GDC: Gears of War 2 announced at Microsoft keynote

Gears of War 2 has been announced during Microsoft's GDC keynote.

It's set for a November 2008 release, said Cliffy B, and will, obviously, be exclusive to Xbox 360.

In addition, Epic bosses Tim Sweeney and Mike Capps made a lengthy demo of the constantly updated Unreal Engine, including "over 100" Locust enemies running around a typical Gears of War environment. Advanced character lighting was shown , as were new water effects and soft-body physics.

"There's much greater contrast in the shadows, much greater specular lighting," said tech chief Sweeney. "Much more detail on the character overall."

Destructible environments were also shown off, again in Gears of War environments.

The demo and announcement were made during the GDC keynote from Microsoft’s John Schappert, which has just finished.