August 25th, 2015 
Mark Today marks the release of Gears of War Ultimate Edition, a remastered version of the 2006 original Xbox 360 game from Epic Games. To mark the occasion, the main designer behind the original, Cliff Blesiznski, has shared some interesting, behind-the-scenes facts about the game and its development process.
Below are some of Bleszinski’s tweets. What stands out most to you? Share your thoughts in the comments below. And for more on the Ultimate Edition, be sure to read GameSpot’s review.
#GearsFacts
I never asked for buff characters. Kevin Lanning just made it that way with the AD Jerry. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Anya originally had huge boobs but I pushed back on Pete to make her less cartoony. Ironic, considering the guys. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
I wanted a chainsaw gun in a game I pitched in 97, called “OverFiend.” #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
We had a laser gun planned but we decided for Vietnam like tech so it was cut you can see it in an early image of Marcus. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Rod snuck in the SP fatigue meter when I was on a biz trip to fix streaming issues. I was furious. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Rod was assigned to us at MS at E3 years ago and wore the Marcus dorag and at that point I could tell he adored the franchise. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
The style of Gears’ architecture came from my exhaustion of concrete bunkers and Jerry’s hatred of hazard striping. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
A lot of Gears 1’s inspiration game out of my sadness from the failure of my first marriage and a visit to London. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
The idea to do cover came from @MrLeePerry showing me Killswitch one day I was like WANT. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
In hindsight, the Berserker being female and being chained down for breeding is really fucked up. I was in a dark place. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
No writer has ever written two Gears games…yet. The RodMower nearly kills em all with his persistence. 😉 #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
I hope I’m not violating any NDAs right now. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
I met Gary Jules when he came to Raleigh to play at the Pour House and introduced myself and we chilled. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Before I pitched it to Microsoft I did a bunch of pushups in the hotel and listened to Eminem’s Lose Yourself because dudebro. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Pitching Gears 1 was hard. New IP, new camera, new campaign, new MP, new console, etc…On paper it was set to fail. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Maria was my personal statement on Terri Schaivo and my belief in right to death…through a dudebro shooter with lizard men. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Maria was voiced by Courtney Ford who was a dear friend in high school who later married Brandon Routh and we’re still pals. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Maria (Courtney) was the Trinity Killer’s daughter on Dexter. Small world. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
We cast Carlos Ferro as Dom because I was tired of hearing Speedy Gonzales voices in Splinter Cell games, no offense, Ubi. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Tanya (jessen) Watson wrote the note on the back of the photo of Maria and Dom that shipped with Gears 2. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Picture of Dom and Maria from the SE of Gears 2 was drawn based on my ex girlfriend and I at the time. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Dave, our lead LD at the time, wanted Tai to just jump off a cliff or something, but I pushed for the shotgun suicide. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
The torture the Locust did in Gears was my thinly veiled statement about Gitmo…through a dudebro shooter with lizardmen. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Marcus was named Fenix because I lost everything from the failed marriage and was rising from my own ashes. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Dom’s original last name was “Glynn” until Rod saw a box of cigars on my desk that said “Santiago” and suggested that. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Post Epic, Gears 1’s art director Jerry was slated to direct the reboot of Thundercats until the CG TMNT failed. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Mad World was my anthem when I was going through the failure of my first marriage. Somehow marketing felt this and suggested it. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
The other song was “My Immortal” by Evanescence but that’s way less cool. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Baird was named after a childhood friend who was a bit of a dick, Mark Baird. #GearsFacts Baird just sounds like a dick. @papiblez rite?
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
We cast Lester as Cole because of his charisma in the Terry Tate ads. We were like “I’d go to war with that guy.” #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Before the game came out, Randy Pitchford came to town to play it and saw how tough the Locust were and said “it’s a grinder.” #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Years later I’d go to Dallas to test Borderlands early and then meet and fall for my wife. We met in a W hotel designed in UE. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
In SP the last bullet in each magazine is 25% stronger so the chances of “oh shit” fighting a bad guy are high in the game. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
Boomers were named after the robots from Bubblegum Crisis, which was inspired by Blade Runner. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
I said to the art department on Gears (post quake era) NO FUCKING SKULLS IN THIS WORLD. that clearly worked lol #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
I always wanted a “long range revive pistol” in Gears but Rod always thought it was a dumb idea. 😉 #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
To this day, Epic, Rod, Microsoft and I always kept a good relationship. Biz is biz but friends are forever. I’m signing off. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
In SP the last bullet in each magazine is 25% stronger so the chances of “oh shit” fighting a bad guy are high in the game. #GearsFacts
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) August 25, 2015
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