We have lots of new monsters: Blood Mounts, Grinders, Reavers that land this time, Tickers, and tons of new boss monsters. We're letting those guys have their moment in the sun. Who knows? Maybe [Berserkers and Krill] will return sometime in a new and interesting way. We have plenty of monsters to fill in those gaps. We have new levels with different environmental hazards that aren't Krill. We're using something else this time, but you'll have to wait and see for that.

What was your biggest challenge in developing Gears of War 2?

Balancing narrative with gameplay objectives. We did good with objectives in the first game, but we didn't get too far into the narrative. We would've loved to have delved deeper into the character of Marcus...but we didn't even have an opening cinematic! We just went straight into the game. We do have a cinema that sets up the story for Gears of War 2, and the later cinematics are all three to five minutes long. Which is by design, I assure you.

There are lots of GamePro readers screaming about Cole. Will he return in Gears of War 2? Absolutely. But if Cole was in the beginning of the game, there wouldn't be any room for our new guys like Tai and Dizzy! I assure you, there will be plenty of Cole.

The overall tone of Gears of War 2 seems somewhat darker. Even Marcus's over-the-top comments seem to be reigned in. Am I imagining things?