The reimagining of a young Marcus Fenix in Gears of War: E-Day as he fights through Emergence Day when the Locust horde invades the Seran city of Kalona. Although still in his twenties, Marcus is still a gritty war hardened vet.
Process: The Balance between Realism and Style - The goal was to align with Gears of War: E-Day's vision of a gritty, terrifying return to the franchise's horror roots while keeping the aesthetics grounded in realism.
Early Marcus Fenix Sketches - even though still in his twenties, Marcus needed to look like a hardened, gritty war vet during Gears of War: E-Day. Early concepts had him looking young but tough looking as he faces Emergence Day
Official Concept Art for a young Marcus Fenix as depicted in the events of Gears of War: E-day. When we started designs, we began with looking at how he looked in the original trilogy as well as old Marcus in 4-5. Art direction from The Coalition Studio Art Director Aryan Hanbeck and story direction from E-Day Creative Director Matt Searcy challenged me to fuse the style and larger-than-life feel of the characters from the Gears of War franchise with Gears of War: E-Day's realistic look. Following too much of the legacy designs and it slips deep into stylization and would lack the realism the project demanded. Making things too hyper real on the other hand, would lose the likeness to the characters. So the task was to explore how far we can dial up the realism and not lose Marcus Fenix in the process. The process was to take a 3D asset, whether it be from Metahuman Creator or a model from Maya, and gradually push and pull proportions to bring the features of Marcus back and then texturing it to bring in the hyper realistic look we wanted. Fun Fact: typically characters are made without facial expressions but we found out that like his goatee and dorag, Marcus needs his scowl and furrow. Drop the brow down, give him a sneer and you will find Marcus.