[Update] Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski has confirmed that Gears of War 3 will include four-player cooperative play throughout the singleplayer campaign - details below [End of Update]

Following the massive trailer, screenshot and information reveal for Epic Games’ Gears of War 3, the developer has provided an official, set-in-stone release date for the shooter.

April 8th 2011 is when we can expect the third and final instalment of this Gears of War trilogy to drop, and since the reveal on Jimmy Fallon’s show last night (which you can watch below), a few new morsels of information have begun to sneak out…

First up is the news that Epic Games’ Rod Fergusson, via a seemingly innocent chat in Gears IRC, has confirmed four player cooperative play in Gears of War 3, as players will be able to take on the role of Marcus, Dom, Cole, Baird and other characters to fill in the spots.

Also currently known is that Gears of War 3 is set roughly 18 months after the events of Gears of War 2, and after the fourth Gears of War book. The location shown in the first ever trailer for Gears of War 3 (which you should watch, over here), is nicknamed ‘Char,’ and contains victims of the most predominant Hammer of Dawn strikes (turning them to ashes).

As for new weapons and enemies, the trailer allows viewers to glimpse a double-barrelled shotgun (which is apparently the result of an exceptionally lengthy forum thread), while the Lambent Locust can also be seen towards the end – these enemies apparently mutate and change while you’re fighting them, and if previous rumours and sources are correct, are able to reach you even if you’re hiding behind cover with their prehensile tails.

You should keep your eyes on a great forum post on the official Epic forums that is attempting to keep track of all of this new information over here.

In the meantime, you can watch Cliff Bleszinski’s appearance on the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon show below:

Cliff Bleszinski’s Appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

[Update]

Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski confirmed by way of Twitter that Gears of War 3 will include four-player cooperative play throughout the singleplayer campaign, tweeting:

“Also, Rod confirmed and I’m posting it here: 4 player integrated story co op in the campaign!”

Excellent!

[End of Update]