E3 07: Gears of War - hands-on

News
By published

New multiplayer mode, maps, and story missions for PC version revealed

It's been about 8 months since Gears of War's orgiastic celebration of blood, guts, and in-your-face visceral gameplay upped the ante for shooters when it debuted on the Xbox 360. This week, game designer Cliff Bleszinski finally acknowledged what gamers have been expecting for quite some time, that Gears of War would be blasting its way to the PC.

This holiday season, both XP and Vista users can look forward to five new chapters added to the story mode, a new multiplayer mode, and 3 new maps. The new missions will take place after Marcus escapes from his parents' home, and will feature a boss fight with the Brumak, the giant gun-strapped Locust that you only got to see chasing after Marcus during the cut scene from the original.

Dubbed King of the Hill, the new multiplayer mode plays a lot like Annex. Each round will feature one static control point. But unlike Annex, you'll need to remain in the control point once it's been captured to score points for your team. You'll also be able to self resurrect up to two times each time you spawn. Because of this, it's much harder to down opponents from a distance, and being able to jump back into the action without waiting to respawn ramps up the new mode's pacing.

Below: Gears of War guru Cliffy B fights a Brumak