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Gears of War Visual Exploration
Shacknews has images from a small product information piece about Gears of War. The scans show off a booklet full of beautiful imagery and some interesting insights into the game. From the booklet: "Since Emergence Day, the residents of Sera have been paying the price. Crumbled buildings and ruined monuments loom over the battlefield as somber reminders of what the Gears fight for. The glory of Sera and everything that mankind has struggled to achieve collapses in upon itself, yielding to an unstoppable force. A brutal and protracted war has dashed this planet's veneer to pieces, and left the shattered bits to be picked up by the most unlikely few. The Gears of War continue to turn."
...whether you think this is astroturfing or not-news, I still think this is incredibly riveting.
Am I the only one who believes this sort of thing is going to be the future of video gaming?
Games are just the next level of interactivity. It was books, then radio, then movies, now video games. It's just the next level, and I for one am looking forward to getting some "good literature" out there in the form of video games. Classic storylines that are powerful and mean something and stir something from within us.
The concept of "destroyed beauty" in the article's pictoral essay is quite good imho, and if you like the storylines of games like Half Life, Myst, FFX, or other games with rich, involved storylines, you may find Gears interesting.
Here's hoping they don't b0rk it up and turn it into a cheesy shoot-em-up, but remain true to the concept and retain some of the good storyline.
The only part that I'm worried about is the cheesy cliche'ness of the protagonist, but perhaps they can pull it off.
I'll be watching this one with interest.