Macho Macho Man! Gears wants to be a Macho Man!

Gears of War 3 The Expendables of Gaming

Gears of War 3 ends the trilogy the only way it knows how, filled with big guns, blood and bromances. Epic Games set out to deliver a game with more bang for you buck plus the addition of women cog.

The story of G.O.W.3 follows Marcus Fenix’s battle against the Locust. The Earth has been ravished and things are looking slim for mankind against the beasts from the underground. We start out playing through a dream sequence that shows the nightmares Marcus is having about his fathers death. After this quick sequence we awaken on a ship and get reintroduced to our cast of characters. The game takes place a year after the events of Gears of War 2 (Dom now has a beard to prove it)  things seem to have quietened down for our crew but like any action game that doesn’t last long (unless you forgot how to run at the start and you walk through the ship.. Blurgh!). The story is setup after a quick battle, Marcus learns his father is alive and being the man he is decides to risk the teams lives to save him.

Overall the story was pretty terrible. The Gears have 2 missions, save the world find Marcus’ father. The two missions are really just one mission find Marcus’ father to save the world. What does that mean for story telling? Well it means expect to do the same thing over and over again. The game tricks you early on into thinking that the story could be more diverse and interesting by making you play chapter 1 as Marcus and then playing Chapter 2 as Cole (The Cole Train “Wooo!”). This changed the game up not only because you are playing as a different character but also because you are seeing what happened from a different point of view during the events of chapter 1. This was a trend that should have continued ever couple of chapters but as soon as it was over you only play as Marcus for the rest of the game. (Right up to the x-men inspired finale) On the way there you’ll find yourself searching for fuel and searching for more fuel and meeting Ice T’s pointless character that added nothing but more time searching for fuel.

The gameplay is just what you’d expect from a Gears game. It is fast paced duck and cover 3rd person shooting action, that hasn’t been changed but it has definately been tweaked. Running to and from cover fells a lot better andcontrolling your character in these moments feels more precise.  Waiting to be revived is no longer just waiting to die and try again like in G.O.W.2. Running around in a team of 4 means  at least 90% of the time someone will be nearby to revive you. This will save you from repeating the same sections of the game again and much frustration. While death is a big part of the game since your a killing machine, what I love about the game is that it isn’t using gore as a way to sell copies. Yes you can use your lancer to chainsaw enemies and fill the screen with blood the game doesn’t linger on this. While some games that are overly violent rub the players face in it and use it as a selling point I respect the developers of Gears of War for making gruesome deaths just something that is in the game and not THE GAME.

The campaign experience will leave players wanting more either because they are die hard Gears fans and love it or they felt unsatisfied with what they played. Some will love the game and get emotional during the middle sections, others may see it for what it is, an attempt to give the story meaning by using music to gain the desired emotional impact rather then through what was being shown on screen. Luckily for those who might not have thought the campaign was all it was cracked up to be and want more there is multiplayer! This is where I felt the game made up for a lacking campaign. The campaign can be played in co-op mode this is a lot more fun then playing alone provided the difficulty is in hardcore or insane.

Online players will be able to go head to head in team death match which can be fun, though i found limited doses of this was the way to go. Going head to head with other players can get tiresome the addition of Beast and Horde 2.0 more then makes up for it! Beast mode puts players in the shoes of the Locust and the goal is to defeat cpu controlled humans, sometimes there will be heroes (Marcus, Dom etc) added to beef up the difficulty. The more kills you do per round the more money you earn. Money can be spent to purchase different characters to play as ranging from Tickers to Beserkers. Each beast has its own strengths and weaknesses, Tickers are fast and weak while Beserkers are extremely powerful but are nearly blind. If playing as a bad guy isn’t your cup of tea Horde mode returns and it is better then ever. Players join forces to defeat wave after wave of attacking monsters. Money also plays a large part of Horde mode. Players must pay for an outpost and then pay for all defenses to protect it. Everytime you build something you gain experience towards an upgrade for that specific defence item. For example when you start a game of horde mode you can build a small spike wall, as you go on and upgrade it you can build a strong laser wall. It is important for players to work together in these modes if they want to get through each wave and especially if they are completionists. The game has a ton of unlocks and secrets which adds greatly to the replay value, yes there are achievements that will take forever to get but there are also player skins weapon skins and a wide variety of awards and medals.

Gears of War 2 was far from my favourite game i’ve played on the 360, the game felt like a chore to complete and the online mode did nothing to fix that. Gears of War 3 thankfully took note of everything wrong with number 2 and tried to fix them. The campaign was much improved upon but let down by its terribly written story, the best way to describe it is by calling it ‘The Expendables of Gaming’. The online however was where the development team seemed to have made the most improvements and created a great online experience. That is where many hours will be spent trying to unlock all the games content and finding all its rediculous secrets!

Competition! [closed]

Want to win some sweet Gears DLC? Well Read on my friend! Thanks to one of our followers @iiIlTuoDioii we have 4 codes to download some Gears of War 3 Skins and Weapon Packs for Multiplayer.

PAL Codes up for Grabs:

1x Savage Grenadier Elite MP Character

1x Commando Dom MP Character

1x Adam Fenix MP Character

1x Weapon Skins (5) pack

To win:

Step 1: Follow @swafilms

Step 2: Press Retweet on the tweet for the prize or prizes you want!

1x Savage Grenadier Elite MP Character Retweet

1x Commando Dom MP Character Retweet

1x Adam Fenix MP Character Retweet

1x Weapon Skins (5) pack Retweet

DLC Codes for PAL Copies may not work in some regions.

Competition Closes Friday 14th 4pm AEST