With the upcoming sequel nearing its release, developer The Coalition has released a prologue gameplay video for the first 20 minutes of "Gears of War 4."
The new footage showcases both a refresh for previous events in the franchise, as well as an opening tutorial for "Gears of War 4." For casual players or those new to the series, there is also a brief introduction from studio head Rod Fergusson lead campaign designer Matt Searcy.
On the gameplay video's announcement posted on the Xbox Newswire, community manager Liam Ashley mentions that the video, instead of a cinematic trailer, is taken directly from the first 20 minutes of the full version of "Gears of War 4." Ashley states: "Dropping players straight into the action at the opening of the game, Prologue immerses you in a series of pivotal moments from the Gears of War universe never before seen in a Gears videogame – including Emergence Day and a key battle from the Pendulum Wars."
Meanwhile, although the prologue video reminisces much of the past — including a re-appearance by Marcus Fenix' Delta Squad member Dominic Santiago — the footage also touches on the in-between events leading to "Gears of War 4." The upcoming sequel is set 25 years after the finale of "Gears of Wars 3." In addition, instead of focusing on the franchise's main character, the upcoming game showcases a new fight of JD, the son of Marcus Fenix, against a new enemy, the Swarm.
"Gears of War 4" has a global release date of Oct. 11 exclusively for the Xbox One and PC. There is also a 4-day early access bundle for hardcore fans, with the game going live on Oct. 7. Aside from the early access, pre-order bonuses like in-game skins, the backwards-compatible collection of previous "Gears of War" games, and a limited edition Xbox One S bundles are also available.
