The end of an era, the beginning of the end.
Gears of War 3 is arguable the best of the 3. Major improvements alongside a story of EPIC proportions.
---------------------------------
THE GOOD
---------------------------------
--Campaigner's guide to Leveling Up--
Personally, I was glad to see the addition of the level-up feature placed on all-around game modes. This ensures that people like me who aren't huge fans of LIVE and playing online get a fair chance at the games unlockables (but not all of them of course)
--Multi-Man Co-Op--
I thought this was a HUGE improvement. Used to, if you had more than just 2 people playing, and you all wanted a piece-O'-grub, you had to play Horde, now you can tag along with up to 3 of your buddies.
--Horde 2.0--
Quite honestly, Horde was a flat out death-sentence by yourself in Gears 2. Sure, you'd get a good start, but there was always that one grenade that just happened to land perfectly behind you. Now, with the cash and fortifications feature, a seasoned Gears vet can last twice as long.
---------------------------------
THE BAD
---------------------------------
--From Failure to Sharpshooter--
If anything really bugged me, it's that they pulled the same difficulty leap they did in the first one, where rather than steps with each level of difficulty, they flat out took leaps. The biggest notable differences include: Casual-Normal: some of the sniper's rifles are replaced with a One Shot, a gun that's not only one hit kill, but can shoot through normal cover; Hardcore-Insane: this one really got me, enemy damage and accuracy were improved, even on weapons that aren't supposed to be accurate. I was LITERALLY SNIPED by a SHOTGUN, killed with 2 shots of it to boot.
--Arcade: Back to the Basics--
Arcade mode is a great way to spice up co-op play except for one flaw: weapon reset. If you wanna play the entire campaign in arcade, don't get too attached to your weapons and your brim-full ammo. As soon as the chapter is over, the scores are tallied and the next chapter starts, you'll find your weapons reset to the Lancer, the Gnasher, the Snub and 2 frags. Meaning hard-to-find weapons that fit your gameplay style will most likely not be there.
--I'M A CORPSE!--
For those of you who expected BEAST to be like Horde, prepare to be disappointed. Beast flat out blows when you're by yourself: No health regeneration, outnumbered by stranded with better weapons than you have on any of your starting Beasts, and your starting beasts are frail and melee only except for one (Savage Locust) and all that would all be fine if they didn't throw a non-optioned timer on it.
--Weapons Skins in the BLACK Market--
I found this one just flat out repulsive, not because of what but how much. This stuff will cost you an arm and a leg. The entire collection of weapon skin DLC is 3600 MICROSOFT POINTS, THAT'S THE EQUIVALENT OF $45 USD. I mean, are they serious?! That's 3/4 of the games price! They probably didn't even pay $30 extra to the guy at EPIC who even made them all.
---------------------------------
THE CONCLUSION
---------------------------------
Gears of War 3 is an EPIC end to an EPIC journey! I would recommend this game to ANY hardcore gamer.