New characters:

 

Tai Kaliso, "a spiritual and meditative warrior from a tradition of honor-bound fighters."

Chairman Prescott: "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: "Dives 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: Dominic's wife. A major part of Gears 2's plot revolves around trying to rescue Maria.

 

New Features:

 

New character lighting: More cinematic and less realistic.

Use of cover has been changed. It will be harder to get hit while protected, as the character will rest a little further back from the corners.

Chainsaw Duels: "Expand that gruesome combat mechanic to deliver even more excitement."

Bigger Boss Battles: More fun and epic in scale. Cliffy B. says: "We have creatures that make the Brumak look like a baby panda bear."

Drop-In and Out Co-op: Come and go as you please.

Multiple save files

Differing difficulty levels in Co-op: So player one can be Casual and player two Hardcore. When players split up, the difficulty levels will as well.

Easier-than-Casual difficulty level: For the true-newb.

COG Centaur tank. Takes the best parts of a monster truck and a military tank and mixes 'em up.

Locust Kantus enemies: Featuring humming, sonic attacks.

"Shut-Up" Button: During cut-scenes, you'll have the option of hitting this button to skip everything and get to the next level of shooting.

Journal system: allows you to track findable stuff and progress toward achievements.

 

:o

 

It sounds so beautiful!