We are live at the NYCC Gears of War panel bringing up the news as soon as it comes from the mouths of Josh Ortega, Mike Capps and Randy Faulk (from NECA Toys). - The panel begins with a showing of the video from GDC. - DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint will be publishing a Gears of War comic. They will focus on the many backstories in the universe. - Microsoft wanted to bring in Josh Ortega to write Gears. Mike said jokingly there was no need for Josh since no one that could write the story better than they could. - The characters are so complicated to draw, and that's why you never really saw more than four characters on screen at the same time. This led to the creation of the chainsaw bringing in the close quarters combat so you could see the great detail in each character model. - They looked at every system fromt the "bigger, better, badder" point of view, instead of resting on their laurels for the sequel. - The lead designer from Kill.Switch came over to Microsoft to help work out the cover logistics for Gears. - In terms of story, Mark felt they sort of dropped the ball in their attempt to relay their ideas. They had strong characters, but they felt the characters didn't really have strong motivations. Hence bringing in Josh. - Ortega immediately wanted to expand the story and look more into the universe, and believes this game's story will showcase much more of the rich world Epic created. - The game is made level ideas first, then they write the story and hopefully can fit in everything they want. - They do a ton of research on what people like about playing Gears. Including monitoring pupil dialiation amd wires hooked up to measure brain response. - Everyone at Epic are apparently huge comic nerds. -NECA really want to do everyone and everything from the game, but had to limit the amount of figures they did since they were so detailed. (We'll have pictures up later of all the figures.) - The fan-favorite figure so far is an "exploding head" Locust variant. - A fan asked why the decision was made to bring Dom's wife into the sequel. Josh felt there was a fair amount of folks who like playing as Dom and really wanted to expand his backstory so fans could relate more with the character. - What is most important in your gaming heirarchy (gameplay, graphics, etc.)? Mark informed us graphics hooks you in to want to play. The controls come from you being interested in graphics, and the controls lead to you discovering the gameplay challenges and story. - "You never finished the first game? Can I even take your question?" The fan wanted to know how the war actually started. Josh says we will find out a few more hints about why the war began in the sequel through conversation, but there's no "this is how the war started" moment. - A fan asked if the Locust would be more than just grunting enemies, and if they would be given a voice and motivations in the sequel. Mark's reply: "There has to be a sympathetic evil character. You really have to build archetype characters in a video game. They will become a more sympathetic foil in the sequel." - Will we ever find out why Marcus was in prison? Yeah, but not in detail in the games. Look for more of this story in the comics. - Will there be DLC? A little early to say, but Epic is big on DLC, so you can expect to see something, but it is still really too early. - During the campaign on the first game we got to drive, will there be any vehicles in the sequel? A definitive "you'll see" was given. There will be more variety in the game levels for part II. - No plans for the derrick (revealed in GameInformer) to be involved in multiplayer. - A fan relayed his favorite character was Cole. Mark said thanks, and said Crystal Dynamics has apparently called out Cole as being stereotypical. To which Mark added, "Hello? Lara Croft?" Side note, he is apparently voiced by Terry Tate, office linebacker. How did I not know this? - A fan felt the cover system in Gears was too "sticky." Mark said they really worked on the cover mechanics for part two. Look for more on this issue in May when Epic releases mulitplayer information. - Will there be something cooler than the Hammer of Dawn? Mark replied, "Yeah, I hope so, otherwise we're not doing our job." - Look for better team multiplayer, but news will be officially announced in May. - Will there be 4 player co-op? "No comment." - In regards to this game being more of a war, Mark said he wanted this game to feel much more like D-Day than a small skirmish. - Is Gears 2 going to be awesome? "Absolutely." - Will you be adding more multiplayer modes to compete with GTA 4? "Nobody can compete with GTA 4. We're trying to make the best game we can make. We're not looking to adapt our strategy to take off on other games." - Can you talk about the chainsaw duels? "They are badass. It felt a little random in the first game, so we developed this to overcome the randomness." - They are working out the legal issues to get the movie on track. They have script writers working right now. - A fan asked if they were really going to have the things they showcased into the tech demo at GDC actually in the game. Mark said, "Well, yeah, that's why we built it. We would really like for there to be 200 Locust coming at you on the screen at once." - Will there be Army of Two type revives? Look for an answer in May. - What is it like working with Cliffy B? Jokingly, "He's an insanely creative total primadonna." With that, the panel closed, and I guess you'll just have to hit up Gamervision.com in the future for more updates.