Gears of War 3 Review
Developer Epic Games
Publisher Microsoft
Platform Xbox360
Release Date Out Now
Gears of War 3 is the emotional climax to one of the greatest storylines in gaming history. Five years ago a new IP appeared on the Xbox, this gritty, heavy and brutal cover based third person shooter mixed though gameplay with stunning visuals and as the Locust first emerged from the underground of Sera on E-day bringing a new horror to the human race, The Gears of War franchise was born.
Now in its third instalment and breaking every pre sale record around it, Marcus and Dom are back and better than ever. The human race is on the verge of destruction having sacrificed their last stronghold in a last ditch bid to defeat the locust, now are left scattered across a number of outposts and a handful of ships. Supplies are low, the stakes are high so it’s up to your squad to make one last push to end it all. Fans expectations are incredibly high when it comes to Gears and they won’t be disappointed by Gears 3.
All the characters are incredibly damaged heroes, Marcus in particular has to battle his own internal daemons over his father’s death as he tries to hold together the squad members. Joining Marcus are returning heroes Dom and Cole Train with also a new character being introduced is Sam, a sassy young fighter who is as deadly with the gun as she is with a smart mouth. Her introduction is handled well and the characters are all strong and fit into group quite well.
There are some on rails levels as always that link all the dramatic sequences together, these vehicle missions are still entertaining and don’t drag but do add to the illusion that you have travelled great distances in the game. The differences in each of the locations are immense you go from tight little corridors to wide open expanses.
Enemies have evolved from Locust to Lambent and they have a new method of spawning too,using the Lambent stalk which are huge root system that can sprout from anywhere and start spawning enemies. Just like the emergence holes the stalks need to be shut down to stop the flow of enemies, this is done by shooting the pods that they fall from.
To dispatch the enemies you have a whole host of heavy devastating weaponry, your standard Lancer which is an assault gun with a chainsaw attached to the front, also available are Mortar guns which rain explosives dowb on groups of enemies, Miniguns called the Mulcher for obvious reasons. The One shot is a large sniper scoped weapons that kills anything in one shot ! In fact most of the weapons players will be instantly familiar with, and they still shred the enemies apart with that satisfying sound and the chainsaw still deals out that bone curling noise as it chews through flesh and bone.
The pace and intensity can be overwhelming so it’s good to know you can count of your buddies as Gears 3 supports up to 4 player co-op online, not only is this great fun but it instantly removes the problems with computer AI, but also introduces its own problems with your friends not listening too.
Multiplayer has always been huge but not without its own server issues which thankfully have been resolved, now up to ten players can clash in a variety of different game modes from your standard Death match to Capture the leader and Execution. Games have an added tension by introducing things like the ability to heal yourself and limited respawn counts.
Two other modes are Horde mode and Beast Mode. Horde mode sees you and up to4 friends try to withstand the enemy onslaught. Enemies attack in waves, killing them earns you money which can be spend on setting up your defences. Things such as gun turrets to spike barriers to halt the smaller enemies. As each wave comes it gets harder and harder, early waves can be dispatched quite easily but you have to start working together if you wish to survive at all. Beast mode is essentially the same game but you play the enemy as you attack humans.
Gears is one of the best shooters you can buy, but also its one of the most accessible ones too, beginners are given the chance to hone their skills against each other before being thrown in with the pro’s. The campaign is stunning, emotional and a fitting end to the story. It was essentially the end of this series but the creators are already talking about doing a fourth game it just may go in a different direction.
One of the best shooters ever made, one of the best games ever made, this ending to the current story is brilliant. Talks of another Gears game are starting to be rumoured and fingers crossed they do something just In a new direction.
Score 10/10
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