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The E3 reveal of Gears of War 4

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With Gears of War 4, Fergusson explained, "We’re going back to something personal, intimate, dark, and mysterious, being afraid of the boogeyman."Gears of War was "a Monster game," and as the series advanced, by Gears of War 3 "you’ve got a war game. The Locust is an enemy army you know how to defeat, Wretches aren’t scary anymore." So The Coalition is returning to what made the first game so interesting and original — "that sense of mystery, things going bump in the night," as Fergusson puts it.The story that conveys all this, as we saw from the first trailer, focuses on younger soldiers — JD and Kait are not the battle-hardened war veterans Marcus Fenix was. "You look at someone in, say, their mid-20s, they have a lot to be developed. There’s a greater opportunity. The impact of the game on the character can be greater."Furthermore, "The stories have changed a lot from 10 years ago. Back in the day people expected stories to be black and white, there’s good and bad. Today, people want a lot of grey, a lot moral ambiguity, things that are open to interpretation about what’s right and wrong."Gears of War 4 will innovate on the series, Fergusson promised, he admitted that The Coalition must "show the respect for the franchise…. We have to do it right before we do it different…. We’re going to treat it properly. Then we can talk about greater innovations."The team is already well on its way to understanding precisely what makes Gears of War a great series (separate from the fact that Fergusson has more than a decade of experience on the series under his belt). Gears of War: Ultimate Edition allowed The Coalition to "learn what it was like to make a Gears of War game…. In many ways it was like shipping a new game. At no point did it feel like a re-issue. We went through the fires of what it takes to make a game."Fergusson has always considered Gears an escape from other modern shooters. "Rather than follow those games, I’d rather lead by being true to what makes Gears Gears," Fergusson said. "That’s why we’re going back to co-op, the two of you sharing that experience. It’s awesome."

Mitch Dyer is an Editor at IGN. Talk to him about Dota 2, movies, books, and other stuff on Twitter at @MitchyD and subscribe to MitchyD on Twitch