With everything being said and done – all the anticipation, fall backs, rumors, and speculations flying around prior to the release of the third sequel and closing the curtain of one of the most sought after third-person shooting games of this generation – Gears of War 3 is now here. For every high expectation, and deep anticipation from the millions of fans worldwide, it has surely delivered.
Hats are coming off for Epic Games and Microsoft to the amazing job they have done with Gears of War 3. The bar for producing and developing game sequels has once again been risen with the amazing depth, emotion, and seemingly life-like responsive game play of Gears of War 3. This is something game developers and producers would want to base their concepts and thoughts into when creating a sequel for a highly acclaimed title.
There is so much misguided worry with how developers are creating game sequels nowadays, particularly about how to keep sequels within the title, how to integrate new stuff without game sequels having to be unfamiliar, and keeping them in-line with the core story and the overall feel of the previous installments. However, Epic forgot all about the unnecessary stuff and concentrated on what was most important, and that is to perfect the basic aspects of a shooting game.
The smoothness of the gameplay harmonized with the great flow of the campaign storyline suggests that Epic Games seem to have got rid of the pressure of proving anything with Gears of War 3. The basic aspects that gamers mostly lookout for in a shooting game, particularly the physics of a third-person game, seem to be what Epic was mostly focused on.
Responsive Controls
Gears of War 3 poses to have the most responsive gameplay physics of any video game on any console that is out in the market; it is unbelievably easy to control – something gamers are looking for in a third-person shooter, as this is where most games in this genre often fail. Controlling a character with a classic game pad, with analog sticks, and buttons have never felt this way. Amongst everything that is beautiful with Gears of War 3, the first thing you will notice is the amazing controls.
The Campaign Storyline
Epic has strongly upheld that Gears of War 3 does not necessarily herald this as the end of the franchise. However, it certainly does end the storyline that has been played out for the trilogy in over 5 years. Because of this, the developers made sure that they pull out all the stops and give Fenix and his Delta Squad the longest and most layered Gears Of War campaign to date.
Once you start sinking into the friendly controls of Gears of War 3 then you really start notice the amazing campaign story it has. It starts with a short clip, a back-story to the previous game – to entice the new gamers on the story that is about to unfold. The game starts where Gears of War 2 left off, with Marcus Fenix and what is left of the COG soldiers thriving to take control of the situation after the destruction of the last human city. The game gets even more challenging with the introduction of a new enemy, called the Lambent – mutated species of the Locust Horde.
The Lambent proves to be a substantial threat in the campaign as it was able to drive the Locust to higher ground and gain control of the major cities. The situation of the humans gets worse as the game advances, the cut scenes of your struggles as Marcus Fenix and your compatriots are very well versed and delivered. The perfect iteration of the story gives the game an emotional grasp to gamers. You will find yourself lost in time playing through the campaign, as you are caught into a vortex of emotion that the story narrates.
As you traverse through the story, other aspects of the game will start to get into your head. As the emotions run you through every chapter, every side mission, every task, you start to notice an eerie relativity of the game’s general gameplay, which is something that is highly improved from the previous installments.
Core Gameplay And Visuals
Talk about polished gameplay, Gears of War 3 is as smooth as brand new manufactured silk from start to finish. Until now, for over a week since the release, no major gameplay bugs are being reported. Gears of War 3 feels exactly how you expect it to feel, perhaps even better. Every little thing, every issue, every bug, generally everything that the developers set their mind to, using the first two sequels as a basis has been overhauled and fine-tuned.
The video quality is top of the line as well. For a shooting game, with lots of action, explosions, gore, and everything else involved, Gears of War 3 amazingly integrates all the little details in terms of video quality on every scene. The crisp visuals and amazing effects give more fuel to the emotion of a troubled planet Sera.
Online Gameplay
In terms of multiplayer gameplay, Gears of War 3 even gets better. The campaign can be played in co-op mode, which means that gamers won’t have to go through the whole 10-12 hour campaign by themselves, as campaign co-op can support up to four players. Additionally, online gameplay is mainly categorized into three modes; Versus, Horde and Beast. Versus mode is the typical competitive team vs. team mode differentiated in 3 types: Team Deathmatch, Capture The Lead and King Of The Hill, while Horde and Beast Modes are co-op multiplayer modes where teams take turns on which side they play – the soldiers, the locust, or the lambent.
With hefty dedicated servers supporting online gameplay, a campaign that can literally blow your brains out, visuals that make your eyes run dry, there is no doubt to how Gears of War 3 is floating above the 9.0 – 9.5 ratings in most gaming review sites. So far, it stands to be the best third-person shooting game to be released this year.
