‘Gears Of War 4’ Opening 20 Minutes Takes A Trip Down Memory Lane

Microsoft can’t help but show off as much of Gears of War 4 for the Xbox One and Windows 10 PC as it can possibly get away with. A video featuring a playthrough of the opening prologue was released Wednesday that is full of spoilers while taking players through the history of planet Sera.

Again, this video of the Gears of War 4 does contain spoilers and should be avoided for those that want to play the game fresh when it launches October 11 for Xbox One and PC. This is actually the second time Microsoft has done this as the launch trailer released last week was also heavy on spoilers.

The Gears of War 4 prologue video does dual duty as both an introductory training video and an introduction to the changes to the Gears universe while also harkening back to the origins for newer players. The game opens with First Minister Jinn giving a speech that explains the series’ leap forward 25 years from the end of Gears of War 3. She then sets up a flashback gameplay sequence to the Pendulum Wars era with Colonel Hoffman and Dom Santiago.

The inclusion of the Pendulum Wars appears to be a nod to the Gears fans who have asked about going to the pre-Emergence era war. That was ultimately decided against, as The Coalition’s Chuck Osieja explained in an interview.

“Do we go tell the Pendulum Wars? Then we go, ‘nah. Gears really isn’t about human on human fighting.’ It’s always about human on monsters, so we thought maybe we could do Emergence Day. Judgment sort of got close to it, but again, no,” he told Stevivor.

“The problem when you went back in time — which felt like a good place to go – is that eventually you know where it’s going to end up,” he added. “It’s going to end up with Marcus in prison. It’s sort of like, okay we know where the ending is, everyone knows where the ending is, what can you do inside of that that’s going to be interesting?”

The Aspho Fields part of the Pendulum Wars has players filling the roles of a faceless Gears soldier and taking orders from Dom and Hoffman. The action then shifts to Emergence Day where players defend the House of Sovereigns against the Locust’s initial attack with Corporal Kim before Hoffman makes another appearance and is joined by a young Anya.

The action jumps forward one more time to Anvil’s Gate at the same time the final battle in Gears of War 3 is going on. Hoffman is there once again with Bernadette Mataki as they make their final stand.

Jinn ominously closes her prologue speech by mentioning the new world after the Locust War is one that “knows no war, no suffering… it’s a world of safety.” That’s not going to last long, is it?

Gears of War 4 is due out October 11 for the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. The title is part of Microsoft’s new Play Anywhere program where a digital purchase from the Xbox Store and Windows Store comes with a copy of Gears of War 4 for both platforms. It also supports cross-saves and cross-play between platforms for The Coalition’s title.

The Xbox Play Anywhere initiative went live in a recent console update and the Windows 10 Anniversary update. ReCore was the first title released on September 13, followed by Forza Horizon 3 this past Tuesday, and then Gears of War 4.

Those that purchase the $100 Gears of War 4 Ultimate or the $250 Collector’s Edition will also get to play the game four days earlier on Friday, October 7. There is also the 2TB Xbox One S Limited Edition releasing on October 6 for $450 that comes with early access to the shooter as well.

[Featured Image via The Coalition/YouTube]