Improbable as it may seem, Gears of War 2 is even better looking than its awesomely detailed predecessor. Check out these latest screens for absolute and incontrovertible proof.

Good, eh? And they’re all supposed to hail from the multiplayer game too, which bodes very nicely indeed. Speaking of which Epic has recently supplied details about four of the modes in prospect. Interested to learn more? Thought so...

Guardian Mode is a five vs. five blastathon where one player in each squad is nominated as the 'Guardian'. If he/she/it is killed nobody else on the squad may respawn until the next round. Erk!

Other modes with the number five as a denominator include Wingman, which boasts the highly exciting proposition of five two-person teams slugging it out for ultimate supremacy, and War Zone, which is yer basic five-on-five team deathmatch.

Finally we have Meat Flag which is the obligatory (but still welcome) capture-the-flag game, albeit here with the neato twist of a live character acting as the flag. Sounds hilarious.

Doubtless Gears 2 will include some kind of non team-based multiplayer options too, to suit the solo glory hunters out there, but we await confirmation of that. All told Gears 2 will include 12 multiplayer maps, portable shields to tremble behind while your brave buddies are mown down by the merciless Locust hordes and a more useful snap-to-cover system. And that’s just for starters – just you wait and see what the forthcoming hands-on preview reveals...