Gears of War is the only reason why you should own an Xbox 360. And GOW 3 proves why I made such a bold statement.
I bought a 360 to try out GOW 1 and I was shocked at how great the game was. I never really liked shooters that much until I played this game. GOW 2 set the bar a little higher with great additions and the horde mode that so many other game companies try to emulate a horde mode of their own.
GOW 3 has so much multiplayer content that you will find yourself playing this game for years. And the campaign of GOW 3 is arguably one of the best shooter campaigns of all time. Now, lets review.
Graphics:
Just when I thought the graphics couldn't get any better EPIC shocked me once again. The characters look more realistic than ever. The muscles isn't over done, the hair looks more real, the facial expressions are on point, the sense of scale in this game is amazing to witness, and the destruction and mayhem is a sight to see.
Story:
I don't want to spoil anything, because this game will surprise you from beginning to end. The tone of the story is more serious and you get to learn more about the main characters at the personal level. The new characters are likable, but if there is one voice actor that shouldn't have got a role in this game I would say it was Drake. His voice doesn't fit Jace at all and his acting isn't very believable in my opinion.
Gameplay:
The typical gameplay features is still there. For instance, using almost anything as cover, quickly moving from cover to cover, reload power boost with proper timing, finishing moves, and chainsaw cuts. There are a few tweaks here and there. The cover system works better, you can kick enemies away from you after a chainsaw cut, stick a grenade on a meat shield and kick it into a crowd, and you can kick you enemies on the other side of cover.
The new weapons are pretty impressive.
New weapons seen so far:
Digger: A gun that shoots tunneling grenades that jump out of the ground and explode.
Retro Lancer: A lancer with a bayonet, which allows you to charge into enemies and slam them into the ground with a lethal stab. The retro lancer is also a bit more powerful than the Chain Saw Lancer. The handling isn't all that good for long range shooting, but it can be done with controlled bursts.
Flame grenade: This grenade leaves a deadly trail of fire on the ground.
Cleaver: A powerful sword that kills quickly. Even though it is deadly it was really hard to get up close with it, because mobility isn't good at all.
One Shot (I think that is the name.): This heavy sniper rifle vaporizes your enemies with a single shot. The zoom on the gun is very accurate, but beware. Because it gives away your position with the laser sight and the size of the weapon slows you down.
Sawed off Shotgun: This is the most powerful shotgun in the game. The range is terrible, but extremely effective at point blank range, because it kills with one shot and can take out more than one enemy at close range due to its wide spread. Also be careful, because you have to reload after every shot. And to make matters worse the reload is slow. Great power, but has many flaws.
Vulcan: A gun that I like to call the coop canon, because two people have to operate it. One person shoots while the other reloads it. The two players have to move the gun together in order to go to different areas. The gun is like a walking gatling gun that sprays bullets at a very fast rate.
Game Modes:
Campaign:
I am a huge fan of coop games and EPIC games really set the standard for coop this year. The campaign is the EPIC conclusion to an excellent series. One of the reasons why this game is so great is because GOW 3 is one of the best coop games ever to be made. You can now play the story with four players. And it seems the difficulty increases as more players join. The coop aspect of this game was executed very well.
Horde 2: Another reason why this game is the ultimate coop experience is the horde mode. And this version is sick. I played enough of it to understand why you are given the ability to buy offensive and defensive power ups. Every enemy from the previous titles were brought back and you have even more new and deadly enemies to fight. And don't think for a second that big surprises are not waiting for you when you progress further. My mouth dropped when me and my friend saw what we saw. Check it out for yourself.
Beast Mode: Haven't played it yet. I assume you and others take on the role of the locust and try to kill CPU controlled Gears of COG. You and your team have to kill the Gears within a time limit. And what will make this tough is the fact that the Gears will be able to fortify their base like in Horde 2.0.
Versus: This is just a typical versus mode with the usual game modes you would expect from a shooter. I don't think I have to say much about this part. Basically it is a team based versus mode where the COG team takes on the Locust team in a variety of game types GOW 3 style. I am sure it will be a blast.
Final thoughts:
Everything about this game is awesome. It has plenty of true coop content and there is plenty of options for those who enjoy competition. I am more of a coop type of guy; however I am sure I will give the competitive modes a try as well.
Pros:
Arguably one of the best coop games out right now.
GOW 3's campaign is the best shooter campaign ever seen.
Four people can play the campaign.
Horde mode is refined even more.
Beast mode looks very interesting.
Competition is going to be insane.
Cons:
Drake is a bad actor.
I give this game a well praised 10 out of 10.
EPIC GAMES, you guys have done an incredible job on the finale. Thank you so much for giving gamers an incredible experience of a lifetime. You have really lived up to the name of your company.