Gears of War 2 has taken the backseat for awhile with the release of the upcoming blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV, but Epic is letting us know that they’re not sleeping while we’re all focused on another game currently.  Epic released a ton of info to Game Informer, and we’re going to summarize the highlights for you:

There are a few new members to the team:

Tai Kaliso: While Cole and Baird are still a big part of the story, they won’t be attached to Delta Squad as the new game opens. The reunion with those popular characters will have some lead up first, and until then, you’ll be meeting some new personalities. The most memorable of these new additions may be Tai, a spiritual and meditative warrior from a tradition of honor-bound fighters. This familiar archetype should add a fun and perhaps mystical dynamic to the squad.

Chairman Prescott: Lots of gamers found themselves wondering if Marcus’ domineering superior officer was the head of the human government. It turns out that Hoffman is only second in command. Above him stands the Chairman, an almost dictatorial military leader who nonetheless has made the hard choices necessary to keep humanity alive through decades of warfare. As Gears 2 opens, this leader of the COG forces will deliver a speech to the troops before sending them reeling into the suicidal mission ahead.

Dizzy: In the seemingly unending struggle with the Locust Horde, the military forces of the COG have taken massive casualties. Somewhere along the way, Operation Lifeboat was enacted to bring in some fresh blood. Under this new act, the Coalition government will rescue a Stranded family and bring them into the relative story of a COG-protected zone. In return, the able-bodied men of that family join up and contribute their skills to the war effort. Such is the case with hardened soldier Dizzy, a new character who drives the massive Derrick on which Delta Squad ascends into the mountains. With a trademark drawl and an insistence on calling his truck "Betty", he’s a colorful new addition to the cast.

Maria Santiago: When Emergence Day struck, Dom’s wife Maria became a victim as surely as if she had died in that first attack. On that day, her children were killed. Unable to deal with the shock and loss, Maria lost herself in the ruins of civilization. For Dominic, who joined the COG to protect his family, no priority is higher than to retrieve his lost love - his very personal quest to find her is a major part of the story that unfolds in Gears 2.

Cliffy B. himself had the following to say, ""We have creatures that make the Brumak look like a baby panda bear."

For those of you who are not familiar with the Brumak, it would be that incredibly large monster with the guns on its back that you were very upset to not play against on the Xbox 360 version of the game.  We all freaked out when we saw that, and the thought of having bosses that make it look like a "panda bear" can only begin to turn the hype wheel for Gears ofWar 2.

Game Informer also reported that, ""Gameplay of Gears 2 will appear mostly familiar to fans, with a few small variations. The core cover/shoot mechanics remain largely intact, but the use of cover has been carefully retouched so it will be harder to get hit while protected, as the character will rest a little further back from the corners. Active reloads won’t be dramatically altered, particularly with the returning weapons. However, some of the new arsenal may vary the way in whihc active reloads are used. New chainsaw duels expand that gruesome combat mechanic to deliver even more excitement. Boss battles return, but a big push is geared towards refining them, making them more fun and epic in scale."

Players will have the ability to drop-in/drop-out of co-op, have multiple save files, co-op players can play on separate difficulties (User 1 plays on Insane while User 2 plays on Casual), a SHUTUP button that lets you skip the conversations and jump straight to the battle again, a new enemy named the Kantus, and a COG centaur tank combining the best features from a monster truck and a military tank.

A war journal has also been added to allow you to see how you’re doing on things such as headshot achievements and other weapon achievements.  You’ll also be able to closely examine the COG tags that you collect so that you can learn more about the soldiers who once wore them throughout their epic battle.

A story-mode that’s actually worth playing, huge hords of locust to fight, new bosses, new characters to team up with, new weapons being revealed, and we can only hope that a long with Dom and Marcus being back, we’ll be able to still have Cole and Baird as well.  There are mag scans that are floating around the web, but we’re working on obtaining high-res screenshots.  We’ll keep you updated!