The “Mad World” spot was built completely in the game engine. We were able to do virtual location scouting and build out the ruined city to fit our story. The song brought emotion to the realm of soulless shooter video games. (And made a brief appearance at number one on iTunes thanks to the spot)
It is a formula that has been copied extensively in video game advertising but that was unique at the time of launch.
For Gears of War 2 we decided to switch it up from melancholy music to some upbeat poetry. Written in 1916 by Alan Seeger.