Gears of War almost turned into a mix of "Mad Max" and horror

Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski spoke about early ideas for the fourth installment of the series. According to his vision, the franchise could have gone in a much darker and crazier direction.

After the events of Gears of War 3, humanity was supposed to take refuge in fortified cities, and the Locust were planned to be sealed underground in crystalline cocoons. Instead of another war with monsters, Bleszinski wanted to show an internal threat – cannibal gangs, inspired by "Mad Max" and "Firefly".

One of the key themes of the plot was to be a drug created from the remnants of the Lambent. The substance turned people into aggressive combat monsters, and JD Fenix, trying to live up to Marcus Fenix's legacy, would secretly suffer from addiction to it.

The main change was to be a new form of Locust, flying creatures with wings. A promotional slogan was even prepared for them:

They used to come from below. Now they come from above.

After Bleszinski's departure, the developers chose a safer direction. As a result, Gears of War 4 featured DeeBees robots and the return of classic enemies of the series.