Subscribers to Game Informer are in luck: The magazine that's sitting in your mailbox contains a ton of Gears of War 2 information, including new screens, plot, new characters, multiplayer info, and new art.
Here's the quick and dirty list:
New characters:
- Tai Kaliso, "a spiritual and meditative warrior from a tradition of honor-bound fighters."
- Chairman Prescott: "an almost dictatorial military leader who nonetheless has made the hard choices necessary to keep humanity alive through decades of warfare. As Gears 2 opens, this leader of the COG forces will deliver a speech to the troops before sending them reeling into the suicidal mission ahead."
- Dizzy: "Dives the massive Derrick on which Delta Squad ascends into the mountains. With a trademark drawl and an insistence on calling his truck "Betty", he's a colorful new addition to the cast.
- Maria Santiago: Dominic's wife. A major part of Gears 2's plot revolves around trying to rescue Maria.
New Features:
- New character lighting: More cinematic and less realistic.
- Use of cover has been changed. It will be harder to get hit while protected, as the character will rest a little further back from the corners.
- Chainsaw Duels: "Expand that gruesome combat mechanic to deliver even more excitement."
- Bigger Boss Battles: More fun and epic in scale. Cliffy B. says: "We have creatures that make the Brumak look like a baby panda bear."
- Drop-In and Out Co-op: Come and go as you please.
- Multiple save files
- Differing difficulty levels in Co-op: So player one can be Casual and player two Hardcore. When players split up, the difficulty levels will as well.
- Easier-than-Casual difficulty level: For the true-newb.
- COG Centaur tank. Takes the best parts of a monster truck and a military tank and mixes 'em up.
- Locust Kantus enemies: Featuring humming, sonic attacks.
- "Shut-Up" Button: During cut-scenes, you'll have the option of hitting this button to skip everything and get to the next level of shooting.
- Journal system: allows you to track findable stuff and progress toward achievements.