Karen Traviss to Write Gears of War 3 Story

This from our friends over at Kotaku

After penning two novels based in the world of Epic Games' hit series, science fiction author Karen Traviss plunges headlong into the story as the lead writer for Gears of War 3.

Star Wars fans may recognize Karen Traviss as the writer who made clone troopers cool and compelling in her Republic Commando series of novels, giving characters that served as cannon fodder in the films personality, history, and culture. I'm more of a Star Trek fan myself, but Traviss' novels are some of the best science fiction I've read.

So when Epic Games tapped Traviss to write Gears preview novel Gears of War: Aspho Fields, I was delighted, as I was when they brought her back for the Gears 2 sequel, Jacinto's Remnant.

Now I'm ecstatic, as Traviss is not only writing two more Gears novels, this time under Simon & Schuster imprint Gallery Books, but she's also the lead writer for Gears of War 3 the game. The news actually dropped on Tuesday, but got a bit lost in the shuffle during all of the Gears 3 hype.

"We've always carefully integrated the books and the games, but now that Karen's writing the game as well, the storyline is even more tightly woven," said Rod Fergusson, Executive Producer, Epic Games. "All the characters have a rich and troubled history, and the events between the second and third games plunge them into an even more desperate struggle to survive. The fourth book is essential reading for all Gearheads before they dive into the final game of the trilogy."

Traviss' contribution to the new game might not have much of an impact on your average Gears fan - they'll buy the new game regardless. For someone like me, on the other hand, who really doesn't care much for the games but loves Traviss' writing, this news means that I'll be in line for Gears of War 3 on day one, just to see how the story unfolds.

Thanks to Devastator for passing along the press release!

This shows promise. I personally love Traviss' work. She writes with a grittiness and realism that you don't frequently see when dealing with video game franchises. My hopes are two-fold for her work on Gears 3. First, I hope that her involvement in this project means that we will finally see Mataki in a Gears game. If you have seen the new Gears of War 3 teaser trailer on XBL or over at Epic's web site, you know that there is a female COG featured in this peace. Mataki is one of the strongest characters from the Gears Universe (yes, maybe even stronger than Carlos in my opinion) and she needs to be there. If you have not read Aspho Fields or Jacinto's Remnant yet, I strongly suggest that you do prior to the release of Gears 3, if for no other reason than you get acquainted with Mataki.

My second hope for the third installment of Gears of War, presumably driven by Travis' more earthy approach to story telling, is that Dom will have finally grown a pair (no offense Carlos). After two games of Dom moaning and whining about losing Maria, searching for Maria, and finally finding (and *spoiler alert* losing her), I want to see an angry and vengeful Dom kick some Locust ass. The emergence of what I will refer to as the new "Dirty" Dom, with Grizzly Adams beard and an "I don't give a sh*t" attitude, was hinted at in the Ashes to Ashes trailer that came out last week. Let's hope that Karen Traviss can help raise the Gears of War story out of the quagmire that was the second installment in the series and lift the franchise to the pinnacle of modern gaming fiction where it truly belongs.