Gears of War 3

Genre: Third Person Shooter
Platform(s): Xbox 360, PC
Allegiance: Epic Games
Vintage: 2011
Rating: M
Intelligence Agency Report by: Shadow
Sera is besieged all across the globe. If the Lambent are not terrorizing the humans of Sera, the Locusts are. The Stranded distrust the COG and survive on their own, the COG aim to get by and end the war to have a tomorrow, and the Locusts are desperate for their own fight. A man, long since dead, has emerged from the shadows bearing a message for Marcus Fenix- his father. Two more spooks come back from being gone for over a year and a half, and the Lambent attack. The end of the war is upon them as Marcus Fenix and his comrades help write the final chapters.

Weapons Expert Report by: Shadow
Story/Premise
Gameplay
Impact
Visual
Audio
10.00
9.00
10.00
9.00
10.00
Overall 9.75
(not an average)
Version Reviewed: Xbox 360 Epic Games made a clear point, that this was the end of the trilogy and that it would be sent out in style. By no means did they miss the mark on what they promised gamers. Gears of War was an immensely popular game, presented by a commercial that made the player question what emerged from the planet, and used a chilling song that expressed desperation and sorrow. Many felt that the game validated the existence of the Xbox 360, much in the way that Halo: Combat Evolved did for the original Xbox. Too much time passed for Gears of War 2 to come out, and it was met with a somewhat chilly reception in some circles, though complete praise in others. More was left to be discovered, leading to the creation of a comic book series, and of course Gears of War 3, the end of the story. 

The plot of Gears of War 3 has only one main focal point: the salvation of Adam Fenix and his plan to finally end the Lambent threat to Sera. The very energy source that humanity fought for is killing the planet and everything on it. The COG is broken; Chairman Prescott abandoned it half a year after the sinking of Jacinto. People are getting by, doing what they can to try to survive, both physically and emotionally. The story takes plenty of twists and turns afterwards that the player will enjoy, and will only discover the truth during the last hour of the game. 

What made this game even more special than its prequels was the way that they wove in human personalities, feelings, grief, and desperation. Characters in Gears of War 3 seem to be considerably more developed and show an even more well-developed personality than they have in the past (sorrows from losing a mate, regrets of the loss of a wonderful life before E-day, and a development of a brotherhood that you know has your back.) The game lived up to what it was meant to be: brothers until the end. 

In using these deeper characters, coupled with a sense of urgency and a glimmer of hope as well as the reality of war and what it does to soldier and civilian alike (especially concerning sacrificing your own people), the game told a wonderful story that provided what was the most solid and special plot of the Gears franchise. 

Nothing about the gameplay has changed from the previous games, including the same over- the-shoulder third-person shooter method of play. Weaponry continues to be mostly the same, with a few changes to some Locust weapons. A change sure to have pissed off a lot of the gamers was the severely reduced firepower of the Hammerburst II. Another of the changes was upgrading the Kantus Gorgon pistol to function as a full-auto similar to the real-life Glock 18 firearm. New weapons have been added, such as the Digger, One-Shot, Vulcan, and some other new toys. These same toys also made their way into the multiplayer modes, which includes a revamped Horde 2.0 mode (which allows the player to add fortifications to his bases and boss battles on every tenth wave) and a Beast mode that plays like Horde but with the Locusts. 

The graphics continued to be of the same design as the previous games, with some alterations to several characters. More destructible things are in the environment as the player goes through the game, which is a considerable increase from the original game which had few destructible things as combat raged on. Whereas Gears of War 3 stomps out its predecessors in terms of story and characters, it does so even more in the audio department. The audio was nice, crisp, and more than could be expected for a game of this nature. One could even say that it’s probably the best soundtrack that has ever been put to a video game, especially when it moves the player to feel heroic or defeated at the proper timing.