As VGC (open in new tab) reports, Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer on the original Gears of War, recently appeared on the XboxEra podcast (open in new tab) to discuss his long career in video games. Among the many topics discussed in the podcast, one of the most interesting was Bleszinski's recent departure from Epic Games, where he was particularly enthusiastic about turning Gears of War 4 into a first-person shooter before the company sold the Gears franchise to Microsoft. Gears of War 4 as a first-person shooter before Bleszinski left Epic Games and the company sold the Gears franchise to Microsoft.

In response to a viewer question about Epic's original idea for Gears 4, Bleszinski responded: "I can tell you that we actually wanted to consider going to a first-person perspective."

He added: "We wanted to make sure that the game would be a first-person shooter.

"I mean, can you imagine cutting Locust with a chainsaw from a first-person perspective?

This pitch for Gears 4 didn't seem to go very far until Bleszinski left the company in 2012; in 2014, Microsoft acquired the franchise, and the subsequent series has been developed by The Coalition.

Frankly, beyond chainsawing up Locust and seeing its chunky entrails up close, the first-person "Gears" could have been a great showcase for the series' amazing environments. People will remember the great gunfights, the thumb-like men, and the doomed romance between Dominic and Maria Santiago, but the world of the series is still very visually striking. There's nothing like seeing a baroque city that looks as if it were transported from a later "Final Fantasy" and then beaten to perfection by a bio-mechanical, terrifying enemy. [After "Resident Evil 4" took the wind out of the over-the-shoulder perspective, "Gears" took over and practically defined the genre. Furthermore, after Bleszinski left Epic, the company began work on "Fortnite," which, to date, is the most successful third-person shooter ever produced.

XboxEra's (opens in new tab) hour-and-a-half long conversation with Brzezinski is full of other interesting stories. The developer discusses his early career, his work since Epic, and even reveals that he was involved in the early stages of pitching the Alien game.