Gears of War 4 Latest Roundup: New Storyline And Beta Testing Kicks Off

Gears of War is reportedly one of the most successful video games ever created. Originally created by developer Epic Games, the game was well-received by fans and earned a huge following before being sold to Microsoft.

Before moving on with the franchise under Microsoft-owned studio The Coalition, a preproduction was already underway for more than six months before the buyout.

With the 'Gears of War 4' being prepared for release, the storyline will shift its focus from protagonist Marcus Fenix to a whole new generation of characters in the fourth installment. The forthcoming game is also believed to be a start of the franchise's new trilogy under a different supervision. In order to transition from old to new, game developer exec Rod Fergusson said a familiar backdrop is necessary to lay a continuing foundation for the sequel.

"We talked about things like alternate planets and things like that [but] we wanted to stay on Sera because we wanted to have the opportunity to revisit old places and use specific weapons, to have these touchstones to the past," remarked Fergusson as quoted by Christian Today.

So how is Coalition's new vision different from Epic's original vision for the game?

Information is extremely scarce but according to a report by Gamespot, Epic originally envisioned the game with Marcus Fenix's son assuming the lead role from his father with a new Swarm enemy type. Game developers at Coalition strongly indicate they would have none of it except for a few pieces from the original storyline.

"We started talking about what the Swarm would be at Epic, but [The Coalition] completely changed it as we developed the game on our own. The name stuck, but none of the monsters stuck," said Xbox chief Phil Spencer as quoted by Gamespot.

Apart from the storyline, Epic's original GoW 4 was largely designed for mobile and PC gaming with less attention given on the console-focused platform especially with Microsoft's Xbox.

"You can see their focus shifting towards games like 'Fortnite' and 'Paragon' and stuff like that," observed Fergusson as mentioned in a story published by Vine Report.

Meanwhile, snapshots from Gears 4's recent London Beta Tour seem to confirm what looked like a Swarm Drone. Most of the pictures, however, show very little or nothing at all as reported by Gamingbolt.

Silicon Valley giant Microsoft acquired the franchise from Epic Games in 2013 under a new developer. The Coalition is expected to roll out GoW 4 later this fall with gradual beta testing roll-out throughout April.