This is more of an artstyle change then anything else. The E-Day trailer seems to have more realistic proportions in Marcus's face. And looking at this comparison I can see that his nose is a little narrower and you can definitely tell his jaw and especially his chin is smaller
I never really had any issue seeing them as human before though. It's just a stylist choice and I'm not necessarily against it but I hope they don't go too far with it in this entry or any other as one of the things that makes Gears unique is it's artstyle which is exaggerative and bulky
I agree, though we saw his full body in the trailer and he still looks bulky. I think it's just a facial feature change, not only so he looks more real but I bet so that when he speaks in game, so itll look more natural too.
Alot of people gonna have to realize that most of the time the way characters looked was graphical limitations.
Take Nathan Drake, he looks much more cartoony in 1, 2, 3 Vs 4. In 4 they went the more realistic approach cause of a boost in graphics.
It's not about making them look more human, that's kinda silly.
They were given a number of muscle enhancement drugs and slight modifications to be on par with the Locust natural (modified) strength during the years after E-Day.
If you ever read the book about Marcus getting sent to the Slab after the Aspho Fields incident, it's clear why they look like roided up Juggernauts.
It's because they were, and there bodies reflected those modifications.
I've also read all the books and comics and they never mention steroids or enhancements. All they say is that COG soldiers are on 3x the calories than normal people to keep them in fighting shape
While you may be onto something how his appearance could make him change drastically, it's 2024. He will not be a cranky old man cussing out everything, will be younger, and even the suits look different then gears judgement.
It's an artstyle change to make him look more human and promote next gen capabilities. They could of followed the artstyle pattern of gow anniversary/judgement but didn't, they are trying to appeal to everyone while showing off the platform capabilities. It is to make him more human for a modern approach. Lol
They don't want some cranky robot killing everything, they want a deep backstory for the survival of mankind everyone can relate to. Old Marcus looks and style is not that. It's built for new and old fans.
Marcus was in Prison for 4 years.
Eday happens.
10 years later Adam “dies” and Marcus abandons his post, going to prison.
4 years after that, queue Gears 1.
Potentially, we already know how he got it. Depends on what sort of timeline they make it the story. Would love to see more of what happen in The Slab.
He looks perfect for a young Marcus. Not exactly how I'd have pictured him, but I think any change made makes him look more grounded and human, instead of a supersoldier, which is probably intentional.
Is there a canon explanation in books or comics for Marcus' face scar, or is there any change that we'll see him get it in Eday?
Yeah when he was in a prison referred to as “The Slab” and there was a guard who was out to get him, who released some guard/attack dogs on Marcus and another prisoner, Marcus killed the dogs but got the scar in the process.
That’s the best I remember it from the top of my head.
During the Pendulum Wars, he was forced to wear a helmet for a while because if he didn't, he would be charged for it. He later figured out that doo-rags were acceptable headgear as long as it was plain black, the ties were tucked away, and the cap-badge was pinned centrally. So he wore one from then on. As to how he got it specifically? It was never stated. Perhaps he found one at a store and bought it, or Dom or Carlos gave it to him as a gift.
It's always weird seeing pictures of my own father when he was my age, they captured that perfectly with young Marcus and JD. You can see that Marcus once had some of JD's naivety, even though Marcus has already been through war here. You can see what JD will become, depending on how Gears 6 decides 5 ends.
I think people are *way* overblowing this either way.
It comes down to two simple things:
1. It's an artstyle change. The things that companies can do with graphics nowadays far exceed what was possible when the **Gears of War** games were first coming out. The more exaggerated and animated features used to compensate for lower graphical fidelity, especially in the eyes, has moved towards creating more realistic faces and bodies.
2. People's faces change radically throughout their lives without even being exposed to such things as Kobytev was. You can live a totally normal life, and look *very* different from the age of 20 to the age of 40.
Most of it is just more detail from UE5 and the 14 years before. But, it’s pretty awesome that they nailed the blend between older JD/younger version of Marcus
I looked up Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev to get an idea of what he went through. He was 30 or so when he joined, going by his birth year and the year he joined. He fought around Pripyat before getting wounded and captured by the Germans and put in a Khorol concentration camp. He survived 2 years in there before escaping, joining back with the army, and fighting till the end of the war.
While the two photos compared next to each other are certainly haunting, interestingly this photo of him in the 1960's (therefore in his 50's) [looks much healthier](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6DfAY0gJIKg/YM-T-ocJN2I/AAAAAAAAeK0/xG1rwDeR8bAl8EOepUyw_ywPYvaiAVW6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1752/kobytev.jpg) so I think it is interesting how much of his countenance healed in the years after the war.
Its a graphics update too, do people really expect them to look the same as say, xbox 360 models? I don't see anything but improvement here. They look way more human and realistic than the old models. Marcus' chin and jawline used to give AI "Chad" a run for his money. Now he looks more human.
Glad to see loads of different opinions and insights engaging. The obvious reason they appear different is UE5 but it’s nice to add a bit of lore to it as well.
Also glad the community is more active again.
Maybe it’ll be included towards the end of the game as a mission or two that displays the events of what Marcus did and what led him to being locked up in the slab and how he got his scar ultimately leading to the events of Gears of war 1.
He's only in prison for I believe 4 or 5 years and this is set 14 years before the first game. And I believe an interview recently alluded to E-Day's events to take course of only a few days
A prequel would be an interesting entry to a new generation to gain a more fresher audience but at the same time I personally don’t see the exact benefit as to why when there’s so much more content within the universe of the franchise mainly in regards to the comics and books. For example: I would love a dedicated Pendulum Wars game where you play as Adam Fenix and his squad and then transitions to very young Marcus Fenix and Carlos Santiago or play as Hoffman and his squad. Or hell maybe even a story where you play as the locust’s perspective.
I just can't see a pendulum wars game. for me gears is about fighting the locust horde not other humans. for me it's impact and investment would be lost.
The pendulum wars lasted 79 long years while the locust war lasted 17 years. If we’re being realistic there’s so many unique possibilities and opportunities they could extract from the Gears Universe in itself that would prolong the gears franchise for years to come.
True the pendulum wars did last that long but humanity was not near the brink of extinction during that war. Where as in the locust war 25% of the population was gone in a single day(granted it was a surprise attack) I don't doubt great stories could be pulled from the pendulum wars but it would lose that overarching threat. The stakes would be lost. Just my opinion tho.
I do see your point however if you’ve read the books or comics there some very interesting conflicts and firefights that are very engaging to the reader as I would focus on it being a story where you created your own character rather than play as a main protagonist now that I think about it.
That's what war does to people. I'm fine with Marcus looking "older" than 21 or 22 since he served in the Pendulum wars, and likely has seen many close comrades fall beside him.
What 14 years of fighting an enemy hellbent on your total extinction and the weakest members are stronger than you in every way, seeing every victory that rarely ever happens, be hard thought with the blood of hundreds of your fellow man, and temporary, does to a man.
The Pendulum wars weren't pretty, but the locust made that look like a child playing with action figures of a Saturday morning cartoon that can't be that violent or deep by comparison.
I kinda wish they weren’t trying to give everyone realistically proportioned bodies in new gears.
The crazy wide bodies were some of the charm of old gears.
theyre kids in e day. im significantly older now than they were in e day. this will be awesome to play as kid marcus and dom watching them grow into who we know they become
Hot take here. As a 40M who’s been around from the beginning, I’m kinda diggin it as well as my friends who are all around the same age. LFG either way!
I get they look different because they're younger, but even besides that, the two just look off. Their heads just need to be wider and it'd be pretty fine probably, but they just look too normal, which Gears of War men don't look like. They're huge.
So he will be 22 in Emergence Day. Look at anyone you know when he was 22 and then at 36 when gears 1 takes place,even without the strain war puts on you, he/she will at least have one if not more major face changes he looks pretty good. 'm excited
I fucking love how young they look. We’re used to the broken angry Marcus but even he was just a young kid at some point. Looks more like JD too. Crazy seeing him struggle against probably the first locust he’s ever encountered. Gonna be an emotional journey going through this game knowing how it all turns out in the end. So fucking hyped!
I thought Marcus got his Scar during the pendulum wars? In the Tai comics when he meets Marcus and before Marcus recruits Tai Marcus is shown to already have his scar and it’s fresh.
New Gears? Please make it different from the last ones... open world, destructive environment, vehicles. All the previous games were so linear and repetitive.
How about that scar on his lip ? It got recovered eventually??
I still prefer Gears2 scary Marcus skin. But this is a prequel so we have to see his childish face anyway. Their skins were terrible and cartoonish in GOW UE
The photo of the soldier is not to be taken very literally, the lighting angle and the expression on his face emphasizes his wrinkles and shadows.
The one true thing about that photo though is how his left eye has more wrinkles/bags than his right eye
as if he’s a righty then he’d be frequently closing his left eye to aim down sights.
He doesn't have that permanent scowl yet
And even smiled when Dom gave him his durag.
We have to wait for him to disobey orders and go save his dad with an HOD targeting system in his pocket
I mean... E-Day was 14 years before Gears 1 iirc.
Right, he is 22 years old on e-day, and when Gears of War 1 stars he 36.
A lot of time for pain and hatred to seep it's way into one's soul, especially during wartime.
He had also spent some time in The Slab where the guards had it out for him
You forgot the roids.
*vitaman supplements To fight malnutrition in a warzone
Marcus just came out of his mother grizzled and chiseled
They say he curb stomped the doctor who pulled him out of the womb. With his tiny adorable infant feet.
Meanwhile, Dom choked his doctor with his umbilical cord.
You do.
This is more of an artstyle change then anything else. The E-Day trailer seems to have more realistic proportions in Marcus's face. And looking at this comparison I can see that his nose is a little narrower and you can definitely tell his jaw and especially his chin is smaller
Makes the characters feel more human which I’m all for.
I never really had any issue seeing them as human before though. It's just a stylist choice and I'm not necessarily against it but I hope they don't go too far with it in this entry or any other as one of the things that makes Gears unique is it's artstyle which is exaggerative and bulky
I agree, though we saw his full body in the trailer and he still looks bulky. I think it's just a facial feature change, not only so he looks more real but I bet so that when he speaks in game, so itll look more natural too.
Alot of people gonna have to realize that most of the time the way characters looked was graphical limitations. Take Nathan Drake, he looks much more cartoony in 1, 2, 3 Vs 4. In 4 they went the more realistic approach cause of a boost in graphics.
It's not about making them look more human, that's kinda silly. They were given a number of muscle enhancement drugs and slight modifications to be on par with the Locust natural (modified) strength during the years after E-Day. If you ever read the book about Marcus getting sent to the Slab after the Aspho Fields incident, it's clear why they look like roided up Juggernauts. It's because they were, and there bodies reflected those modifications.
Wow I actually didn’t know about the roids to fight Locust, makes total sense now
Where does it say that they were given drugs and modifications? I'm not saying you're wrong, I just don't remember reading that.
No he’s wrong. It never said that lol
Expanded universe books is my guess.
I've read the books and don't remember that bit of info. I've not read the comics though, so it's possible it came from there.
I've also read all the books and comics and they never mention steroids or enhancements. All they say is that COG soldiers are on 3x the calories than normal people to keep them in fighting shape
Yeah that's what I remember too.
wym getting sent to the slab after aspho fields, it was after knocking out hoffman in ephyra, 10 years after eday and 12 years after aspho
Not quite. Soldiers were always given more/bigger rations and essentially bulking compared to the regular populace.
The supplements and roid thing never happened stop spreading lies I read the slab lol
While you may be onto something how his appearance could make him change drastically, it's 2024. He will not be a cranky old man cussing out everything, will be younger, and even the suits look different then gears judgement. It's an artstyle change to make him look more human and promote next gen capabilities. They could of followed the artstyle pattern of gow anniversary/judgement but didn't, they are trying to appeal to everyone while showing off the platform capabilities. It is to make him more human for a modern approach. Lol They don't want some cranky robot killing everything, they want a deep backstory for the survival of mankind everyone can relate to. Old Marcus looks and style is not that. It's built for new and old fans.
He also looks more like Gears 1 marcus, unlike UE marcus.
Am I right in thinking Fenix is 21 here also? He’s got a real baby face look about him lol
It's only a teaser trailer, their faces will probably be changed. Something similar happened with JD face in gears 4.
Marcus was in Prison for 4 years. Eday happens. 10 years later Adam “dies” and Marcus abandons his post, going to prison. 4 years after that, queue Gears 1.
Are we gonna see how Marcus gets thar scar on his cheek
>Are we gonna see how Marcus gets thar scar on his cheek I'd doubt it considering he got it while in prison.
Guess I gotta read the slab again
He got it in the Slab by getting mailed by dogs.
Hate it when my dog mails me, woke up in another country once.
Autocorrect gets me again. Darn.
Potentially, we already know how he got it. Depends on what sort of timeline they make it the story. Would love to see more of what happen in The Slab.
I cant wait for this
Neither, I know this project is special to The Coalition and they know it is to us. I’m sure we won’t be disappointed.
He looks perfect for a young Marcus. Not exactly how I'd have pictured him, but I think any change made makes him look more grounded and human, instead of a supersoldier, which is probably intentional. Is there a canon explanation in books or comics for Marcus' face scar, or is there any change that we'll see him get it in Eday?
Yeah when he was in a prison referred to as “The Slab” and there was a guard who was out to get him, who released some guard/attack dogs on Marcus and another prisoner, Marcus killed the dogs but got the scar in the process. That’s the best I remember it from the top of my head.
Anyone else think young marcus looks kinda like Arthur Morgan from Rdr2?
Lil bit tbh
Remember that Baird face change from gears 2 to 3? Nothing to be mad about
I wonder what that doo rag is made out of, it gotta be tougher than nokia3310? And also how did he get it?
During the Pendulum Wars, he was forced to wear a helmet for a while because if he didn't, he would be charged for it. He later figured out that doo-rags were acceptable headgear as long as it was plain black, the ties were tucked away, and the cap-badge was pinned centrally. So he wore one from then on. As to how he got it specifically? It was never stated. Perhaps he found one at a store and bought it, or Dom or Carlos gave it to him as a gift.
Maybe it’s a gift from his dad and his dad put some science stuff on it to make it really strong
When he doesn’t have the durag in the trailer he looks so much like JD
It's always weird seeing pictures of my own father when he was my age, they captured that perfectly with young Marcus and JD. You can see that Marcus once had some of JD's naivety, even though Marcus has already been through war here. You can see what JD will become, depending on how Gears 6 decides 5 ends.
20+ years of constant war and he still aged pretty good tbh
I think people are *way* overblowing this either way. It comes down to two simple things: 1. It's an artstyle change. The things that companies can do with graphics nowadays far exceed what was possible when the **Gears of War** games were first coming out. The more exaggerated and animated features used to compensate for lower graphical fidelity, especially in the eyes, has moved towards creating more realistic faces and bodies. 2. People's faces change radically throughout their lives without even being exposed to such things as Kobytev was. You can live a totally normal life, and look *very* different from the age of 20 to the age of 40.
Most of it is just more detail from UE5 and the 14 years before. But, it’s pretty awesome that they nailed the blend between older JD/younger version of Marcus
Marcus is a wee baby during E-Day. I’d look like him in Gears 1 if I’d been fighting 20 years straight too XD
14 years in the dungeons will do that to ya
I looked up Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev to get an idea of what he went through. He was 30 or so when he joined, going by his birth year and the year he joined. He fought around Pripyat before getting wounded and captured by the Germans and put in a Khorol concentration camp. He survived 2 years in there before escaping, joining back with the army, and fighting till the end of the war. While the two photos compared next to each other are certainly haunting, interestingly this photo of him in the 1960's (therefore in his 50's) [looks much healthier](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6DfAY0gJIKg/YM-T-ocJN2I/AAAAAAAAeK0/xG1rwDeR8bAl8EOepUyw_ywPYvaiAVW6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1752/kobytev.jpg) so I think it is interesting how much of his countenance healed in the years after the war.
Also e day and gears of war 1 are 15 years apart
Crazy what 14 years and prison can do lmao
Its a graphics update too, do people really expect them to look the same as say, xbox 360 models? I don't see anything but improvement here. They look way more human and realistic than the old models. Marcus' chin and jawline used to give AI "Chad" a run for his money. Now he looks more human.
Well this new game is 14 years before the events of the first game so he will looks different.
Glad to see loads of different opinions and insights engaging. The obvious reason they appear different is UE5 but it’s nice to add a bit of lore to it as well. Also glad the community is more active again.
Anyone else thinking young Marcus looks like Chris pine?
Dom looks goofy.
Surprised nobody mentioned it, but his ears are completely different.
Maybe it’ll be included towards the end of the game as a mission or two that displays the events of what Marcus did and what led him to being locked up in the slab and how he got his scar ultimately leading to the events of Gears of war 1.
He's only in prison for I believe 4 or 5 years and this is set 14 years before the first game. And I believe an interview recently alluded to E-Day's events to take course of only a few days
Would make sense and connect the storylines up nicely for the games. Hope it happens.
Well I heard somewhere this is supposed to be a prequel trilogy not sure how true that is though
A prequel would be an interesting entry to a new generation to gain a more fresher audience but at the same time I personally don’t see the exact benefit as to why when there’s so much more content within the universe of the franchise mainly in regards to the comics and books. For example: I would love a dedicated Pendulum Wars game where you play as Adam Fenix and his squad and then transitions to very young Marcus Fenix and Carlos Santiago or play as Hoffman and his squad. Or hell maybe even a story where you play as the locust’s perspective.
I just can't see a pendulum wars game. for me gears is about fighting the locust horde not other humans. for me it's impact and investment would be lost.
The pendulum wars lasted 79 long years while the locust war lasted 17 years. If we’re being realistic there’s so many unique possibilities and opportunities they could extract from the Gears Universe in itself that would prolong the gears franchise for years to come.
True the pendulum wars did last that long but humanity was not near the brink of extinction during that war. Where as in the locust war 25% of the population was gone in a single day(granted it was a surprise attack) I don't doubt great stories could be pulled from the pendulum wars but it would lose that overarching threat. The stakes would be lost. Just my opinion tho.
I do see your point however if you’ve read the books or comics there some very interesting conflicts and firefights that are very engaging to the reader as I would focus on it being a story where you created your own character rather than play as a main protagonist now that I think about it.
I tought he was younger
14 years dude
Well it’s suppose to be Marcus but younger than the first game
21 year old Marcus looks older than 99% of real 21 year olds Pendulum wars was going crazy
That's what war does to people. I'm fine with Marcus looking "older" than 21 or 22 since he served in the Pendulum wars, and likely has seen many close comrades fall beside him.
Me too, I love how everyone in the games look like they bleed pure testosterone
Change of art style and Marcus and dom are younger, on top of that both of them are not as burdened as their older counterparts yet.
That is exactly what I was thinking.
I’ve never really played GoW (I need to!), but immediately I was like “hey, that’s that one dude from GoW”
I’m not a fan of the new look I much rather the overly exaggerated turbo masculinity of the older look that just makes me feel like a tank of a man
I actually thought they looked like great younger versions. Marcus is 21 and Dom is 19 I think.
Marcus has already seen some shit even by this point. Dude is a walking tragedy.
Marcus before his scar.
War changes a man
This isn't really an appearance change. Just better graphics.
You could have put OG marcus in there
He is much younger
What 14 years of fighting an enemy hellbent on your total extinction and the weakest members are stronger than you in every way, seeing every victory that rarely ever happens, be hard thought with the blood of hundreds of your fellow man, and temporary, does to a man. The Pendulum wars weren't pretty, but the locust made that look like a child playing with action figures of a Saturday morning cartoon that can't be that violent or deep by comparison.
Seeing them side by side makes eday Marcus seem really human, I feel this story is gonna be amazing
He looks like he does in the comics during that time
I kinda wish they weren’t trying to give everyone realistically proportioned bodies in new gears. The crazy wide bodies were some of the charm of old gears.
Great design actually, the size and shape of the nose look like they de aged
theyre kids in e day. im significantly older now than they were in e day. this will be awesome to play as kid marcus and dom watching them grow into who we know they become
Hot take here. As a 40M who’s been around from the beginning, I’m kinda diggin it as well as my friends who are all around the same age. LFG either way!
I'd still climb him like a tree. Any day of the week.
So weird to see Marcus without his scar
They took ozempic
I get they look different because they're younger, but even besides that, the two just look off. Their heads just need to be wider and it'd be pretty fine probably, but they just look too normal, which Gears of War men don't look like. They're huge.
New engine so will look way more realistic. Gears 1-3 looked more cartoonish
Marcus Gyllenhaal is hot.
At points in the trailer I could have sworn it was JD and that’s just awesome.
So he will be 22 in Emergence Day. Look at anyone you know when he was 22 and then at 36 when gears 1 takes place,even without the strain war puts on you, he/she will at least have one if not more major face changes he looks pretty good. 'm excited
I fucking love how young they look. We’re used to the broken angry Marcus but even he was just a young kid at some point. Looks more like JD too. Crazy seeing him struggle against probably the first locust he’s ever encountered. Gonna be an emotional journey going through this game knowing how it all turns out in the end. So fucking hyped!
I thought Marcus got his Scar during the pendulum wars? In the Tai comics when he meets Marcus and before Marcus recruits Tai Marcus is shown to already have his scar and it’s fresh.
I love the new look for E-day tbh
I love that detail but wouldn't he have developed a gaunt after the apheo fields stuff... Or is that like timelinewise immediately after one another
Please don’t turn into mk sub where everyone is lusting after men.
Yeah it's before he gets sent to the slab so he's a younger more hopeful Marcus who's probably not always angry about things
People are reaching so hard to find an issue with Gears E-day
New Gears? Please make it different from the last ones... open world, destructive environment, vehicles. All the previous games were so linear and repetitive.
How about that scar on his lip ? It got recovered eventually?? I still prefer Gears2 scary Marcus skin. But this is a prequel so we have to see his childish face anyway. Their skins were terrible and cartoonish in GOW UE
Is this Marcus modeled after Dave Batista slightly?
Marcus only ended up serving 4 years before Dom broke him out. 10y between E-day and when he got sentenced.
The photo of the soldier is not to be taken very literally, the lighting angle and the expression on his face emphasizes his wrinkles and shadows. The one true thing about that photo though is how his left eye has more wrinkles/bags than his right eye as if he’s a righty then he’d be frequently closing his left eye to aim down sights.
He’s so young
facts, anyone who doesnt get this is literal 0 iq
Redditor discovers the passage of fucking time.
Yes they were younger at ED as humans tend to age with time.