I'm never getting invited to another Epic party for saying this, but Gears of War didn't move the earth and heavens for me the way it did a lot of Xbox 360 owners and critics. But just in case you're a PC owner deprived of a 360 with an itch to tattoo Locust Horde with Lancers, Boltak Pistols, and Boomshots, Epic just announced Gears of War for Windows XP and Vista (as more or less promised by Epic VP Mark Rein back in February).
What's new? Quite a bit, actually. First, it's officially a Games For Windows title, meaning you can utilize Microsoft's 360-like matchmaking service to connect to other PC players (sorry, no cross-platform play at this point), and of course, unlock new achievements.
You'll also get five new campaign chapters, three new multiplayer maps, an extra multiplayer game type, DirectX 10 support (Vista only), and a Game Editor with support for importing custom artwork, creating particles systems, scripted encounters, and cinematics. The noise on DX10 is that the characters are all substantially more "physics-aware," meaning they'll ostensibly react more intelligently to events unfolding around them.
The 360 version sold like gangbusters, going triple platinum (three million units sold) in its initial 10 week run and closing out 2006 as the top selling game on any platform during December. My only real beef with the game was that it played the same, start to finish (run, flank, crouch, take peek shots, progress). I'll admit I'm sufficiently curious about the changes to give it a go on the PC, though, and especially to get a sense for how the leap-and-roll + stick-to-cover controls translate to keyboard/mouse if you'd rather not plug in an Xbox 360 controller.
The PC version should cost $50 and ship sometime holiday season 2007.
Oh yeah, due to fan feedback, the Brumak -- the gigantic creature you see only briefly in one of the 360 version's cutscenes -- is fightable in the PC version.
PC Gaming Update: Check out our video (above) for Microsoft's real-time demonstration of Gears of War for PC, plus the latest previews of big upcoming Games for Windows titles like Crysis, Hellgate: London, Age of Conan and World in Conflict.
For more up-to-the-minute blogs, stories, photos, and video from the show, visit our E3 2007 Infocenter.
