Gears of War 3 gold

The original Gears of War trilogy is finally finished. Series design director Cliff Bleszinski today posted an update to his Twitter account confirming that Gears of War 3 has gone gold in advance of its September 20 launch date.

The news was accompanied by a picture of a cake to mark the occasion. The cake, designed to look like the Gears of War 3-branded Xbox 360 hardware, contained a congratulatory message in icing celebrating the game's completion.

Originally pegged to debut in April, Gears of War 3 begins with the last human city having been obliterated and series hero Marcus Fenix trying to protect the remaining humans from the Locust horde as well as from the newer, deadlier foe, the mutating Lambent.

Gears of War 3 will be available in three versions this September: standard ($60), Limited ($80), and Epic ($150). The centerpiece of this year's $150 Gears of War 3 Epic Edition will be a limited-run Marcus Fenix statue.

For more on Gears of War 3, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.