron Greenberg said that his mind was blown by the game, stating that the series—one of Xbox’s most famous exclusives—is in ‘very good hands’ following the transition from Epic to The Coalition. Likewise, the franchise’s creator Cliff Bleszinski said that he is very pleased with how the game is shaping up.

Gears of War 4 will release in autumn 2016 on Xbox One.