Microsoft may be skipping out on its traditional Gamescom press conference, but the publisher is set to hit San Diego Comic-Con hard. The Xbox One is set to be a major presence at this year's convention — and of course, that means the system's biggest exclusive will also be there.
Back at E3 2016, Gears of War 4 was one of the Xbox One's biggest selling points. Not only would it serve as the first of Microsoft's Play Anywhere titles, but the demo shown was easily one of the most polished trailers of the entire show. On top of all that, the Coalition revealed that the hero of the first three games, Marcus Fenix, would be making his long-awaited return.
One of the problems with SDCC is that, because it follows E3 so closely, most developers simply don't have time to create a new demo or showcase. Comic-Con typically serves as a chance for gamers to play what they saw at the Expo, not a showcase of entirely new content — but Microsoft is bucking that trend.
Not only was an entirely new Gears of War 4 demo released online earlier today, but it revealed that Marcus won't be a casual bystander during the events of the story:
It's a great piece of gameplay, and yet another example of how good Gears 4's weather effects are, but let's be honest: there wasn't much to that demo.
For the most part, there's nothing in the way of new information. Marcus comments on some seriously old ruins, and there are some hints about the Swarm's origins, but that's about it: everything else in the demo is stuff that gamers have seen before. Again, it all looks fantastic: the weather, the lighting, the environments, the weapons and the gameplay all have that distinct Gears of War look and feel ... but it still would have been nice to see something new.
That being said, one could assume that the Coalition is simply trying to avoid spoiling too much of the game: this is the second extended Gears of War 4 demo in just as many months, and the team probably doesn't want to risk giving any of the story's major plot points away.
One thing that was surprising was the frame-rate: perhaps it's just this specific video, but Gears of War 4 looked like it was having trouble keeping up with all of the action happening on-screen. It's surprising simply because of how rock-solid the game has looked up until now: with months left in development, it's probably nothing to worry about, but dropped frames in a Gears of War title are still a shock to see.
Tiny technical glitches aside, Gears 4 is still shaping up to be one of the biggest exclusive titles of 2016 — better yet, there isn't too much longer left to wait.
Gears of War 4 is set to launch on Oct. 11.
