Gears 2 Writer: "The Lancer Is The New Lightsaber"

Gears of War isn't going anywhere. With a "ten-year plan" in place and major hints at a prequel game and single-player DLC for Gears of War 2, series scriptwriter Joshua Ortega thinks "the lancer is the new lightsaber."

Seems that Halo isn't the only Xbox-friendly franchise with aspirations to the pop culture throne currently occupied by Star Wars. Epic has well, epic, plans for the franchise going forward in the next ten years, including a movie, a prequel game, new DLC for Gears 2 and more.

Asked by fans at the recent New York Comic Con if Epic had any intention of making a prequel game that detailed the beginning of the Human-Locust war, Joshua Ortega, the scriptwriter on Gears 2, implied that something was coming...in the next decade. "You will not be disappointed in the next ten years," Ortega said. "It's a ten-year plan. Gears is long-term. The lancer is the new lightsaber."

Somehow I can't see gigantic machine guns with chainsaws being as iconic as laser swords, but I suppose that's a matter of your taste in phallic symbols. In any case, a decade of Gears certainly isn't hard to imagine. Beyond the two games already out, the inevitable sequel and the now potential prequel, there are plans for a comic book and, moreover, a movie, which may or may not become a trilogy, if director Len Wiseman has his way.

Regarding the near future, however, fans pressed Ortega on the possibility of single-player DLC for Gears 2, which has had plenty of multiplayer love content-wise but nothing added to its campaign. Like what seems like every other blockbuster game in 2008, the Gears 2 ending was not exactly conclusive or satisfying - could we be due for another DLC pack that adds "the real ending?"

"Keep watching," Ortega answered. "You won't be disappointed."

[Via IGN]