At long last, the final chapter to the epic Gears of War franchise is coming to an end. Since the series debuted in 2006, players have fallen in love with the story of Marcus Fenix and his best friend Dom as they save the world from the Locust. As their super heroic journey is finally coming to an end, will Gears of War 3 be a groundbreaking title that we will all remember?
When Gears of War 2 was released a couple of years ago, players have felt that it’s pretty much the same thing as the first one except it’s still fun to play due to its intense action and co-op. With Gears of War 3, should players expect the same thing? Let’s take a look at the HOTs and NOTs of our Gears of War 3 review.
HOT
Story
Taking place eighteen months after the fall of Jacinto and the defeat of the Locusts, a new threat has emerged and this time, it’s the Lambent. Infected by the Imulsion, the Lambent have begun emerging from the underground and now threaten to destroy humanity. Without an idea on how eliminate the threat, a message from Chairman Prescott informs Marcus Fenix that his father, Adam Fenix is alive and has the key to solving the problem that they now face. With the objective of finding Adam Fenix, Marcus, Dom and the rest of the COGs must travel together but what would be the cost of their success if or ever they eliminate the Lambent/Imulsion threat? That’s for you to find out!
Without spoiling too much of the story in Gears of War 3, the ending to the epic trilogy is pretty satisfying. Mixing the game’s action with drama and suspense, Epic Games does a great job in honing the story of the game for this final hurrah in the Gears of War trilogy.
Same Addicting Combat System
We all know since the release of the first Gears of War, the way we perceive third person shooter games have been revolutionized. Thanks to the perfect formula in combining cover system and third person action, a lot of gamers have become addicted to it. Talking about the combat system, it’s pretty much synonymous as the previous titles but with added enhancements such as the ability to perform different executions for every weapon used. The AI of the enemies is somewhat smarter than previous games making the game more challenging – especially on insane mode.
Four Player Co-Op
Expanding from a two player online co-op into four, playing the game with friends have never been so much fun. Expect mayhem and chaos as the full team of four takes down an insanely big boss and tackling objectives that involves raiding an area full of enemies. Whenever one of the team members gets hit and is down on the floor, any of the other three players in the group can revive them. There’s no limits as to how many times the players will have to go down before they die. As long as someone is there to revive that downed character at a specific time limit, they can revive them. If you love playing with friends, you’ll sure enjoy the co-op experience the game has to offer.
Beast Mode
One of the new multiplayer features that Gears of War 3 has is the Beast mode. Instead of playing as Marcus, Dom, Anya or any other COG characters, you will play as a Locust or a Lambent where your objective is taking down the human characters. The game mechanics is pretty much the same as the Horde mode except you play as the enemy. When it comes to the fun factor of the Beast Mode, it’s pretty enjoyable and additive. It’s a feature that you could potentially be playing for months or even years!
Upcoming DLCs
For those players who aren’t satisfied with the campaign of Gears of War 3, Epic Games will be releasing a dedicated campaign DLC that further expands the campaign action. While Epic didn’t really give any details as to what it would be about, one thing we can expect is that it would be EPIC!. In addition to campaign, we should also expect multiplayer maps, even for the Horde and Beast mode. With full support of Epic Games giving to Gears of War 3, we can expect a lengthy action experience for the last game in the series that we’ll play.
Arcade Mode
In addition to the campaign mode, another new mode called Arcade is available for players who just enjoy playing co-op. While players are going through the lengthy campaign of Gears of War 3, they can set the game to play as an arcade mode where they can enabled modifiers such as No Ammo Pick Up, and compete with other players by reaching a high score at the end of the chapter. Get more kills, and players in the team will get more points.
NOT
Minor Visual Flaws
Comparing the visuals from the second game to Gears of War 3, only tiny improvements can be seen. The only notable change that you can see is the good use of lighting, shadows and much crispier character models. During CG cutscenes, you will notice that it’s slightly dated as it’s somewhat grainy and screen tearing can be expected. If you have a 3D TV, the game can be played in a full stereoscopic 3D
Same Old Competitive Multiplayer Mode
Going to the competitive online multiplayer, nothing revolutionary has been added. Fans can expect the same modes from previous Gears of War games such as King of the Hill, Team Deathmatch, and Execution. Of course there are new maps, unlockables and challenges to expect but overall, this will be overshadowed by the Horde and Beast mode.
VERDICT
Gears of War 3 is no doubt the best Xbox 360 exclusive game this year that Xbox 360 owners need to get no matter what. While it may feel like it’s plays the same as the other two Gears of War games, the new additions such as new environments, enemies, weapons, and the new Beast mode are satisfying enough to make the game stand on its own. Not to mention it’s the satisfying conclusion to the series.
[Editor’s Note:Gears of War 3 was reviewed on the Xbox 360 platform. The game was given to us by the publisher for review purposes.]