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Epic’s giant trilogy
comes to a fitting
end with
Gears
of War 3.
The game’s core
concept remains the
same. It’s a kickass
third person shooter
that highlights the
cover and fire
dynamic.
But
the third edition of
the game features
new graphics, new
friends, new
enemies, old
friends, old
enemies, and yes…
Marcus Fenix kicking
the living crap out
of everything.
After
the events of
Gears
of War 2
where Fenix and the
rest of his delta
squad sunk the last
functioning human
city of Jacinto to
flood the Locust
hallow with water to
end the bloody war
once and for all,
things backfired.
The flooding of the
hallow basically
just took away the
last sanctuary
humanity had, forced
the locust to come
up, and made the
lambent more
powerful than ever.
So with Jacinto
gone, the COG
disbanded and was
forced to seek
refuge on ships and
islands while
constantly avoiding
attack from the
lambent. Of course
things come up as
things do with Fenix
and he’s forced to
lead the assault to
save humanity on the
planet of Sera. It’s
a great five act
conquest to finish
up the Gears story
and as sorry as I am
to see it end, I’m
thrilled with how it
finished.
What’s noticeable to
longtime Gears fans,
people who’ve played
the first two games
for hours and hours,
is how different
Gears
of War 3
is from the first
game. The second
game was a bump with
some subtle
differences, but
Gears 3 is very
different game than
the first title. The
graphics are
decidedly different
between the first
and the third game
with tons of
upgrades in
attention to detail
and textures…
Especially facial
detail and textures.
The other big
difference between
Gears 3 and the
first Gears is how
different the
campaign feels. The
pickup system is
different when
you’re picking up
weapons and
ammunition, you can
pick up different
things, and really
just the interface
with pickups feels
completely
different. That
interface also
spreads over to some
font displays and
changes that give
you in game updates.
The inventory system
and the controls are
the same but that
interface makes
Gears 3 a lot
different than the
first game. The
graphics make it
seem even more
different because of
the character
development. I
haven’t decided
whether that’s a
good thing or a bad
thing yet because
they look so
different, but it is
what it is. Gears 3
does most things
better than the
first two games. The
story is bigger and
more challenging.
Holes are filled in
the plot and for the
most part the
checkpoint issue has
been fixed so you
don’t have to end up
replaying large
chunks of things to
finish the game.
Those key fixes in
addition to the big
story and upgrades
to multiplayer make
this the best Gears
yet.
The best part of
this game… well
that’s easy… it’s
Gears! The controls
are awesome, the
graphics are
awesome, the
campaign is great,
and the multi-player
options are huge.
The game is better
than the previous
two. I don’t
necessarily like how
different the
interface makes the
game feel from the
first two, but it’s
something that’s
easy to live with.
It’s a great story
to finish off an
Epic (pun intended)
franchise.
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