Former Gears of War lead designer CliffyB has revealed some unreleased Locust designs that show how the race may have changed after the third game.

Cliff Bleszinski was once one of the leading creatives in the Gears of War series. Now he’s revealed the direction he would have taken the franchise’s Locusts in after the third instalment. Although he was still working on a few games after Epic Games sold the rights to Gears of War to Microsoft, the developer, also known as CliffyB, left the games industry. But he continues to share artwork that shows fans of the franchise what could have been.

Former Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski recently shared a series of images on Twitter showing possible Locust visuals that could have been used in future Gears of War titles from Epic Games beyond the third one, along with some brief explanations.

Although CliffyB was not involved in Gears of War 4 and beyond, the Locusts featured in the games have undergone some changes. But they look pretty different from what he shared with the audience.

The first potential Locust shared by Cliff Bleszinski shows a winged, legless creature that resembles the Vampire Lord from Skyrim. It emits an orange light, partially covered in smoke. The two incredible, never-realized Locust are similarly winged and demonic. One is slightly shorter, and the other is covered in lighter armour, glowing blood red from their wings. Another unique creature looks like a Cacodemon from Doom, with a sharp-toothed alligator face and seemingly surrounded by smaller underwater creatures.

The final Gears of War 3 post-Locust idea shared so far by Cliff Bleszinski resembles the Qunari of the Dragon Age franchise with a suitably dark twist. Like the other locusts the ex-developer has introduced, this creature, dubbed the “Big Bad,” is clad in black spiked armour that might protect them from some of the volleys of a Lancer assault rifle.

Many fans have expressed disappointment that Cliff Bleszinski did not continue working on Gears of War beyond the third instalment. Some aspects of the new games have been described as “woke”. Others have compared the works to Lovecraft and Doom.

One player used the Twitter feed to take a jab at the Locusts in Gears 5. At the same time, another player said that the original game’s genius had been lost over the years.

Source: Twitter

Here's the rough direction I wanted to take the Locust in after Gears 3. pic.twitter.com/Gh8sabNtMa

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) December 7, 2022

And here's an underwater Ticker.

I'm going to go shower now. pic.twitter.com/ibLlEz5g3g

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) December 7, 2022