Gears of War 3 Review (Xbox 360)

excellent
key review info
  • Game: Gears of War 3
  • Platform: Xbox 360
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
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Gears of War 3 review

Few Xbox 360 exclusive franchises can hold a candle to Epic Games' Gears of War, which managed to trump almost all other series except for Halo, and even gives multi-platform franchises like Call of Duty a serious run for their money.

Now, the third chapter in the trilogy of Gears of War titles has been released, promising to bring an end to the saga of the Delta Squad, led by Marcus Fenix, and their war on behalf of humanity in front of the monstrous Locust and Lambent races.

So, is Gears of War 3 a proper end to the third person, cover-based shooter franchise or does it fail when the series needed it most? Let's find out.

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Delta Squad is back ...
... to face new enemies

Story Past Gears of War games impressed not just through top notch gameplay, courtesy of the shooter specialists from Epic Games, but also through its deep story, which saw the fictional human planet of Sera overrun by underground monsters called Locust, in the first title, and the Lambent, in the second.

Now, after unsuccessfully trying to get rid of these enemies in the first two titles, Marcus Fenix and his rag tag Delta Squad are on a last desperate attempt to save what's left of the planet and humanity.

While Gears of War games in the past put gameplay over story, you can clearly tell that the latest title wanted to address quite a lot of plot threads, resolving them in a great way while leaving some to the imagination of the player.

I won't spoil any major reveals, but if you played at least one Gears of War game up until now and gave even a modest interest in the narrative, then you owe it to yourself to experience the newest one.

Gameplay There's not a lot of things you can improve upon in Gears of War, especially since the original was such a solid experience that led to a huge amount of other games trying to copy various systems, from the cover-based gameplay to the active reload or even the general 'destroyed beauty' design.

The game is still a third person shooter with cover-based mechanics, meaning you don't just waltz into a firefight and start charging mindlessly at enemies, with your chainsaw bayonet revved. Instead you need to have a more cerebral approach, using the variety of cover, some even destructible, to your advantage by keeping bullets far from your more stripped down armor.

You can tell that Epic Games wanted to use all of its various ideas with this last game, adding a variety of things, including new weapons, like the satisfying cleaver, while upgrading fan favorites like the shotgun or the Lancer, even adding a classic version of the latter.

Enemies are also more varied this time around, as you mainly fight against Lambent forces that are more dangerous and more difficult to eliminate than the standard Locust. The Lambent spawn from massive stalks, as opposed to the emergence holes, which need to be shot at to prevent more opponents from appearing. They also have a nasty habit of exploding when killed, so you need to especially mindful when charging at them.

The bigger types of Lambent enemies also hold some nasty surprises, sprouting tentacles that spew a sort of fire from their mouths. What's worse, after you eliminate the actual beings, the tentacles can still crawl on the floor and flood you with fire if you're not careful.

You also encounter the traditional Locust enemies, this time with some peculiar variations, from flying drones to massive Corpsers, and fitted with a variety of nifty toys, including turrets made out of sticking together four Lancer rifles.

Thankfully, you're more than ready to take on these enemies, as Delta Squad, composed of Marcus, Dom, Baird and Cole Train, are also helped by two lovely females, Anya and Sam, as well as secondary characters, including a new Carmine sibling, although we won't spoil his eventual fate.

Overall, from a gameplay perspective, Gears of War 3 is by far the most polished of the series, bringing together everything that made it so special and adding a few tweaks and improvements to make sure everyone will have a great time.

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Gameplay is just as we remember it ...
... and bloodier than ever

Multiplayer Like any Gears game, the third one places a heavy emphasis on online connectivity, allowing not just for regular competitive multiplayer, but also for four-player cooperative, either locally with another buddy or online with three other people.

First up, let's talk about the co-op one, which allows four people to control members of the squad during the story. The famous Horde mode makes a return in the third game, tasking players with working together and resisting increasingly difficult waves of enemies. You can now build and improve barricades, decoys or automatic defenses, depending on your performance.

What's more, there's now a special Beast mode, which switches things up, allowing players to control various Locust units and assault human strongholds. Players are given a certain amount of money, which they can spend in exchange for certain spawns, as bigger units, like Boomers, cost more than smaller ones, like Tickers.

Next we have the competitive multiplayer, which includes modes like Team Deathmatch, Warzone or Execution, the latter tasking players with killing enemies only through stylish executions. Wingman returns from the second game, while Capture the Leader is an all new experience with players needing to hunt down specific members from the other team, while protecting their own leaders from their opponents.

Overall, the multiplayer experience in Gears of War 3 is top notch, as the addition of dedicated servers eliminates the many issues that plagued the second entry in the series, while gameplay is as balanced as ever. No matter your level or skill, Gears of War 3 is a lot of fun online or with a buddy.

Visuals and Audio While you can see that Epic Games has squeezed out every ounce of performance from its Unreal Engine, as Gears of War 3 is definitely one of the most graphically impressive titles in the series, the visuals are weighed down by the aging hardware of the Xbox 360.

Once again, the game feels like it has a monotone color pallet, as each segment is filled with either dark brown, washed out yellow or gray, although there are sections where the studio changed things up. Character models look pretty good, especially in the new, more stripped down body armors, but the key cinematic sections are pre-rendered, so the difference in quality is quite apparent.

In terms of sound, the orchestral score is properly bombastic in some of the massive firefights you'll engage in, while emotional moments, of which there are quite a few, are backed up by more surreal tracks.

Voice work once again is top notch, with almost all of the voice actors reprising their characters, like John Di Maggio with Marcus Fenix, or Lester Speight with the always delightful Cole Train, while new actors, like Ice-T or Claudia Black bring to life fresh characters from the Gears of War mythos.

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The bigger they are ...
... the bigger they fall

Conclusion Gears of War 3 is a great game and a proper end to the series made by Epic Games. While visuals aren't something to write home about, there's a stunning story with lots of key moments, not to mention top notch and refined gameplay, no matter if you're in single or multiplayer mode.

The game will see even more content released for it in the near future, so it's definitely worth checking it out, as it's currently available exclusively on the Xbox 360 console.

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story 9
gameplay 10
concept 9
graphics 7
audio 9
multiplayer 9
final rating 9
Editor's review
excellent
 
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