The Gears of War series isn't exactly known for its gripping plots and nuanced characters. Though Epic certainly showed some improvement through its three-game series, many players still shrugged it off as hulking soldiers turning bad guys into meat. Now that Gears of War: Judgment is on the docket, with co-developer People Can Fly, how can they create a better narrative in this world? By consulting Pixar, of course.

GameInformer (via GameSpot) reports that Epic attended a workshop led by a Pixar story director, on how to establish strong story and characters. The team wanted to learn how to establish and reinforce character motivations, and how to incorporate those into the storytelling.

"We've been trying to improve on storytelling since we started," said production director Rod Fergusson. "And this seemed like a natural way of getting a little bit of insight into how what we consider to be the best in the industry."

How well Epic learned those lessons remains to be seen. The game is slated for early 2013.