It's been nearly two years since the lastGears of Wargame gracedXboxconsoles everywhere and more than four years since MarcusFenix'sstory came to a close.

Fans have been waiting patiently for a return to cover-based shooting and chainsaws: thankfully, Microsoft had something up its sleeve for E3. The wait is finally over: the nextGears of Wargame is officially in development.

Gears of Warisback, true ... butthis isn'ta simple carbon copy of the games that came before it. Sure,there'sstill plenty of gratuitously huge armor, gun-mounted chainsaws and gore, but fans expecting more of the exact same are in for a surprise.

First and foremost,Gears of Warisn'tsimplyGears of War结束了——从演示,the official title of the latest entry in the series is simply titledGears 4.

There'salso a new protagonist: while the charactersweren'texactly fleshed out during the demo, it appears as if the leadcharacter'sname is Jamie — and hedoesn'tappear to have any connection to series lead MarcusFenix.

Strangely enough, it appears as if the Locust are no where to be found, either: the only enemies shown in the demo appear to beanimalisticbeasts, quadrupeds thatdon'tseem to have any strategic intelligence — thoughit'shard to really tell based on the short demo that Microsoft presented.

That being said,it'snot as ifGears 4is completely separated from its predecessors: the Lancer makes its triumphant return, as does theGnashershotgun. The trademarkGears of Warviolence is definitely intact, if not quite as overblown as it was inGears of War 3.

The demo shown also hearkened back to the series' darker roots: thisisn'tthe loud,explosion-filledbro-festof later games, but quieter, more intimate.There'sa clear focus on these two characters, and while things may change before release, the attention to detail and pacing are certainly a welcome change. Of course, there's also a giant lightning tornado, so it's not as if the whole game will be nothing but walking around.

Ifyou'reso inclined, you can check out the full demo for yourself down below:

On top of all that, The Coalition confirmed the rumors:Gears of War: Ultimate Editionis anHDremaster of the original game,rebuiltfrom the ground up to work on theXboxOne. While no footage was shown at the conference, Coalition producer RodFergussonconfirmed that the game would run in full1080pat 60fps— even inmultiplayer.

2015 may be the year ofHalo 5: Guardians,but if things go according to plan, 2016 might just be the year ofGears.

Sadly,there'sstill a bit of a wait left before you can get your hands on a Lancer again:Gears 4is scheduled for a Holiday 2016 release.

Stay tuned for moreE3 2015 coverageall week from TechTimes and T-Lounge.

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