Gears of War 2 in November

The sequel to 2006's infamous third-person shooter is due out in November.

Gears of War was awesome. The game delivered a great video game experience but also packed a mean cinematic visual style that didn't hold anything back. During their keynote at the Game Developers Conference earlier today Microsoft announced that the Gears of War sequel will have a street date in November this year. The game will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360, no plans for a PC port have been revealed at this time. Along with the release date announcement the game's lead designer, Cliff Bleszinski, showcased the game's first teaser trailer at GDC. Check it out below or go download it in high-resolution on Xbox Live Marketplace.



This looks sweet so far. If Epic Games can build on everything that made the first Gears of War great the sequel will be a great accomplishment. The only complaint I had with the first game was a marginally short single-player campaign. Hopefully Gears of War 2 will feature a longer single-player experience. I also hope Epic Games is able to deliver on their now-promised release date. The game studio has a knack for missing deadlines and one can only hope that won't be the case with this release.



Check back to MediaZEALOT as we'll be keeping tabs on the game leading up to its November release.

UPDATE: Epic Games also showcased a tech demo to their new and improved Unreal Engine III at GDC 2008. Check out the video below to see what you can expect to see in Gears of War 2.



Cheers.

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Full Gears of War Action Figure Line-Up Revealed

Images of the fourth figure in NECA's Gears of War Series 1 line are finally released.

Today NECA Toys released images of the fourth figure in their first series of Gears of War figures. The previously unseen figure is a Locust Sniper and should go along well with the already unveiled Marcus Fenix, Augustus Cole, and Locust Drone figures. The action-figure line hits stores in April.

These figures look superb and NECA continues to snap up many of the great available film and video game licenses available. I'm more of a McFarlane fan myself but if NECA keeps getting all the good toy lines I may have to switch over.



NECA isn't stopping with just figures with their Gears of War license, the toy company is also planning to release messenger bags, zippos, hats, and keychains based on the top-selling Xbox 360 game.

Click HERE to visit the official NECA Gears of War site to see more detailed views of the figures and merchandise in the line.

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FILM: New Line Wins the Rights to Gears of War

Epic Games' top-teir shooter hopes to hit the silver screen with New Line Cinema.

Apparently New Line Cinema, led by Robert K. Shayne and Michael Lynne, have bought the rights to the best selling Xbox 360 title Gears of War. The production company, which won the rights to the Escape from New York remake earlier this month (read my casting scoop HERE), has hired Stuart Beattie to pen the script. Beattie's resume features all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Derailed, and Collateral. He also wrote the screenplay for James Mangold's remake of 3:10 to Yuma, a film I'm really looking forward to seeing.

I like the idea of a Gears of War movie. I love the game, and the characters that are a large part of the property, and I think an all-out action epic film adaptation would completely rock. My one concern though is that New Line might try and turn the movie into an intellectual experience. Now, while I'm all for intelligent movies, Gears of War shouldn't be one. The video game is far from smart; dumbed down to the lowest notch and focused completely on action. The plot is flatter than the prairies, the characters don't develop, and everything is turned up to 11. The movie should be done similar to the recent 300, putting action ahead of everything save style. But hey, that's just my opinion.



New Line hasn't yet announced directing or casting choices, but I'll keep you posted as they occur. I just hope this video game adaptation doesn't attain the infinite hiatus status as the Halo movie did.

Cheers.

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