Gears of War 2 out November 7th

November 7th is the worldwide release date for Gears of War 2, Epic's Cliff Bleszinski announced tonight.

Speaking at Microsoft's E3 2008 press briefing, Bleszinski also spoke of a five-player co-op mode called 'Horde'. Players will take on "wave after wave of progressively tougher Locusts", he explained.

He also played through a significant chunk of a new level in two-player co-op with producer Rod Fergusson controlling Dom while Cliff meted out the Marcus fury.

The visually stunning demo level saw legions of Locust on epic battlefields, massive post-apocalyptic skylines and tussles with Brumaks and a range of new enemies - including a grenade-slinger, some rodent-like knee-biters and a chap with a flamethrower. Other Locusts were able to use grapple hooks to climb onto platforms from below.

The flamethrower was a bit of a highlight - as was the use of fire in general during an extensive burning building section, which also included a bit of humour with an elevator ride in a toppled building.

Plus there was extensive "meat-shield" action - Marcus grabbing a Locust and using it as movable cover as he descended a staircase at speed into hordes of enemies.

Check back soon for in-depth impressions on Microsoft's Xbox 360 exclusive, which we should be playing for ourselves later today in the US and reporting on thereafter. We'll also get more from Cliff on the Horde mode, which sounds like it has an interesting siege premise.