Gears of War 2 picks up six months after the events of "Gears of War," and thrusts players back into a deep and harrowing story of humankind’s epic battle for survival against a nightmarish force of underground creatures known as the Locust Horde.

Players continue as Marcus Fenix, a reluctant war hero and leader of Delta Squad, six months after the events of “Gears of War.” The last cities on Sera are sinking, swallowed by a new Locust threat from below. A massive counterattack is humanity’s last hope for survival.

Gears of War 2 blends a best-in-class third-person shooter with unsurpassed high-definition visuals, all layered on top of an engaging story of survival, loss and retribution.

Everyone who purchases a copy of “Gears of War 2” will receive an Xbox Live token to download the Flashback Map Pack for FREE. The Flashback Map Pack will be available immediately at launch, and consists of five popular maps from the original “Gears of War,” including: Canals, Gridlock, Mansion, Subway and Tyro Station. Each map has been specially updated with new graphics for “Gears of War 2.” In addition, every copy of “Gears of War 2” will include a code for a 48-hour Xbox Live Gold membership.

Hey all,

As of Tuesday of this week (Dec 9th), we successfully completed the reconfiguration of our matchmaking servers allowing us to have more players per server. This optimization allows us to take greater advantage of our Nov 27th title update. Based on what we're seeing so far, matchmaking times have improved significantly. To be realistic though, there will still be times when a particular playlist is low on available players or there isn't a party of the right size to merge with yours but overall, you should get into a match much quicker than before.

We're really excited to see just how many people are playing Gears 2 multiplayer. Execution, with over 1.8 million matches so far, has finally surpassed Horde as number 1 with its 1.7 million.

And we're not done yet. As we get more data, we're continuing to monitor and adjust the process to try and make it as streamlined as possible.

Again, we want to thank everyone for their patience and we're looking forward to playing with you online.

Thanks,

Rod.

Features:

• Gears of War 2 takes the award-winning gameplay of the original and improves upon it in every way. The genre-defining cover system is further refined, making the “stop and pop” gameplay more intuitive. Dynamic cover is given new meaning as downed opponents can be picked up and used as shields. The intimate violence of the battlefield is heightened when combatants engage in chainsaw duels. Destructible environments and vicious new finishing moves add to the over-the-top experience.
• Gears of War 2 continues to raise the graphics bar through its breathtaking visual effects, made possible through advances in Unreal Engine 3.
• Gears of War 2 takes deep and immersive storytelling in video games to greater heights. Players connect with humanity’s battle for survival on a personal level as they move through a story that introduces new characters and sheds light on the histories of familiar ones.
• Team up with a friend to fight through the harrowing story of Delta Squad in the enhanced campaign mode, now featuring drop-in/drop-out gameplay, as well as individual player difficulty options. Or recruit four friends to battle in the new game mode “Horde,” where you’ll fight together to fend off a seemingly endless onslaught of Locust forces to attain the highest score.
• Gears of War 2” features eight distinct multiplayer modes,2 including the new Wingman, Guardian and Submission modes, where up to 10 players choose a side and pit their courage and battlefield mettle directly against others. In addition, multiplayer bots are available to sharpen your skills offline or to fill out your online private matches on Xbox LIVE.
• New to “Gears of War 2” is a party system that allows players to form a full or partial team with friends and continue together from match to match without the need to reform after each game. “Gears of War 2” also supports a skill-based online matchmaking system, powered by TrueSkill, which groups players of similar skill level together in competitive multiplayer matches.

Gears of War 2 will be available in a Standard Edition ($59.99) or Limited Edition ($69.99) and is scheduled to launch November 7, 2008.