Gears of War 3. The final run for the gears and they sure end with a bang. Best in series, packed with loads of content.

User Rating: 9.5 | Gears of War 3 X360
By Pickleking23 | Review Date:
Story - The story is the best in the series so far. Of course they all connect but what they do with the 3rd was really gripping. There is no more government, the COG is no more but that doesn't mean they won't stick together and fight to the end but this is a tragic moment indeed for them. They add a lot more emotion to the characters and really make you fell for Marcus and fellow gears. This campaign while being an epic ride, also has some heartfelt moments that will be sure to shock you can really suck you into the story. Anyways, how this starts off is you get a message from Adam Fenix (Marcus' Dad). Thinking that he was dead all these years. Marcus is stunned to hear the message and just can't believe it at first. But Adam Fenix claims he is building a weapon, one that will end the war for good. So Marcus and his team set out to find Adam and see if this talk about a ultimate weapon is true. You are greeted with a few new characters and of course your favorite gears from previous games. Anya also has taken up arms in a last defense against the Locust (who knew she could be such a bad ass). Some of the new characters are cool and others just annoying. Sam a female bad ass COG who joined up with COG 15 years after E-Day. She is really cool and a great addition to the cast, its nice to see Cliffy B adding some more female COG in the group and also making them pretty cool characters. Jace is another new guy. And he is one of the annoying ones. I just personally didn't like him, he talks way too much like in the "I'm just as important as Marcus and his friends!" type of way when he really is just someone who came out of nowhere. Anyways, of course there is another Carmine, this one wears a pretty freakin awesome COG suit, with writing all over it, with the title "Grub Killer" on the front. The fate of this Carmine was decided by fans who voted in a poll. But you'll have to play till the game yourself to find out. So with some new addition to the crew you still have your old buddies like Baird, Cole Train, Dom etc. You even see some faces you haven't seen for awhile but I won't spoil it. Bottom line is that they did a fantastic job on the characters and it is real easy to like almost any one of them. They will also dabble into some of the back story for some of these characters like Cole Train that will never make you look at him the same ever again. They just really make you feel for them and show that their not just bad ass moncho characters who have no emotion but are very real people who have problems and feelings like everyone else. This story is excellent, although the writing has a few ridiculous parts it in (you'll see what I mean). It is overall a very solid story that will keep you glued to the screen until the credits roll. And having some buddies of yours to play along with you is a blast but we'll get to co-op soon. You will travel to many locations and meet plenty of new faces, one of the new faces is a man called Griffin who is kind of a prick and is also voice buy Ice T who does a pretty decent job with it. You may also unlock this character for multiplayer use. But he will send you out on a mission and find some way to blame his troubles on you guys.
Anyways all in all the campaign is a blast, sometimes can be a little to over the top but to be honest I don't really have any beef with it. I loved the way the story went. I can't say for certain how I feel about the ending, felt a bit rushed but I'm glad it has come to an end. Sometimes you just need to quit while ahead.


Gameplay - The same old gameplay from the previous two gears games is back and better then ever. The same buttons and all apply but it just feels so much more polished and smoother. This is the best the gameplay has been in the series and it just felt so perfect playing it. You still run and gun with the good old Rodie Run and of course the great cover based system, one of the best cover based systems ever in my opinion. There are plenty of guns this time around with a few new ones, like the evil sawed-off shotgun. Which will quickly be your best friend and worst enemy, as it is basically a "1 Shotter". Also got some other goodies like the "Digger" which will tunnel under ground and blow up right under the enemies feet. Which is a lot of fun to use. Other new weapons like the "One-Shot" may take some practice to master but all weapons in this game are a blast to use (no pun intended). Everyones favorites like the Lancer and Gnasher return with also a newly redesigned Lancer called the "Retro-Lancer" Which is more powerful but a lot less accurate. It is also equipped with a bayonet that you can rodie run into enemies, which was probably the most fun I had in a video game ever. All players will find at least a few guns to suit their playing style.
This time around, the campaign is now 4-Player Co-op, and it works perfectly. I never had so much fun playing a co-op game until this. Playing with a few of your friends is great fun. If you don't have any friends don't worry because you can search through public matches to find some co-op buddies.
I talked a lot about the campaign but there is so much more to this game A LOT more. Cliffy B has stuffed so much content into this game its a wonder how the disc fit inside the case. Lets start with the revamped Horde mode. It is still a survival mode that we all know. But now it is more like a tower-defense. Hordes of locust will swarm and you will have the option to set up a base and build many different things like Fences, turrets and decoys, etc. Everything is also upgradeable, the more you build something the more exp you get into that category so for example if you build lots of fences, soon you'll can enough exp in the fences category and unlock laser fences and that goes for all. The towers just get bigger and better the more you use them. Aside from Horde mode you also get the brand new mode called "Beast" mode which is like horde mode except YOU are the Locust and you are trying to kill the COG. You have a couple tiers of locust and the more kills you get the more exp you get and keep doing that and you'll get a new set of Locust to choose from. There is a very good variety of Locust to choose from and some are just so much fun to play as. This mode was an excellent idea and I highly recommend this mode to anyone out there.
You also still have the competitive multiplayer. Warzone, King of the hill, Wingman etc. Don't worry about connection issues because Cliffy B thought of everything and made such a solid game it'll be really rare to run into an issue. Multiplayer has a level up system which will unlock many things including titles, executions, skins for your guns and much more. Everything about the gameplay is just perfect. The game is solid and basically bug free. Cliffy B truly made one heck of a game.

Graphics - This game is pretty beautiful to look at. Now its nothing ground breaking but when you compare it to the first gears of war. You will notice right away how much better it looks now. So much more sharp and crisp and the textures are excellent and very very well done. The world looks real and feels real. You won't hear many people complaining about the graphics of the game. The facial animations can look a bit stale here and there but overall its well done.

Sound - The voice acting for this game was just down right amazing. Each character felt so real and fit perfectly even the new characters, especially Sam who is played by Claudia Black. If your not sure who it is, she also played Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series. She did amazing and I really love her character. Its nice to see more female characters in video games, especially when they make them as cool as Sam. Marcus, Cole and the rest of the original crew are of course did an excellent job.
As for the Music. I really did not care for it too much, I listened to the soundtrack and it is good but nothing you would remember. There just was not anything ground-breaking about it but the tracks did suit the mood. They really bring the world to life but its nothing you'll want to listen to in the car. At least in my opinion, but I do know many people who like it I am just not a huge fan. There is a piano re-mix of Mad World which was originally done by Gary Jules which first became a huge hit for gear fans back when the first trailer premiered for the first game in the series. Anyways, I loved the piano version it was really well done and went well with the map they used it for.
As for the sound design it was very well done. Explosions, bullets and Locust babble sounded excellent and you can hear right off the bat that they put a lot of work into it. It sounds rich and real and really pulls you into the experience and makes you immersed in the world of Gears.



Bottom Line - Gears of War 3 ended with a bang. This is by far the best addition to the series. With an amazing campaign that has some pretty epic parts with plenty of emotionally ones too that really make you feel for the characters.
So much replay value you'll be playing this game for a while. Plus with DLCs flying in, there is always new content. Beast mode is a ton of fun and with the revamped Horde more and tons of unlockables, this is one of the best multiplayer games I have ever played (my favorite for 2011). I recommended this to anyone, especially those who already have a 360.


+Pro's

Great Story.
Fantastic Multiplayer with loads of content.
Beast mode is a great addition.
Terrific Voice acting.
4 Player co-op.
Beautiful Environments

Other Helpful Reviews for Gears of War 3

Load Comments (0)