An exclusive look at the PC edition of the revolutionary shooter from inside Epic Games studiosEpic Games, the studio behind renowned PC franchise Unreal, surprised fans when the studio’s latest opus, Gears of War, was developed and released for a console—the Xbox 360—last fall. The sci-fi shooter was explicitly designed for a couch-bound experience, reducing the dependence on split-second timing and accuracy afforded by a keyboard and mouse by introducing a strategic covering mechanic that afforded excellent targeting ability when stationary while reducing weapon precision when running. It might seem surprising, then, to see Gears of War come to Windows PCs this fall. However, after visiting Epic’s North Carolina headquarters for a Canadian exclusive preview of Gears of War for PC, we can happily report that Windows gamers will be in for a treat when the game is released this month. The first thing we noticed was how good it looked. Hailed as one of the most gorgeous and cinematic console games ever made, the PC edition, running at a maximum resolution of 1900 x 1200 on a tricked out box, puts the Xbox 360 version to shame. The scars and cracks on our tree-necked heroes’ war-battered faces are so authentic that we felt as though we could run our fingers through them, and the game’s sprawling and dilapidated urban locales are filled with authentic concrete and stone textures and a terrific amount of debris detail. But there’s more than just improved graphics. Epic created five new single player chapters just for the PC version, effectively adding 20 per cent more length to the campaign mode. Only one of the journalists at the preview event managed to finish the new content—which includes an epic battle with the monstrous Brumak beast previously seen only in Gears of War television commercials—in the two hours we were given to play. We were also shown a pair of new multiplayer maps (the game ships with all existing Xbox 360 maps plus several new ones) as well as an original multiplayer mode that plays like team-based king-of-the-hill with a twist: Hill zones appear in defensible areas. As one Epic programmer put it, “It lets you protect the position and not have your ass hanging out in the wind while you do it.” And if you don’t like any of the maps, new or old, you can create your own. Players will have full access to the latest version of the Unreal game engine to create their own mods and levels. One of Epic’s designers demonstrated how easy it is not only to create simple maps, but also to insert the kind of barriers the game uses for its all-important cover and mantling mechanic. However, the most impressive demonstration we saw was the way a player can swap from keyboard and mouse to gamepad on the fly. The game can distinguish with each passing moment whether you’re using one control method or the other, and on screen cues are dynamically updated so that you are never told to touch the space bar when you’re holding a gamepad or touch the A-button when playing with a keyboard and mouse. We saw some players switching between the two depending on the weapon they were using. One player even used both at the same time. But, regardless of how you choose to play, one thing is certain: The patience of Windows gamers has paid off. Gears of War for the PC is everything it was on the Xbox 360 and more.
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