20 Things You Didn't Know About Gears Of War
7. Gears Of War 3's Writer Never Played The Games
To keep Sera's lore coherent, Epic Games have enlisted lots of writing talent to help the series stay as sensical as an apocalyptic monster invasion can be, including Karen Traviss. A novelist for Star Wars and the Halo series, Traviss wrote Gears of War: Aspho Fields in 2008 after the Gears of War trailer inspired her.
However, what's so interesting about Traviss' work is how she approaches her stories. In an interview, she revealed that she's never played the games, saying "if I play the game then I start to write as if I'm constructing it again." Instead, she would watch the cinematics and view the concept art of Sera's world to inspire her stories. After writing four Gears novels, and writing for the comic series, Traviss was brought on as a lead writer for Gears of War 3.
She's had a significant impact on the Gears universe. For example, she saved Colonel Hoffman from death in Gears of War 3, explaining that his historical importance was essential as one of the only reliable accounts of life before Emergence Day.