Ive just realized Blizzards heroes are basically fantasy Gears of War characters

What's this? Has the Gears of War franchise traded sci-fi aliens for fantasy dragons? No, but I wouldn't blame you for thinking that, because I certainly couldn't help but notice the similarities between the beefy soldiers of Microsoft's third-person shooter series and Warcraft's Thrall as seen in newly-released Blizzard cosplay kits. And hey, that's fine by me - impossible proportions aside, I like the chunky, thick look. Plus, this goes to show how much a nice pair of shoulder pauldrons can really pull an outfit together.

Cosplay has always been a popular past-time with gamers, but it's only been recently that companies have started to release high-res assets as reference guides for fans, such as Guerrilla's recent Horizon: Zero Dawn Aloy cosplay guide. With the 10 kits provided by Blizzard earlier this week, those so inclined can now see virtually every piece of a character's outfit from multiple angles, helping cosplayers nail down the fine details of their costume.

Among the kits released there are your pretty standard heroes such as Warcraft's Thrall, Jaina, Sylvanas, and Tyrande, as well as Diablo 3's Johanna - or "armored orc," "mage lady," "undead elf," "not undead elf" and "armored lady" for those of you not familiar with the characters - but there's also some funnier and more absurd characters on display as well. Would you rather dress up as a bipedal bull with a guitar in the shape of an axe? How about a giant alien slug with four arms? There's kits for those, as well as kits for alternate skins of the aforementioned heroes.

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.