Cliff Bleszinski, Epic Games'in Gears of War 4 için orijinal fikrini açıkladı.

The new Gears of War video game, titled Gears of War: E-Day, is set to release this year on PC and Xbox Series X/S, although the release date remains unknown. The Coalition’s upcoming title already received praise from game series creator Cliff Bleszinski, but in the latest report, he revealed the initial plan for Gears of War 4, developed by Epic Games.

As we know, after Cliff Bleszinski left the company, Microsoft bought the rights to Gears of War franchise, and the new game, Gears of War 4, was released by The Coalition studio in 2016. As reported by Twisted Voxel, Bleszinski’s initial plan in Epic Games’ version of Gears of War was totally different from what we saw in The Coalition’s title.

JD Fenix, the son of Marcus Fenix, would still have been the main character, and it was planned to show how the character struggles with inner demons, which would become a serious addiction for him, affecting the development of events. The gameplay was also largely changed. Blazinski wanted to show the struggle of "humans against humans," whereas after the events of the third part, the mutants were supposed to turn to dust, and the surviving parts of the Locust Horde were to fall into a deep slumber. Moreover, groups of surviving humans would be engaged in burying the sleeping Locust Horde deep underground.

Nevertheless, the game was supposed to feature new types of enemies as well, namely cannibals, whose design was inspired by the Mad Max franchise and the Reavers from the TV series Firefly. But the appearance of the aforementioned Locust Horde was planned as a twist at the end of the game, which would appear in a new form with wings. Cliff Bleszinski even came up with a slogan that would be used in the marketing of Gears of War 4:

“Before, they came from below. Now, they come from above”

Unfortunately, all these ideas had to be discarded after the developer left Epic Games and the franchise passed into Microsoft's hands, but it would be interesting to see how the fate of Gears of War would have turned out in that case.

However, this is not the only part of Gears of War that could have been released but never saw the light of day. Not long ago, Liam Jay McIntyre, the voice actor for JD Fenix, stated that The Coalition studio considered creating Gears of War 6 instead of Gears of War: E-Day. This decision was made because the team wanted to create something new, rather than another continuation of the story.

Gears of War: E-Day is a prequel to the whole Gears of War saga, as it takes place 14 years before the original title, where we will see the first days of Emergence Day and focus on Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago. The game will officially be shown next month, during Gears of War: E-Day Direct, which will happen immediately after Xbox Games Showcase (June 7) and last for 30 minutes. The release date is rumored to be this September.

There is also a Netflix adaptation of the game, directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train, The Fall Guy, Atomic Blonde), which is still in development after the initial announcement in 2022.

Are you disappointed about scrapped plans for the original Gears of War 4, developed by Cliff Bleszinski? Share your thoughts in the comments below!