It's been nearly two years since the last Gears of War game graced Xbox consoles everywhere and more than four years since Marcus Fenix's story came to a close.

Fans have been waiting patiently for a return to cover-based shooting and chainsaws: thankfully, Microsoft had something up its sleeve for E3. The wait is finally over: the next Gears of War game is officially in development.

Gears of War is back, true ... but this isn't a simple carbon copy of the games that came before it. Sure, there's still plenty of gratuitously huge armor, gun-mounted chainsaws and gore, but fans expecting more of the exact same are in for a surprise.

First and foremost, Gears of War isn't simply Gears of War anymore — judging by the end of the demonstration, the official title of the latest entry in the series is simply titled Gears 4.

There's also a new protagonist: while the characters weren't exactly fleshed out during the demo, it appears as if the lead character's name is Jamie — and he doesn't appear to have any connection to series lead Marcus Fenix.

Strangely enough, it appears as if the Locust are no where to be found, either: the only enemies shown in the demo appear to be animalistic beasts, quadrupeds that don't seem to have any strategic intelligence — though it's hard to really tell based on the short demo that Microsoft presented.

That being said, it's not as if Gears 4 is completely separated from its predecessors: the Lancer makes its triumphant return, as does the Gnasher shotgun. The trademark Gears of War violence is definitely intact, if not quite as overblown as it was in Gears of War 3.

The demo shown also hearkened back to the series' darker roots: this isn't the loud, explosion-filled bro-fest of later games, but quieter, more intimate. There's a clear focus on these two characters, and while things may change before release, the attention to detail and pacing are certainly a welcome change. Of course, there's also a giant lightning tornado, so it's not as if the whole game will be nothing but walking around.

If you're so inclined, you can check out the full demo for yourself down below:

On top of all that, The Coalition confirmed the rumors: Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is an HD remaster of the original game, rebuilt from the ground up to work on the Xbox One. While no footage was shown at the conference, Coalition producer Rod Fergusson confirmed that the game would run in full 1080p at 60 fps — even in multiplayer.

2015 may be the year of Halo 5: Guardians, but if things go according to plan, 2016 might just be the year of Gears.

Sadly, there's still a bit of a wait left before you can get your hands on a Lancer again: Gears 4 is scheduled for a Holiday 2016 release.


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