As we edge closer to a new chapter in , now feels like a perfect time to burrow down to the roots of the series and see exactly how the legend began. We spoke to Jim Brown, the lead level designer at Epic Games, to find out some of the secrets behind the original Gears of War.

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Between the original reveal trailer and the game appearing on shelves, Marcus’s character model and voice actor were both changed entirely. Cole and Baird’s roles were entirely reversed at one point – with Baird’s original sports star persona partly inspired by David Beckham. Look at the haircut, and it all makes sense. Eventually the team decided to swap the two, using Jamie Foxx’s character from the film Any Given Sunday as their archetype for Cole.

The original plan for Gears of War was very different. The initial concept was based on large-scale multiplayer warfare with an emphasis on vehicle combat. This was dumped in favour of the cover-based shooting style eventually seen in the final game, while the original concept eventually morphed into Unreal Tournament 3’s Warfare mode.

General Raam was a last-minute addition to the game, and almost didn’t make the cut. Due to production deadlines, the development team didn’t have time to entirely explain how Marcus and the team ended up fighting him on the back of a train. His story has since been fleshed out and is being completely revamped for the Ultimate edition

Many of the characters in Gears are inspired by the lives of the Epic development team. Damon Baird was named after a childhood friend of Cliffy B, and ‘The Cole Train’ was named after Epic’s level designer Phil Cole. Best of all is Raam, who was named after the owner of the team’s favourite Indian restaurant. We’re not sure we’d have the balls to ask General Raam for a lamb bhuna, if we’re honest.

The third Gears game was the first to include playable female characters, but it’s something the team had been thinking about for a while. At one point during development, the team considered letting players choose the gender of Dom – opening up the opportunity to play as Dominique Santiago.