Cliffy B talks up Gears of War 2 story

Epic Games pin-up Cliff Bleszinski has promised us an "even more interesting narrative" in Gears of War 2.

This mountainous task was alluded to in the teaser trailer, apparently: yes, the one where returning protagonist Marcus Phoenix chainsaws a Locust from guts to face.

"We very much listen to criticisms. Narrative is one of those things that is incredibly important in a video game if you played Portal or BioShock. And we definitely recognize that," Cliff Bleszinksi told GameDaily.

"The teaser that we released alludes to an even more interesting narrative set-up for Gears [of War] 2."

Microsoft revealed the Gears of War sequel in its GDC keynote on Wednesday, and had Cliff Bleszinski rip through a paper piece of scenery with a replica Lancer (machine gun with chainsaw bayonet) to announce it would be out this November.

"At these kinds of conventions drama sells and people love theatrics," explained Bleszinski.

"Microsoft came to [Epic] and said they wanted me to chainsaw my way through to the stage. The original idea was to actually have me chainsawing through a backdrop. But the fire marshals nixed that."

Gears of War was monstrously popular when it was released on Xbox 360 in November 2006. One key to its success was drop-in co-operative play, which helped us get past that bit with the Theron Guards.

Bleszinksi appreciates this, and says it also made Gears of War popular with girlfriends.

"The co-op is huge because you get the boyfriend playing the game as Marcus and the girlfriend jumps in as Dom, and then he can guide her through the game. That's cool," he added.

Quite. What would you like to see in the sequel, Eurogamer reader? Four-player co-op?