Gears of War mastermind has told the UK's Zone magazine that exclusive game Gears of Wars was inspired partly by Tolkien's masterpiece and the trilogy of films based upon it.

The hideous locusts which players battled in the game were in fact inspired by the Uruk-hai - equipped with guns.

"We wanted the Locust to be intelligent savages; they're like the Uruk-hai in LOTR, only with guns", the big cheese explained.

"The Uruk-hai would organise themselves, line up and then storm in - even though they look like horrible monsters. That's what the Locust essentially are: bipedal, thick-skinned, but also smart enough to build and use their own weaponry. They use tactics - they're not just running at you mindlessly."

You can read the full CliffyB interview on CVG.co.uk.

By Luke Guttridge