Gears Of War 2 Info

Anyone looking for Gears of War 2 info has come to the right place. Thanks to the folks at Game Informer and G4TV, here is some of the cool stuff we can expect from the next installment due out in November:

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.

Thanks to G4TV for this info.