Gears of War 3 is an amazing finally to the trilogy. Epic did a really good job on this game. If you want CoD you’re in the wrong place. This game is here to throw everything at you that Epic made great from the very start of the series.
First things first, campaign mode. Campaign is harder than it was in the previous games. Epic has made it their job to make the campaign harder and harder with each installment. The game is long enough and will keep you occupied for quite some time. It may be possible to beat it in one day but you’ll be there in front of the tube the entire day. Something that they did great about the campaign is the multiplayer. They’ve always had split-screen with a friend but this time they made it possible to play online with up to 4 people. Enjoy running and gunning with 3 other friends all the while chainsawing the enemy till none are left standing. They let you skip parts with talking by hitting the Back button so that’s a fun fix on your second run through. You don’t have to keep walking with your hand up to your ear for 5 minutes any longer. One thing I didn’t care for is how the ammo crates no longer give ammo to all of the guns you have. It gives ammo to only your basic primary guns that you find everywhere. It no longer gives grenades, sniper, boom-shot, or anything else that you may think of along those lines. They also make you bury through most of your ammo at every confrontation. So at times you’re switching for what ever gun you can find in the middle of the fight. It does help keep things interesting I guess. There’s still a lot of collectables for people that want to find them but there’s a ton of Easter Eggs as well for fun. I can’t even name all of them. There’s a Cluck-shot (Boom-shot that fires chickens), everyone with Dom’s beard, and a giant golden Lambent chicken to name a few. I personally enjoyed everyone with Dom’s beard because even Carmine had it on the outside of his helmet.
Before I go into multiplayer I want to talk about the weapons. There have been some changes as well as additions to the roster. The shotgun is no longer a rape everything gun. It’s been greatly balanced. Not saying nerfed because everyone knew it was over powered in the past. They have a sawed-off shotgun that has incredible power but extremely short range. There’s only one in the chamber so if you get in your opponents face and pull the trigger you’ll get the enjoyable splash and gore but if you miss you could be sitting on the exam table instead. The retro lancer is the new addition to the primary assault gun. It’s range is a bit shorter with a wider spray but a little more damage. So you should use it in close to medium range. The benefit of this gun is the lance at the end. Hold B and you’ll charge your opponent and gore them on the tip of it. Lots of enjoyment in this one. Haha. There’s a digger launcher that you shoot into the ground and it pops up next to the opponent. Nothing too special there. Aside from a couple new heavy guns similar to the Grinder that’s about it. Oh! You can now use the Cleaver that the Butchers used in GoW2. It’s fun but not worth it. Trust me.
So onto Multiplayer. There’s still the verses modes that we grew to enjoy in GoW2. Not much has changed here. Pit yourself against the enemy team and go at it. The levels are balanced and a ton of fun. You may not care for one particularly but everyone has those. Everything here has just been refined from previous games and beta testing. They did a great job with Beta testing this game because it let them fix anything before launch while giving the public what they wanted. Props to Epic for doing this. Not many companies do this any longer and it’s sad because it helps them out.
There’s Horde mode still as well as a new addition, Beast mode. Horde is the same thing that everyone has grown to enjoy in every single shooter since its release on GoW2 3 years back. With the difficulty of the game getting harder this mode as well has gotten a little more frustrating. Beast mode is awesome. You get to chose to be a Locast and attack the humans. It’s a nice little change but leads to some awesome things. The Wretch is a ton of fun and the Ticker has some incredible moments when you get there and blow up in the enemies face. They did something great here. I don’t see other games having this but once again they’re just pushing the envelope from last time.
Gears of War 3 has a lot to show for the work put in. The campaign is great and multiplayer just gives more and more for players to have fun with. The sheer among of Easter Eggs put into this game shows how much Epic wanted people to play this game and enjoy every little bit of it. I kid you not when I tell you that there’s more than 10 EE in this game. In the end they did a great job with the game and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys a 3rd person style shooter with fast gameplay.
Gears of War 3 Rating:
Graphics: 9.5
Gameplay: 9
Audio: 8.5
Replay Value: 9
Overall: 9/10