SDCC 2016: ‘Gears of War 4’ Panel Recap!

Gears of War is a franchise that is almost as synonymous with the Xbox brand as Halo. So when Gears of War 4 was scheduled to have a panel at this year’s SDCC, I had to go!

First off, the panel showed off the customized Xbox One S. The console features the deepest etching ever done on a console, which does add some incredible detail. The console itself will feature some sound effects, similar to themed consoles in the past. It was also announced that buying the console will also net you some exclusive in-game content. Die hard Gears fans will want this console, but I can also imagine some fans gauging their own interest for a console that’ll set them back over $450.

The panel would go on to bring out a surprise guest in John DiMaggio. It was recently revealed that Marcus Fenix would be making a return to the franchise as a father. By the time Gears of War 4 picks up, his son, JD Fenix is already an adult doing adult COG things. The rest of the voice acting talent includes Lauren Bailey, Liam McIntyre, and Eugene Byrd. Side note: Bonus points if you recognize the two last names from a couple of DCTV shows.

In an effort to keep the voice acting as authentic as they could, some scenes involved all four voice actors coming together in one room to act out a scene. These scenes seem to have great emotional impact on the story and sounds like it might tug at our heart strings when the game is released. In another instance, Rod Fergusson himself laid on the floor and had Lauren Bailey step on his face as she recited a line meant for a member of the Swarm.

It was at this point that the panel would announce a fifth character voice actor in Jimmy Smits. Smits will be playing Oscar Diaz in the game. We were shown a snippet of dialogue featuring Diaz, and I must say, I would have never guessed Smits was behind the voice.

We then started to get into gameplay. While Horde 3.0 wasn’t talked about a bunch, it was stated that Horde 3.0 aims to be less tower defense-y and more “scrappy.” I assume this means we’ll have a wider range of tactics at our disposal, more weapons, and a wider area in which we can place sentry turrets. As for the multiplayer, the sawed-off shotgun WILL NOT be in Gears 4.

As the panel drew to a close, we got one final reveal. JD Fenix’s name was used to interrogate Rod Fergusson, causing him to state what the “D” in “JD” stood for. At this point, John DiMaggio and the rest of the panel kept shouting, “What’s the D?!” Eventually, Fergusson broke. JD Fenix’s full name is James Dominic Fenix. His middle name is an obvious nod to Marcus’ fallen partner, Dom.

Finally, one of the more surprising announcements was that Fergusson himself alluded to some talks behind the scenes involving the creation of a Gears of War movie. Nothing was confirmed, but if Gears 4 has a big opening, we can expect to hear more about a potential movie.

That’s all they showed this year, but we can expect some more announcements as the game gets nearer to completion.