Gameplay
If you’ve played either of the first two games, you’ll
already know the gameplay has been polished from the start. However, as the 2nd game brought
new additions, it also brought new headaches, mapping many actions to one
button, causing frustration. Thankfully
Epic listened to the user community and corrected these issues this time
around. In addition, they sped up
character movement by roughly 15%, creating a more frantic pace in both the
campaign and online. The cover system has
been tweaked, and although there are inadvertent “attachments” to certain
objects in the game, it happens very little and the game does a good job of
interpreting what you’re trying to do.
Everything thing feels very solid,
albeit a few hiccups here and there, and my only wish is that they would’ve
tried to innovate a bit more over Gears 2.
Best and smoothest controls of the series.
Graphics
Epic chose to run Gears 3 on its Unreal 3 engine and the
game looks fantastic. They’ve made many
adjustments, especially with lighting and the color palette. Most of the environments in previous games
looked “the same”, populated with washed out greys, browns, and oranges. The first level of the campaign takes place
on an aircraft carrier, and you’ll see a bright blue sky, sunshine, and lush
green vegetation. The new lambent
enemies explode in bright yellow bursts.
I think one of the coolest effects for me were the lambent “trails” left
by the Lambent Berserker. Once you check
them out I’m sure you’ll agree. The
graphics aren’t perfect however, as I noticed quite a bit of clipping in places
and some other strange glitches. However,
it doesn’t hinder the experience, and overall, the game looks great.
Sound
Everything sounds crisp and clear. Gears has always been known for the
one-liners tossed around by players in-game, and they certainly don’t
disappoint here. Griffin (Ice-T) will
definitely make you laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Explosions, guns firing, and character voices
really jump out of your speakers and the music is dramatic and fitting for all
of the set pieces throughout the game (catch Mad World playing on Gridlock!).
My only gripe is minor, but can lead to confusion. Footsteps sound like they are coming from
everywhere. They are a good indication
that someone is nearby, but even with my surround sound, at times I can’t
distinguish from where.
Campaign
Fans of the series have been waiting a few years to see how
this story would pan out. Thankfully,
Gears 3 has a satisfying conclusion and closes out the trilogy well. The campaign itself is the best since Gears 1,
and Epic added 2 more players for co-op, which means you can bring 3 friends
along for the ride. This is definitely
the best and most fun way to experience the campaign. The change in environments throughout the
game is welcomed, keeping things fresh and fun. The new enemies are well thought out and
require strategy to take down, and large scale boss battles make their return,
requiring the player to do more than lay down some mortar fire to finish the
job (ala Gears 2). Epic also added
Arcade mode, a way to play through the campaign while competing for high
scores. In this mode you can turn on
mutators (similar to Halo’s skulls) to change your experience, all the while
being rewarded with multipliers for holding it together as a team. Although it seems like a small addition, it works
really well and gives players another reason to tackle the campaign a second
(or third) time. I’ll close by saying
the final boss battle is a bit much, and is almost impossible to beat with a
team of four (humans) on higher difficulty levels. It can definitely be frustrating.
Multiplayer
This is crazy. That’s
what I thought to myself after first delving into the multiplayer modes. There are SO MANY things to do here. Versus returns, leaps and bounds better than
the 2nd game. Host advantage
is nearly gone, with dedicated servers powering the online matches. Shots and damage are consistent and the game
emphasizes team play, much different from COD and other online shooters. Team Deathmatch debuts for Gears, and it’s a
great addition. King Of The Hill is a
blast, and other modes such as Capture The Leader, Execution, and Warzone have
returned as well. The maps are all well
designed, with only a few exceptions. The
guns are VERY well balanced, and you can play in a way that best suits you and
still compete, regardless of the weapon you choose. Horde 2.0 has been completely overhauled…waves
no longer have the same enemies every time, and fortifications make their
debut. Building up your base is the
focus, and setting up sentries, turrets, and barricades is a fun and creative
addition to Horde. My only complaint is
the inability to place items where you would like, as you are restricted to
pre-determined locations on the map.
Beast Mode puts you in the role of the Locust, scrambling to take out
the COGS and other humans. Although
there are only 12 waves, using the abilities of each unique Locust and working
with a team towards victory is a lot of fun.
Lastly, Gears 3 adds medals and ribbons to the multiplayer and campaign
universe. Working towards acquiring
these is challenging, yet rewarding, even though you may never achieve them
all. There’s not much more you could ask
for from the material Epic has crammed into this game.
Summary
Overall, Gears of War 3 is a fitting conclusion
to the trilogy and improves upon its predecessors in almost every single
way. The campaign environments are fresh
and colorful, and Arcade mode gives you a reason to give the story another
whirl. Boss battles are engaging, aside
from a rather extreme final confrontation.
Multiplayer offers so much for the player to do. Versus loses the lag issues of the past,
Horde is completely revamped in all the right ways, and Beast mode is a fun way
to work together towards a common goal.
Medals and ribbons provide incentives to keep working at becoming a
better player, and are very rewarding to achieve. In addition, there are many unlockables you
can work towards, from additional characters, to executions and mutators. They are laid out in manner where they don’t
ever seem completely out of reach, providing a good goal to strive for. Last but not least, Epic is very reasonable
with their DLC, charging $30 for a season’s pass, and even giving away 5 multiplayer maps!
Gears 3 might not be a perfect game, but judging based on fun factor and
value, it’s pretty damn close.
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