Detailed Analysis - Collectibles, Environment & Context
Collectibles - COG Tags
Making a return as Collectibles from the last game are the COG tags, left behind by the fallen Gears who have fought in the 15 years and fallen to the Horde. In the last game, we didn’t get any type of reward besides an Xbox achievement but making a return, the COG tags are now imbued with notes, reflecting the final moments of the Gears that have been killed. While Marcus and the rest of Delta meet a few new members who will be along on the journey, it’s good to note that their journey is only one of many that are going on in the world around them.
While we witness what Delta have to go through in this harsh world, seeing what other people have to go through as well helps to establish that Delta is not the only one fighting in this world and that they are not all as committed. At one point we find the tags of Pvt. Hank Bissell joined the COG to provide supplies to his wife and was promised he would only have to see light action but the next thing he knew he was part of the Assault Derrick.
Perhaps the most saddening tags to find were those of Benjamin Carmine. Carmine is one of 4 brothers who are all members of the COG, his brother, Anthony fought alongside Marcus and Dom for a short time and was killed in action. Benjamin’s note is addressed to his big brother Clay, wishing him well and wanting to speak to him before he departs for Operation: Hollow Storm. Within Benjamin was a need to make his family and his country proud and seeing how far he came in the campaign shows he was worthy of their love and appreciation. I have no doubt he would have gone on to become an excellent Gear with a bit more training and time.
The COG tags were a sufficient Collectible for the first Gears of War and for to show that there is a bigger war happening. Developers Epic Games took the Tags and went one step further adding personal stories and journeys to each one of them, encouraging the players to seek them out for storytelling instead of just achievements. A useful design as the COG tags in Gears of War 2 was harder to find due to the focus on open-ended environments. While the COG tags are an excellent collectible, they became only a small number of the collectibles that were present and could have held up on their own but it’s good to see the Devs expanding on the world itself instead of just the COG.
Collectibles - Documents & Lore
Expanding further on the collectibles is the inclusion of documents and objects that each carry their separate lore that is important to the overall world of Sera. Across their mission to find and destroy the Locust stronghold, Delta can find many documents and objects that reflect the world around them. Returning from the last game were the COG tags and developers Epic Games made sure to improve on them by adding world-building outside the narration context.
While many collectibles can be found in the game, they all follow a category in which they are found. The COG tags are only one category that is expanded on with Stranded Journals and items of interest that help to characterize the Locust. As we delve deeper into the Locust Hollows and the Nexus, we find many different items that point to the Locust civilization, their faith and the inner workings. When finding these items, it is of course up to Baird to detail his findings and being the sarcastic man he is, doesn’t miss the opportunity to put his 2 pence in.
Before Gears of War 2, I always thought of the Locust as just a genocidal race, with its sole purpose being to wipe out the human race. We always knew that they had an organized military but we never thought that they would have their own faith, routed in worms, specifically the Riftworms and that they even have a calendar system. Baird is, in all honesty, fascinated if a little flabbergasted with some of Delta’s findings as some of them are a bit more on the disturbing side. For one thing, they find a necklace made entirely of human fingers and a scroll made of human skin. We know the Locust have a complete disregard for humanity but to treat them as nothing but materials show just how monstrous they are. In an almost cruel twist of fate, we also learn that Delta is the reason the Riftworm was awakened as it woke up because of the Lightmass bomb and that it may be one of 3 that are still alive.
A subtle narrative is the story of Sergeant Jonathan Harper, a COG soldier and a 9-year veteran of the Locust War. Originally stationed near the original site of the Lightmass Bombing, he was later reassigned to Jacinto and bought to the hospital, to be treated for rustlung. Being assigned to Jacinto would result in one of 2 options, either he was stationed there for its protection or he would be assigned to the Landown Assault. His fate would be the latter as we would find a journal in the Hollow that belonged to him, proving that he survived the initial journey to the Hollow but must have gotten into a situation where he had to leave his journal behind.
Unfortunately, Marcus finds a journal, that proves Harper, like Baird, was taken prisoner by the Locust. It’s bad enough that the Locust were taking prisoners as slaves but they were also keeping them in deplorable conditions. Large capsule containers where prisoners like Harper had to struggle to survive and with his rustlung he would find himself standing in his own vomit and having to listen to others getting tortured. Thankfully, Harper’s strength and resolve allowed him to escape and return to Jacinto where he would assist in the eventual evacuation. Delta would find his tags and would discover that Jonathan was dead. The note attached told us that Jonathan bled out after protecting a family that managed to escape on a Raven. A brave and noble end for a soldier who fought the Locust for a long time and was most recently their prisoner, Jonathan fought his hardest against them but sadly met the fate that so many others do.
Instead of creating random collectibles, the Developers made sure to add additional layers of storytelling and world-building with every document or item we could find. An effective storytelling tool that helps to provide excellent context and narrative info that helps to fill in a lot of the gaps and expand on the world the players are in. Every collectible emphasises the hardships and fears of the humans of Sera and gives excellent narrative context to the Locust. Adding layers to the monsters of the series helps us to understand a bit about them and know just how far they’re willing to go to survive and win. Also ensuring that they maintained a consistent narrative with the collectibles helped pique the player’s curiosity and want to find out more about these characters.
Environment & Context - Locust Hollow and Nexus
Making their way to the Locust Hollows, Delta set their eyes on the vast underground that stands before them as they begin laying siege to the Locust stronghold and hopefully have a chance at ending the 15 year war. Delving deep into the Hollow, you can tell that the Locust have worked hard at fortifying the areas so that they can stand against any invading humans but it doesn’t seem too heavily guarded and there doesn’t seem to much sign of a vast army. The vast structures of the hollow, certainly show that Delta should have found a much larger encampment already and yet there is nothing of great value besides a few small structures that are well sculptured.
Finding signs of other life, Delta finds an organism’s called “Rockworms”. We know that there have been other types of Locust creatures besides from the drones, this is the first time that we see something that doesn’t seem to be trying to kill but is rather indifferent to everything happening around it. The Rockworm itself seems far too natural, compared to the other creatures that Delta have encountered, but we would later find that perhaps many of these creatures are not as loyal to the Horde as it might seem, but more on that later.
As Delta leave the initial Hollow to explore the ruins of Ilima city they come across evidence that the Locust are capturing people and holding prisoners. After re-joining with Cole, Delta consisting of Marcus, Dom and Carmine, search for Baird who was captured by the Locust along with another squad member. When they find Baird, he has some disheartening news, the Locust are taking prisoners and taking them deeper into the hollow, holding them in constricting cages so that they can be tortured. We knew the Locust hated humanity to the point that they’ve started a genocidal campaign against them but now they’ve taken to capturing and torturing them for as yet unknown purposes.
Eventually we learn that the Locust are using people as slaves to work in the Nexus where they are holding more prisoners. Marcus and Dom looking for the Nexus eventually find that the Locust have taken countless people and have been torturing them far beyond what we’ve seen with Tai. After a lengthy search for his wife, Dom eventually finds her with the help of Marcus only to find her in a horrible state. She had probably been with the Locust for a lengthy amount of time and whatever has happened to her, there would be no bringing her back. In an act of mercy, Dom makes the hard decision to put her down much to his distress and Marcus’ sadness.
Moving on Marcus and Dom find the Locust Nexus. Vast structures carved into the walls with a pool of Imulsion surrounding it, almost like a moat. The Unique Locust architecture shows their sophistication, despite some of their more savage qualities. Delta’s incursion in to Nexus, backed up by additional COG forces also brings to light many disturbing revelations that could shake up their complete understanding of the Locust. Making their way to the palace they find the Locust under siege, by themselves, or atleast something that looks like the Locust. It has already been established that prolonged exposure to Imulsion can cause genetic defects but for it to completely change Locust into “Lambent”, as they are referred to shows the Locust are dealing with things we never suspected.
The rising of the Lambent is why the Locust have been vying for more and more control of the surface but there is a bigger mystery that may come with it’s own set of problems. When Delta access the Locust computer, they find information and voice recordings from Adam Fenix and how he was researching a way to sink Jacinto so that the Hollow could be flooded and wipe out the Locust. This plan is why the Locust have been sinking cities, they’re punching holes around Jacinto to sink it and wipe out the Lambent as they evacuate. This proves something that Marcus and Dom said at the start of the campaign, the Locust are desperate.
Using the backdrop of the Locust home to further build on the world established in the first game while adding it’s own unique twist is an excellent design choice, although it is only really made coherent thanks to the commentary of Delta squad. Nonetheless the Locust Hollow and Nexus fill in quite a few gaps that help to form a much different opinion of the Locust. At first we saw them as invaders but now we see that they are actually running away from a fight that they can’t win and doing it poorly but even though their hollow and Nexus have been flooded, i doubt this will be the last we see of them.
Environment & Context - Surface of Sera
As we explore the war-ravaged world of Sera, we see the extent that the Locust war has had on it. Before Operation: Hollow Storm, we would explore a small section of the city of Jacinto. Despite being humanity's best-guarded stronghold, we can see that the city's maintenance has not been an active activity for the COG, which is fair considering they have bigger problems on their mind. Looking around though we can see that the COG have a relative handle on Jacinto as the COG post notices, warning the civilians of a curfew. A seemingly impossible thing is that it seems there is still a newspaper running in Jacinto, most likely Government controlled, that keeps its citizens informed of the latest updates of the war.
On the road to Landown, the location the COG will use to enter the Locust Hollow, Delta shoot their way through many different Locust groups that are intent on killing them all and very nearly succeed. When they arrive in the Locust-controlled town of Landown, they find the town has been fortified by the Locust, who captured it a long time ago but have not done much to make the town theirs. While there are nemacysts and turret emplacements, the Locust don’t seem to have tried to make the town theirs, which makes sense as they probably prefer the underground. The town of Landown is filled with many remnants of the COG left behind like monuments and a graveyard. When reaching the graveyard, Marcus laments about how many good men are buried from the Pendulum Wars.
It seems like Sera has never known a moment of peace as the Locust war has been going on for 15 years already and before that, the COG was engaged in a fight that lasted a very long time already. There’s no knowing if the humans of Sera will ever know peace, even if they win against the Locust as the world seems intent on making them fight one another. When Delta discover the Riftworm, it is after it has sunken the city of Ilima. Even after being evacuated, the city still houses many stranded and the Locust didn’t waste time in hunting them down, to either kill them or take them as prisoners. After humanity floods the hollow by sinking Jacinto, it seems apparent that they have lost their best refuge as it offered the best defence against the Locust and with the world in ruin, they are going to have to work hard to find and defend a new refuge.
Besides the Locust trying to kill humans daily, it seems the world has other plans that tend more toward mother nature. Hail can cause a modicum of pain at the best of times, due to its size, volume and force it gathers on its way down. While exiting the New Hope facility, Marcus and Dom find themselves having to fight against the Locust but also deal with a curious elemental oddity, Razor Hail. Not exactly news to Delta, razor hail seems to be a known weather occurrence for the people of Sera and a dangerous one at that. Much like the Kryll, if someone is caught in the open for more than a few seconds, they can be cut to shreds. If razor hail is the worse thing on the planet then perhaps there’s not much to be worried about but if it’s not, then it begs the question, what other hostile weather does the planet offer?
The world of Sera is a difficult world to live in not just because of the Locust horde that seems to take more and more ground every day but also because of the world itself and how it seems to work against the humans that inhabit it. As we learn, there seem to be many other natural oddities that can threaten the surface of the planet and its people and despite the wealth of new threats we have found in Gears of War 2, it is likely that there are still worse things to come that could make what we’ve seen so far, pale in comparison.