Let’s get this out the way early – yes, that’s goatee-pierced Disturbed frontman David Draiman with a rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s classic Sound of Silence.
We’ll leave you to decide whether it’s a sublime cover or simply sacrilege, and concentrate on the video – the latest teaser for Gears of War 4.
To the untrained eye it might look nothing more than a very angry man running through a very dark forest, shooting some very ugly monster things whilst shoulder-barging trees like they were tissue paper.
Gears fans will know better, though: that’s JD Fenix, the son of beard-toting badass Marcus Fenix, protagonist of the series’ first three games. He even makes a brief appearance, literally planting whole trees with his bare hands (I mean, come on).
We know Marcus won’t be taking the lead this time around, but will concentrate on his now-soldier son JD.
It looks like you’ll be facing off against a new race of dog-like monsters, that will no doubt need to be horrendously overkilled by an arsenal of ridiculously large and powerful weapons that scream testosterone.
Ex-Epic Games and current Coalition Studios head developer Rod Fergusson is overseeing development, and hopes to go “back to something personal, intimate, dark and mysterious, being afraid of the boogeyman”.
That hopefully means a return to form for the series, which hasn’t exactly had the most exciting story arcs to justify all the Locust chainsaw murder. Anything to justify the tactical brilliance of the ‘meat shield’, as far as we’re concerned.
We’ll find out when Gears 4 drops in October. You’ll be able to get an early first taste later this month, when the multiplayer open beta arrives on Xbox One.
