Gears of War in October?

By Tom Bramwell Published 17 July, 2006

Seems to be wishful thinking.

Gears of War may be out by the end of the year - that's the plan anyway - but there were strong suggestions this weekend that it might turn up sooner than expected.

That's because on Friday the official Xbox.com page for the game briefly listed an October 2nd date, reflecting the date retailer EBgames.com has been using for a while.

But don't get too excited, because Microsoft's not so sure. "There's no official date set yet," US reps said on Friday, which suggests a clerical error rather than an early hint.

It was the same story when we spoke to Microsoft UK this morning. "I'm not aware of them announcing any release date," a spokesperson said, promising to get back to us.

"We haven't announced anything for the UK and Europe," she added.

For more on Gears of War, see what designer Cliff Bleszinski said during a recent interview with Xbox.com.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • alimokrane #1 6 years ago

    My money is on November 17th, 2006!

  • darkbhudda #2 6 years ago

    As long as it comes out in Oz at the same time I'm happy.

    Oh, and at the same time as the PS3 as well. Just for a laugh.

    Is it true what they have been showing is in-game and not pre-rendered cutscenes?

  • jack_klugman #3 6 years ago

    This has to be the most bland-looking and tediously over-hyped game of recent time.

  • nick303 #4 6 years ago

    Ohh, that would be on my birthday if it came out on the 2nd October. Nice

  • Triggerhappytel #5 6 years ago

    "This has to be the most bland-looking and tediously over-hyped game of recent time."

    Agreed. Run, hide, shoot. Run, hide, shoot. Repeat ad nauseum.

    Touting it as the new Halo... don't make me laugh.

  • manic_mouse #6 6 years ago

    Mass Effect will be much better. :)

  • trevd72 #7 6 years ago

    i am excited for the game but it could end up being like that other over hyper pile of poo that came out on the xbox....cant remember the name but that was an over the shoulder shouter with online stuff and i think you played as 3 different people one was a lizard.....so good cant remember the name....

  • Xerx3s #8 6 years ago

    Brute force?

  • nickthegun #9 6 years ago

    @ Northy - Unreal Tournament and all its various updates are some of the best and most innovative FPS games ever. UT was my FPS of choice for years, literally, until UT2004 came out. Their pedigree in producing engines and deathmatch games is pretty much without question.

    However, they really seem to struggle in the step between having a terrific engine and gameplay mechanics and shoehorning a decent story into it.

    The original Unreal wasnt great (pretty, though) Unreal 2 was judged pretty harshly, but it wasnt the greatest. The story was derivative and the level design was very so so and, although its only published by DE, Pariah was a load of shit.

    So, yeah, they have got a lot to prove in the single player market, but if they manage to mesh their mad skillz with tech and mechanics together with a decent story, it could be something great.

  • LPXO #10 6 years ago


    Brute Force, yeah that turned out to be a sack of shit.

    I'm looking forward to this, seems like the only decent game on the 360 coming out soon(ish). Hopefully it has a good online mode.

  • The-Bodybuilder #11 6 years ago

    >"Agreed. Run, hide, shoot. Run, hide, shoot. Repeat ad nauseum.
    "

    If you simplify ANY game to it's bare fundamentals, then they all sound like that above.

    pro evo? kick ball.
    HL2? shoot stuff
    manager sims? excel spreadhseet
    j-rpgs? run around with spiky haired hero and giant sword.

  • jack_klugman #12 6 years ago

    I'm looking forward to this, seems like the only decent game on the 360 coming out soon(ish). Hopefully it has a good online mode.

    Stick with Mass Effect, son. It'll satisfy all your derivative science fiction needs.

  • darkbhudda #13 6 years ago

    So am I the only one who enjoyed Brute Force then? What exactly did people hate about it?

  • wayn3h #14 6 years ago

    damnit Xerx3s I was about to write the same thing. xD

  • NthSimulachum #15 6 years ago

    The story is being done by Eric Nylund, and he wrote the Halo novels.

    Deus ex machinas were surprisingly thin on ground (the Keyes loop was very cunning).

    I'm excited!

  • InfiniteFury #16 6 years ago

    Please tell me it has space marines fighting an alien scourge. That would be mindblowing.

  • LPXO #17 6 years ago

    Mass Effect looks great but it's a totally different type of game.. and it's not out till next year I don't think.

  • Steroyd #18 6 years ago

    Gears of war looks as generic as hell with great graphics.

    reminds me of COD games.

  • Machetazo #19 6 years ago

    I agree with you, jack, on both your comments. I wish more noise was being made about Mass Effect, I want to know more about it. The coverage it got at E3 was enough to colour me very interested. Funnily enough, the Gears coverage had almost the absolute opposite effect. I can definitely identify with jack's "bland" comment. That's exactly what it struck me as.

    Consider (anyone) going to this page: http://www.oxmpodcast.com/, too, as this week, the Project Director of Mass Effect was interviewed (an interview with Cliffy B of the Gears team features in show 16, as well.)
    Edited by Machetazo at 17/07/06 @ 15:54

  • ChromeMud #20 6 years ago

    I will reserve judgement for when it finaly comes out.
    As for now it's looking promising.

  • morriss #21 6 years ago

    Your missus. Large portion. YES!

  • GingerMagician #22 6 years ago

    Gears looks promising - as does Mass Effect (assuming I can ever find the time to devote to it).

    Bioshock's the one I'm really liking the look and sound of.

  • Xerx3s #23 6 years ago

    Stick with Mass Effect, son. It'll satisfy all your derivative science fiction needs.

    Why not buy both? (unless you can't spare another 70 €)

    So am I the only one who enjoyed Brute Force then? What exactly did people hate about it?

    BF was entertaining but nothing more. ;)

    damnit Xerx3s I was about to write the same thing. xD

    It wasn't my fault! Games made me do it!

    The story is being done by Eric Nylund, and he wrote the Halo novels.

    Pretty much enjoyed his writings. :)

    Please tell me it has space marines fighting an alien scourge. That would be mindblowing.

    Hate to disappoint you but it hasn't got aliens from outer space.

    Machetazo; GoW is out pretty soon. Obviously they are ramping up the PR machine on that. ME isn't due for a while. Releasing to much info now has the wrong effect. There is also no point in doing PR for it now. And that's even besides the fact that they don't want the competition to steal the concept. I think that if the game is for Q1 2k7, you might expect the PR campaign to set into motion at 11-06 at the earliest. :\

    I'm really looking forward to this. Bet that EG will give it a controversial 7.0.

  • JediMasterMalik #24 6 years ago

    It should be a good game. But then agaion Killzone "should" have been a good game, and that turned out pretty average. Hopefully the extensive hype around the game will pay off, unfortunately for new IP's it rarely does (again refer to Killzone). Or maybe I'm just being pessimistic. ;)

    Still I think it will be run gun, and dumb.

    To whoever spaid that all games are like that if you break them down - You're wrong, some games have so many factors which combine well into a single game that breaking them down would simply give you lots of factors, many of which can not be ignored. A great example is the upcoming Spore, or even Oblivion (though I'm still somewhat dissapointed with it).
    Edited by JediMasterMalik at 17/07/06 @ 16:24

  • teabagger #25 6 years ago

    Well, whenever it is signals the time for me to invest in a 360.

  • Machetazo #26 6 years ago

    Xerx3s writes:
    "ME isn't due for a while. Releasing to much info now has the wrong effect. There is also no point in doing PR for it now. And that's even besides the fact that they don't want the competition to steal the concept. I think that if the game is for Q1 2k7, you might expect the PR campaign to set into motion at 11-06 at the earliest. :\ "

    Fair enough. Yeah, I can see how giving too much info out now isn't too smart. I saw a video of ME today. That was some staggering stuff, that they showed (and not just what hey showed, but the potential that lies beyond that.) It's not too difficult to understand why it's not coming out for a fair while yet.

  • Metalfish #27 6 years ago

    Just completed knights of the old republic II (literally, like, 10 minutes ago, rubbish halo 2-esque ending, mind). That and its prequel have me in high hopes for ME. And yeah GoW is still filed under "wait for more info/demo" for me.

  • Xerx3s #28 6 years ago

    Or maybe I'm just being pessimistic. ;)

    A good thing in the gaming industry I would say. Better to be pessimistic and be supprised by a semi good game than to be optimistic and be disappointed by a semi good game.

    Fair enough. Yeah, I can see how giving too much info out now isn't too smart. I saw a video of ME today. That was some staggering stuff, that they showed (and not just what hey showed, but the potential that lies beyond that.) It's not too difficult to understand why it's not coming out for a fair while yet.

    It's a bit like halo 2 & 3. They open with a very short film showing ingame stuff that really says nothing. Then they give a news blackout for about a year or so and use that to build momentum for the games. One or two months before the game launches, they open the PR offensive and overwhelm ppl with it. Tried & working tactic.

    Anyway, I'm not even looking that much forward to the game itself. I really want the coop & multiplayer.

  • effinwooly #29 6 years ago

    excellent ! cant wait.................

  • Skooch #30 6 years ago

    Geez, there's just no pleasing some people.....I found COD2 to be a great game, which looked good, played well and had great set pieces, I don't understand all the criticism. If GoW is a dark and twisted third person take on this style of gameplay then I'll be happy.

    What are you exactly expecting in a third person shooter anyway? Rockets and starships, fluffly aliens, growing veggies, music synthesis????

  • cyber_nicco #31 6 years ago

    I saw this demoed on the G4 tv network, and I thought the combat and destructable environments looked quite good. Nice graphics, too.

    Of course, I don't know about the story, pacing, level-design, etc, but what I saw I liked. I think with shooters the key ingredient is immersion. When one crosses that line and feels really "there". Sure, story, graphics, sound, controls, all conspire to remove one from the experience if done poorly. If done right, it doesn't matter (to me, at least) if it really boils down to being a straightforward shooter. For me it is being in a different place (mentally) doing exciting things.

    I am hopeful that this will at least be good...

  • Xerx3s #32 6 years ago

    Fluffy aliens would be a welcome change... ;)

  • Mordum #33 6 years ago

    Well, all the 'hands on previews' I've read have been positive about this game. So if I'm to listen to the people that have actually spent some time with the game, then there's every reason to be looking forward to this one. Although first I'm going to have Dead Rising, Test Drive: Unlimited, Virtua Tennis 3, Splinter Cell: DA, Rainbow Six: Vegas, etc... to work through, so it might work out better for me if its delayed until November/December sometime... although then I'll have Forza 2, Crackdown, etc... Sod it, release it in January when I should have some free time.

    What we'll get in October will probably be the 'Live' demo of Gears of War, I'm not expecting this game 'till mid November at the earliest.

  • Calgon #34 6 years ago

    I think some of the members here have a case of EGatitis, which is simply going against whats popular to appear more hardcore, some are simply trolls.

    I had a wallpaper of the 'Berserker' for months after I first saw it, it looks brilliant, I actually love the art direction in the game I've seen so far(including the buildings and environments ect), the story ties in with it obviously(or should that be the other way around?). It deffinately shows promise to me, I think if they pull off what they were aiming for, it could be a massive hit because casual and hardcore alike seem to be keeping their eye on this. I think both GOW and ME will be decent at the very least but whether they will be "must buys" will have to wait untill we see final builds and reviews of them, both are worth keeping track of though IMO.
    Edited by Calgon at 17/07/06 @ 19:42

  • IAmBatman #35 6 years ago

    > BF was entertaining but nothing more.

    Well shit, what a horrible thing for a piece of entertainment software to be. Crawl out of your own arse. It turns out you're meant to enjoy games!

  • Bates #36 6 years ago

    "I think some of the members here have a case of EGatitis, which is simply going against whats popular to appear more hardcore, some are simply trolls."

    Oh, the ironing it be delicious :)

    Ever occur to you that people just think the game looks dull? I certainly think it does, I can tell you.
    Edited by Bates at 17/07/06 @ 23:14

  • bauhaus #37 6 years ago

    The co-op element to this looks sublime

  • The-Bodybuilder #38 6 years ago

    >"Ever occur to you that people just think the game looks dull? I certainly think it does, I can tell you."

    Yes, because judging games on your own perception based on pics rather than positive reviews, or even [God forbid] hans-on is the smart thing to do.

  • EmiliasHorse #39 6 years ago

    It sadens me that so many people who visit this site HATE games in general. Stop moaning for 5 seconds and remember back to the days when you actually looked forward to something. Jaded and sad.
    I for one am proud to say this game is looking very exciting and well worth looking forward to with glee.

    Now play nice people

  • Feanor #40 6 years ago

    The RE 4 influence is what has me interested in GoW, that and all the glowing hands-on previews from E3.

  • glaeken #41 6 years ago

    Just an FYI for those mentioning Mass Effect it is listed as being up for released this year so barring any delays it could turn up around the same time as GOW. The recent video of ME on Live made it look very promising. Probably more so than GOW.

  • JediMasterMalik #42 6 years ago

    ^That all depends on perspective and opinion, though I would agree, I'd rather have ME then GoW.

  • Calgon #43 6 years ago

    The RE 4 influence is what has me interested in GoW...

    Do you mean the influence it had on you? I was under the impression the influence of GOW came from the first tech demo for UE3(maybe they had planned it way before then too?) which was before anyone had seen RE4(as I remember it anyway). Either way it does have the survival horror theme about it which is why it caught my attention, I cant understand some people here having a problem with anyone hoping that the game turns out well, rather than turning it into a ME vs GOW debate(would you rather have the choice of 2 great games or 1?).
    Edited by Calgon at 19/07/06 @ 03:05