Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360 - 1st completion)
It's hard for me to say which Gears of War is my favourite among the trilogy. I basically like them all and had fun with each single-player campaign. I never tried multiplayer (outside of re-playing the first Gears of War story with my brother-in-law via co-op) as it seems no one on my friends list has shown interest to play it. I beat the game around 10 hours of gametime with every level on "Normal" difficulty. I managed to grab every collectable too. I even did the kickass DLC campaign, "RAAM's Shadow". I've copied/pasted/edited some of my Gears of War 2 review to make this faster and it's pretty much similar to the second game anyways.
Gears of War 3 takes place two years after Jacinto, humanity's last stronghold on the planet, Sera, is destroyed in an effort to completely eradicate the Locust Horde. The Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) remnants relocate to Vectes, a secluded island, in order to rebuild their civilization. The COG then disbands after Chairman Prescott mysteriously disappears and seemingly abandons his forces. A new foe, the Lambent, are threatening humanity's dwindling numbers. As the Lambent begin to invade Vectes, Marcus Fenix and his comrades retreat to the CNV Sovereign, a helicopter carrier, and take refuge at sea. Prescott unexpectedly arrives on the Sovereign. He informs Marcus that he needs to relay important information to the ship's senior officer, Captain Michaelson. The Lambent then launch a surprise attack on the ship, which leaves Michaelson dead and Prescott mortally wounded. Before dying, Prescott gives Marcus an encryption to the disc that Colonel Hoffman has and reveals that his father, Adam Fenix, is still alive but captive on Azura, a secret COG base. Marcus takes his team on the long journey to Azura.
To see the game's opening go here or below:
Click to viewPart 2 is here.
For RAAM's Shadow, go here or below:
Part 2 is here and Part 3 is here.
Graphics/Art-10
+ Great use of Unreal Engine 3. Lots of detail, beautiful environments, great textures and lighting, etc. Just as good as the previous game.
+ Terrific animation and in-game cinematics.
+ Awesome character models and enemies! Marcus Fenix and the rest of Delta squad look awesome. Awesome bosses.
+ While my TV is not compatible, you can play the game in stereoscopic 3D.
- Sometimes the textures need time to load up but it doesn't happen often. It's a problem even the previous two games have had.
Sound/Music-10
+ Voice acting and dialogue is pretty much top notch again. The same voice actors from the previous games return.
+ Awesome sound effects.
+ Background music is good and fits the action.
- Marcus tends to bark obvious orders to his squad too much. I can see people making parody videos of this "Thank you, Captain Obvious!". Hehehe.
Control-9
+ Controls are the same as the first two games. Pretty much like a lot of FPS games.
Gameplay-9
+ The same great gameplay of the previous two games returns: the use of cover and squad tactics in order to survive combat situations. You can carry four weapons: one pistol, one set of grenades, and two primary weapons. Firearms can be swapped with other weapons dropped by fallen foes or at stockpiles throughout the game, along with ammunition. When you reload a weapon's ammunition, you have an opportunity for an "active reload", shown by a small cursor moving over a line with a marked section on your HUD (Heads-Up Display). If you hit the control button when the cursor is in the marked section, they will reload faster with the resulting reload being slightly more powerful than normal bullets, causing more damage to opponents. If you press the button outside this section, this temporarily jams the weapon, leaving you vulnerable and taking longer to reload. Alternatively, you can opt to not try to for the active reload, reloading the weapon at normal speed, but with no added damage. Active reload makes bullets more damaging to enemies.
+ When in combat, you can take some damage from enemy fire, filling a blood-colored "crimson omen" on the HUD as a measure of your health, unlike the traditional health bar in other shooters. By staying out of the line of fire, this will dissipate, but by taking too much damage, you will become downed or killed, and must be brought to their feet by an ally within a short "bleed-out" period, or else you will die - unless playing the game on Insane difficultly level in which case you will die immediately after taking too much damage without the bleed-out. You can also be killed during the bleed-out by the use of the game's signature execution moves by the enemy. Some types of damage, such as explosives or head shots, can kill you immediately without the bleed-out period. Similarly, you can also cause enemies to fall into bleed-out in the same manner.
+ Marcus, his allies, and enemies can use nearly any structure as cover, firing blind from behind it or leaning out to take aimed shots while exposing their head more. You can quickly switch between nearby covering walls or jump over lower cover to rush forward. Some cover can be destroyed after taking some amount of damage, which can be used to a tactical advantage to draw out enemies from cover.
+ New to Gears of War 3 is the ability to tag enemy opponents; computer-controller allies will then concentrate fire on these marked enemies, while human allies will be alerted to their location on their HUD. You can now also swap weapons and ammunition (and money during Horde Mode) with other allies in the course of battle.
+ You maintain an experience level that persists across all game modes. You earn experience through kills, performing special types of kills and executions, reviving and aiding teammates, and through general process of the campaign or competitive modes. Also, you can gain experience points by winning medals and ribbons, which are awarded for defeating enemies with certain weapons or winning several matches. Earning levels unlocks the use of special character skins and weapons within the game's multiplayer mode.
+ The Hammer of Dawn returns, though limitedly. Lots of fun to burn through enemies!
+ The checkpoint system is still good.
+ Your Lancer - an assault rifle that has a chainsaw mounted at the front bottom, can still cut most small and regular sized Locusts to pieces. The same feature from the previous game returns: when you try to cut up an enemy who also has a Lancer, he will engage in a duel with you. You have to mash the "B" button repeatedly to win the duel and slice him dead.
+ Your comrades AI has improved in this game and they are more helpful. Sometimes they can be dumb, but it's an improvement over the previous game.
Gameplay videos are here, here, and here.
Fun/Story/Misc-10
+ A good closure to the trilogy. Characters like Cole, Braid, Dom, and Dizzy (WOOF!) return.
+ I had a lot of fun playing the single player campaign and I loved the environments.
+ Cutting up Locusts and Lambent with the Lancer is just so satisfying and fun! Even the executions with different weapons are fun to try out too.
+ There is "RAAM's Shadow", a $15 DLC story that takes place before the first Gears of War, set in Sera's post-emergence day. Zeta Squad is enlisted to evacuate Ilima City and protect the citizens against a Locust Kryll storm. On some occasions you will be in the role of General RAAM, the main antagonist from the first Gears of War. Zeta is led by Michael Barrick (from “Gears of War” comics fame) and composed of returning characters such as Lt. Minh Young Kim, from the first Gears of War and Tai Kaliso from Gears of War 2, and also includes a new female character, Alicia Valera. The campaign is over 3 hours long and while slightly expensive ($10 would make more sense), it's a fun and intense campaign. Like Dizzy Walin (2 pics above), Michael Barrick (just above) is fucking woofy!
Total: 48/50 (Grade Level: A+)
The Gears of War 3 website is here though it has shifted to Gears of War: Judgment which I plan to play next year. The Gametrailers.com video review is here (for RAAM's Shadow here) and the Wikipedia article is here.
Next Game: Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Wii)
Currently playing: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS) & Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
