Gears of War 3

The epic end to Epic's epic is upon us. And to be entirely honest, it's pretty epic. I've spent the last week on the edge of my bed, eyes wide at how far this franchise has come, and where, if anywhere, it could possibly go from here. But you don't want to hear about the future, if you came here, you came to read a review. So let's get into it.

STORY
The story of Gears 3 follows on 18 months after the story of Gears 2. The locust hollows have been flooded, and COG settlements on a previously uncharted island are being attacked by lambent infected locust. Driven out of thier new home, Delta Squad (led by Marcus Fenix) attempt to find and rescue Marcus' father after a mysterious recording implies that Adam Fenix is not actually dead, as everyone had believed.

The story is action packed, and conveys the feeling of desperation almost as well as the Resistance series, a series long recognized for it's hopeless, desperate setting. You can feel that this is the Gear's last shot at reclaiming their world again.

Returning characters from Delta Squad gain alot more character devolopment this time around, and as a result are much more likeable. You can also feel the friendship that has developed between these characters in some key scenes, which I really shouldn't mention for fear of spoiling some fantastic moments.

PRESENTATION
Gears of War 3 is an epic improvement of the sights and sounds from the previous games. On the visual side of it, Gears 3 seems a lot smoother in graphical quality, as well as more detailed and more colourful. While the older games were quite grey and black, Gears 3 has a very gold tinge to it, and while black and grey are still present, there are also some nice greens and blues in certain scenes as well.

The voice acting is as good as ever, with old hands John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama, Craig Marduk of Tekken fame), Carlos Ferro (Leo Da Vinci in Assassin's Creed) and Fred Tatasciore (Mario from Assassin's Creed) lending their talents to 3 of the main characters. Surprisingly enough, Ice T's cameo is more than (probably) anyone excpected, with Griffin being a possible jumping point for a new Gears universe game (perhaps).

The soundtrack for gears is suitably epic, and it works well enough, but the most interesting part is the use of licensed tracks. While theres really only one there, until the credits at least, it really hits home and intensifies the already extremely emotional scene. Basically, when it happens, you'll know.

GAMEPLAY
Gameplay remains largely unchanged from Gears of War 2, but let's face it... Cover based shooting is probably at the best it will be for some time. Lambent variations of the Locust enemies from previous installments are available to diversify your killing activities, as well as some new, messed up Lambent (mutating Drudges and Gunkers are the larger variety).

While the gameplay may not have changed much, the mechanics seem a lot more responsive. Each bullet impact seems like it has an effect and its satisfying to see an enemy go into the downed animation. And after that, you're able to hit them with an execution, which are all satisfyingly gorey. And theres a large variety of them. Which is awesome.

So in summary, theres not a lot new in Gears 3's gameplay, but it's all been polished to a mirror shine. Even the ally AI seems more responsive and less brain dead than last time; and that can be nothing but a good thing.

REPLAYABILITY
The campaign has plenty of collectibles to find, as well as the option to play it in 4 player co-op. Let's face it, even games that are shit become fun when you have a friend along for the ride. Add another two and it's like a party. With guns! On top of that, GoW 3 is a fantastic game on its own, and gets even better with some mates watching your back.

The multiplayer is also pretty fantastic, with a range of standard modes (TDM etc) and some not so standard modes, such as Capture the Leader or Wingman. The gameplay is still pretty solid here, and there were no glaring connection issues. Alongside standard multiplayer, there is also Horde mode (a wave survival mode) and Beast mode (basically a reversal of Horde).

OVERVIEW
To reiterate, this game is fantastic. There are few problems at this stage, with an interesting story, slightly more vibrant visuals and highly polished gameplay to back it all up. My only possible complaint is that some of the story points don't live up to the series' previous sense of scale. Most of the boss monsters have either been seen in previous installments, or just don't match up, scale-wise. But all in all, Gears of War 3 is a fantastic game, and if you own an X-Box 360, you really should get your hands on a copy.

So, I'm still loving Gears 3's multiplayer, but next week, I assure you, I'll have a review of Driver: San Francisco. See you next time!