Why I Don’t Love The New GoW2 Trailer

Epic and Microsoft have released a new trailer for Gears of War 2, “Rendezvous”. Buying GoW2 is a foregone conclusion – this game is going to kick ass! But there’s something that’s bugging me about the trailer. Something that leaves a bit of an empty feeling in my stomach. It’s not what’s in the trailer. It’s what is missing from it.

Gears of War was an intriguing version of the tried and true humans and aliens engulfed in epic warfare formula. The setup and the enemies were compelling. The execution was great. I didn’t need much more back story to the conflict because the situations that my characters found themselves in were engaging by themselves. “Military bad ass grunts in the thick of future warfare.” Cool, watch them kick ass! See how they operate in tight situations! Listen to them banter as they stare death in the eye! You can get enough mileage from this closeup, focused perspective. The original Mad World trailer executed on the formula perfectly, as did the game.

But really, GoW was only hinting at the back story at large. Those hints were intriguing, but never really elaborated on. The female “eye in the sky” op that we meet in an early cutscene? We never go back to her. What really happened at Emergence Day? We have no idea. Who are the Locust and where did they come from? I can’t tell you for the life of me.

I do expect to learn a lot more about this background in Gears of War 2. It’s a direction the game has to take in order to stay compelling, lest it just feel like a rehash of the first title.
And that’s where the GoW 2 trailers are falling flat. The Rendezvous trailer is a reimagining of the Mad World trailer. Dreamy atmosphere, focus on a single badass soldier with a do-or-die attitude. Two factions at war. A few new enemies. A lot more guys on screen. Cool.

But who are these people? What is this all about? What is the context?

I don’t see anything yet that is promising the bigger picture. Oh, I don’t expect the answers now, I will happily play the game for that. But I am waiting for more clues that hint at the universe at large. Hints that assure me that the world of Gears of War is more than just a bunch of military grunts fighting in the same situations as they did in GoW 1.

It’s still an extremely pretty, heart-pounding trailer. I like it. I’m just thinking that it should be more – because this is the second game in the series, not the first one.

Update: Check out these snippets of gameplay footage! Looking awesome. There’s a lot more information on Gears of War 2 on GearsOfWar-Two.com.