The rumbling started weeks before this year's revamped Electronics Entertainment Expo. It turned into a full fledged roar when Epic's Cliffy B and Microsoft's Shane Kim actually played a few minutes of the PC version of Gears of War during their E3 press conference. Last year, X360 gamers were plunged into a thrilling story of humankind's battle for survival and the game garnered numerous awards and mass appeal while selling over 3.5 million units. Epic (they of Unreal Tournament fame) now brings its fast and furious fragger to the PC.

Gears of War is a futuristic third person shooter wherein the game's main character, soldier elite Marcus Fenix (controlled by the player), leads his highly trained unit of equally elite soldiers against the Locust Horde, a monstrous enemy that springs from the bowels of the planet. GoW plays like a squad-based shooter, with Fenix accompanied by a small fire team. Unlike other squad-based games, however, players don't control their fellow grunts, the artificial intelligence does - and does so very well. These AI controlled teammates effectively utilize cover, strafe, flank and will even help rescue the player when they get into a jam.

While the storyline remains unchanged, the PC version includes some bonus goodies that the console folks didn't get. The intense combat will take place in some new environments and allow players to manipulate new game modes and technology found only in the Games for Windows edition. Furthermore, Epic added that five new campaign chapters will be added that the developer failed to shove into the console version. According to Mark Rein (Epic's outspoken Vice President) these chapters will fill in a lot of the story, especially near the end of the game.

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