Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)
The incredible Gears of War 2 is a tough act to follow, but when it came time to wrap up the trilogy, Gears of War 3 had plenty of plot threads and story elements from the previous two titles bubbling under the surface it could snag onto to make for an impressive finale.
Following the conclusion of Gears of War 2, both the Coalition of Organized Governments and their monstrous enemies, the subterranean humanoids known as Locusts, are in disarray. COG has collapsed as an organization and the Locusts only exist in pockets that are still guided by their Queen, and with their forces diminished and scattered to such a degree, a new threat has finally cemented its hold in the alien world of Sera. In the previous two titles, the glowing yellow substance of Immulsion was always identified as a highly valuable resource, but its corruption of living life forms has progressed to such a degree that those infected by it have created a grotesque new player in the battle for the planet: the Lambent. These mutated creatures are intelligent and explosive, whittling down their opposition and leaving the familiar protagonists of Gears of War on the run. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as Marcus Fenix receives a message from his father who he had thought dead, the scientist promising a means to eliminate the Lambent if his son and his allies can save him from the lingering Locust threat.
The shift to a far more desperate scenario really gives Gears of War 3 a sense of finality, the resources you can draw on thinner than ever and the characters worn down from years of fighting for survival in a world with no safe refuge. While Marcus Fenix is as angry and determined as ever, the once friendly and jovial Dom definitely shows his wear. Anya, a side character in previous titles who usually provided updates from the COG’s higher ups, has now been forced into combat herself, looking surprisingly different as she lets her hair down and abandons her old professionalism. Augustus Cole returns, The Cole Train’s enthusiasm and humor perhaps needed more than ever in this increasingly bleak scenario, but his history with the fictional sport Thrashball is given more spotlight then ever as the story takes the player to his old stomping grounds to contrast his current grim reality with his glory days. Baird, on the other hand, is there to be the same sarcastic and grumpy foil to Cole and the others, and while we get some emotional moments devoted to Cole, Dom, and Fenix, Baird’s only real advancement is a possible budding romance with a new girl named Sam who even gets a bit more background added to her than Baird does.
New members of the main cast are added to Gears of War 3 in greater measures than the previous titles as you can now play the main campaign mode with up to four players cooperating, meaning the squad needs some people to fill it out as the team splits or characters meet unfortunate fates. Some like the latest in the Carmine line help cap off the franchise’s running joke about the ill-fated family, while others like Sam and Jace barely get the focus needed to cement something greater than a simple and straightforward personality. The work done with the more important characters makes up for it, Gears of War 3 not afraid to dip into more emotional moments as the toll this war has taken on the world isn’t shied away from. While the series has featured many ruined cities, a somber moment takes the player through one of the areas devastated by the satellite lasers used when the wars for Sera began. Ashen bodies of people frozen in time by the instant attack crumble to the touch, and the war weariness in the main cast really begins to show as setback after setback threatens to jeopardize the entire mission.
Despite nailing that tone of finality and desperation, Gears of War 3 does still provide plenty of its exciting third person shooting action. While its setpieces aren’t as imaginative as its predecessor, it does still concoct some memorable locations for you to battle Locusts and Lambent in. Be it a lavish hotel coated in the remains of the former occupants, a quiet playground near the old Thrashball stadium, or the desperate fortress defense at Anvil Gate, Gears of War 3 does hit on some memorable areas that work excellently for its cover shooter gameplay. It doesn’t play with the idea of cover as much as Gears of War 2, instead focusing on having waist-high walls, ledges, furniture, and small structures continue to serve as the areas you huddle behind when you need to avoid incoming gunfire. When a player is taking damage, a red symbol grows more and more vivid on their screen, indicating how close they are to death, but if you can avoid being hit for a while, this Omen fades and you’ll be back in fighting form to continue the battle. While allies can revive you if they’re quick enough in the story or multiplayer modes, the cover is a vital part of sustainability, the player needing to use it intelligently and pressing their advantage only when they can be sure they won’t be caught in the crossfire and torn to shreds. The roadie run is a quick, hunkered down dash that lets you snap to different bits of cover quickly, and the active reload system allows you to consistently be firing on your enemy to encourage constant aggression. After you choose to reload, if you time a button press right, you’ll snap in the ammo more quickly, possibly even with additional power added to the loaded shots if you’re able to time it properly based on the reload meter. The abundant cover and ability to quickly get back in the action makes for high octane action as the player is given the means to keep pressing in on their opponent, an aggressive approach often able to score you the kill even though some options like grenade traps can still be used to punish people who charge in foolishly.
While Gears of War 3 isn’t innovating with its cover system, it does make the Lambent into the most interesting villains to fight since the series started. While the Locusts are still around and bring along their gunmen, the gigantic Brumak beasts, and some new additions like tunneling Corpser larva, large armored centipedes known as Serapedes, and the Armored Kantus priests with their spiked armor that can only be broken by explosives, the Lambent are much more diverse than even this hearty selection of enemy types. They too have humanoids with weapons to ensure you’re often going up against enemies of equal ability, but they can be accompanied by the Lambent version of the imp-like Wretches who rely on high numbers and speed to crowd you and start chaining together detonations. Lambent Stalks burst out of the ground, changing the field of battle as pustules spit out new Lambent soldiers if you don’t pop them quickly enough. Gunkers serve as one of the more durable foes outside of bosses, hurling explosive blasts and eating up hits so they’re even tougher to take down than the rocket launcher wielding Boomers of the Locust forces. The mutating Drudges are the variation with the most potential for variety, as once you’ve seemingly killed one, it can change into a new form, growing extra limbs to hurl bombs with, rising up like a stalk to fire down on you, or even having their head break off the body and slithering around quickly like a serpent. Already dangerous due to their detonations, the Lambents truly live up to their reputation as the threat that could really lead to end of Sera, these almost zombie-like monsters spicing up any battle they get to be a part of.
Most of the story mode strings you through different areas perfect for facing off with the Locusts and Lambent, and while it does dip into some gimmickry like an underwater submarine or having players climb into the underwhelmingly cumbersome Silverback mech suits, these small dips are between hours of excellent gun play. The weapons on offer carry over many of the classics, the Lancer assault rifle with its chainsaw attachment still letting you choose between strong machine gun fire or a gloriously bloody finisher to a fight. Incidentally, chainsaw duels where both sides try to carve each other up seem more common, and almost all weapons, be they the Scorcher flamethrower, Longshot sniper rifle, or Gnasher shotgun all have special flashy executions to finish off downed enemies. Most weapons play into the blood and bits approach that has ensured kills are satisfying and flashy in this series, and while the Gears of War franchise still struggles to shake off the fact a mostly brown and grey world means some enemies look like allies and vice versa, it still nails satisfying explosions and brutal kills.
While you can always carry one type of pistol, one type of grenade (such as the new incendiary grenade to light an area on fire when it hits), and any mix of two regular weapon types you see fit, there are some heavier duty weapons you must devote your full attention to when wielding. These are the powerful killing tools in the game, the mortar covering an area in an explosive rain, the Mulcher minigun tearing through opponents like paper, and the new One-Shot giving you a sniping option that fires one massively powerful shot at a time that can instantly kill even the bigger Locusts and Lambents with ease. The Hammer of Dawn satellite laser has taken a hit due to its now limited ammunition despite it still being incredibly powerful when you do get to use it, but new weapons like the Sawed-Off Shotgun and Digger Launcher are perhaps too situational for their own good, one being a shotgun you must be incredibly close with to leave a mark and the other launching an explosive you fire underground to bypass cover but lining it up right requiring perhaps too much distance between you and the enemy in this game that encourages aggressive pushes and clever flanking maneuvers.
Multiplayer has received perhaps the greatest level of attention when it comes to new content and mechanics. In single-player you’ll mostly just see small changes like having to hold buttons to pick up ammo or guns to prevent accidental weapon switching, but multiplayer tinkers with the game modes to make them into a robust and diverse set. For competitive matches against other humans, you can face each other in battles to survive such as Team Deathmatch where both sides have 15 respawns and the first to have all their members to permanently die loses, Warzone where each player in a team of five only has one life to add an extra layer of intensity and risk to your actions, and Execution which adds the condition each player must be personally killed with a special move instead of long range fire just to up that danger level either further. Wingman splits the two teams into four teams of two instead to make it a more personal fight for survival, but the remaining two regular modes are control focused. King of the Hill is about trying to maintain control of a single central point for longer than the opposing team, but Capture the Leader turns this into a battle to snag the opposition’s VIP and hold them up as a meat shield for long enough to earn a point. Capture a Leader definitely finds the middle ground between Gears of War’s older experiments with having a single living target or needing to ferry a hostage around, this team mode leading to ever-shifting fights as both sides mix protection and rescue into their approaches.
Horde Mode turns multiplayer into a fight for survival instead where you try to survive 50 waves of Locust and Lambent alike. Earning cash to buy new weapons and fortifications helps you stick it out as the game’s excellent enemy variety is thrown at you in all new arrangements, this mode not giving up a win easily and requiring strategy and cooperation to succeed. Beast Mode, on the other hand, flips this script as you are now Locust soldiers trying to repel humans pushing in on your single position. The cash system is still present, but now the various Locust types are added as rewards, the player able to not only use the weapon-wielding troops but the strange and powerful creatures like the explosive little Ticker mites, the gunmen atop their speedy Blood Mounts, and even the powerful mountain of muscle that is the Berserker. Not only do you get to test your skill against human players in the regular multiplayer, but these extra options allow you to face off with the toughest AI opponents in a challenge that is truly satisfying to overcome.
THE VERDICT: While its highs never hit quite as high as Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 is a powerful conclusion to the trilogy’s story, providing memorable locations that are a perfect fit for its refined cover shooting system. The desperate tone and dire situation drive the compelling story as the familiar characters are pushed to their limits, but it still remembers to provide levity and satisfying bursts of bloody action to accompany you dishing out damage with a mostly satisfying set of powerful weapons. The aggressive play style gets more play than ever as the multiplayer modes offer plenty of interesting twists, especially with the Horde and Beast mode making for tough challenges against the game’s spectacular enemy variety. This finale to the war with the Locust and the Lambent caps things off excellently with not only the payoff to plenty of plot elements, but an intensely satisfying shooting system to boot.
And so, I give Gears of War 3 for Xbox 360…
A FANTASTIC rating. While Gears of War 2 feels like it sits higher than its follow-up thanks to stronger emotional beats and the way it uses locations and cover better, Gears of War 3 also has the more robust multiplayer options and less deviations into weaker vehicle moments. The story of Gears of War 3 really sells the plight of the last few people fighting for the fate of Sera, and the danger feels far greater than ever as we see both how little power Marcus Fenix and the others can bring to bear and how much of the world is damaged to an unspeakable degree. Taking time to focus on a few of its characters gives this game some emotional beats as well, and this last bid for survival is certainly a compelling through-line that makes losing soldiers and encampments in the story feel far more meaningful. The Lambent are an excellent foe for a third-person shooter, especially an aggressive one that otherwise rewards you for rushing in and getting messy with something like your shotgun or chainsaw. The explosive Lambent not only force you to plan that approach more, but they come with plenty of strong variations that complement the increased diversity in the Locust forces well. It will still come down to gunfights most of the time and the weapons and cover system keep this exciting enough that the multiplayer modes can hook you easily, so Gears of War 3 really only stumbles when it tries to put you in a submarine for a while or gives you a weapon that’s too situational to justify lugging around.
Rather than trying to figure out whether Gears of War 2 or 3 is the superior title, it’s best to think of them as two parts of a spectacular trilogy of third person shooters. This was the series that shook up its console generation, elevating Epic Games, the Xbox 360, and third person shooters alike as it always made sure to nail satisfying and visceral action on top of some stories that have far more depth to them then they might expect. Its storytelling wasn’t always spot on especially near the start, but Gears of War 3 was perhaps the strongest in that department because it was so focused on the fight for survival, but it always provided a strong backbone to the campaign and the level variety supports battles with AI opponents and human players alike. With Gears of War 3 mostly honing everything that came before even further, it’s hardly a surprise that it has such an engaging multiplayer and exciting campaign. While the series would continue on after this finale as any big franchise inevitably does, Gears of War 3 was a great note to go out on for the original Gears of War storyline.