Behind the Gears, Guts, and Gore:
Gears of War 3 completes an epic trilogy, and makes a memorable experience. Here's why.
In 2005, a mysterious trailer was released for a game titled Gears of War. It showed a troubled soldier in a dark street, crouched over a puddle observing a remnant of how pre-apocalyptic life was, and shedding a single tear. Our lonely marine (the main protagonist, Marcus Fenix), does not have long to wallow in nostalgic sadness, for a massive underground tremor heads straight at him, demolishing everything in its way. Moving shadows and shady figures end up forcing him to flee into a nearby building. Catching his breath, he looks up to see dozens of glowing lights, belonging to a massive spider-like creature, and all of this to an extremely fitting eerie remake of the 80's Tears for Fears song "Mad World". Seeing this trailer while waiting for my feature film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to begin, made me want to cry, and pee my pants.
But it's 2011 now, and that trailer blossomed into a massive game franchise, selling over 10 million copies worldwide. The first two games were greatly received, being called "the most influential game franchise of this generation" by G4, as well as being hailed for it's clean, smooth, and brutal game-play which is now practically a sub-genre. To promote the arrival of the trilogy ending Gears of War 3, Epic Games, the developer of Gears of War released a free multiplayer Beta, available to those who pre-ordered the game. In one month, 1.3 million players gathered online to play over 11 million multiplayer matches—that's 249 years worth of matches, and no doubt, a lot of snacks. There was no doubt that people were excited. But now that Gears 3 has hit shelves and is in the hands of millions of gamers, the question is asked: did it live up to the hype?
Gears of War takes place on a planet called Sera, virtually no different to earth, it hosted a civilization, and an elite military group known as the C.O.G. All was peaceful on Sera, until one day hordes of beasts emerged from the crust of the planet, and wreaked havoc on civilian life. A massive war took place, and the population was almost wiped dry. These beasts are called "Locust" and they are extremely terrifying, and come in every flavor of "get the hell of my planet".
The game revolves around Marcus Fenix, a COG/prisoner who received life in prison for attempting to save his father at the cost of a whole battle, and Dom Santiago, a man who spent the first two games looking for his wife, who when he finally found was brutally tortured, so he ended his wifes misery and only seeks revenge. And Baird, but nobody cares about Baird. When playing as these characters and as they get more and more fleshed out, the experience grows richer. For instance at one point in Gears 3, Augustus Cole, an ex football player, revisits his home stadium, and has a sad reminiscence of what his life used to be like, but is brought back into grim reality as a bomb goes off. Spending 36 hours with these characters throughout 3 games makes one extremely drawn to these people, and makes the end of the trilogy extremely emotional.
The plot of Gears of War 3 picks up 2 years after Gears 2, Dom is coming to terms with his wife's death and grows out a sweet hippie beard. While Marcus learns about the fact that his father is still alive, somewhere. You start on an aircraft carrier, the last COG stronghold due to the "explosive" events of Gears 2. You meet Jace and Griffin, voiced by both Drake and Ice-T because apparently Marcus wants to boot up his rap career. But the boat is now longer safe so our COGs must find greater pastures now that there is a new threat.
Another thing one may realize while playing the game is the incredible environments. You'll surely go to some unexpected places and you will notice: the game is absolutely gorgeous. Whether your in a hollowed out portion of Sera's crust, washed up on a tropical beach, or high in the snow-capped mountains, the color themes and extreme backdrops are breathtaking. The art style in Gears game is also wildly creative, comparable to that of the Lord of the Rings movies, the Locust armor and Locust architecture, is well thought out, spooky, and adds to the dangerous feel of the game as well as making the experience extremely unique. Though one mood related drawback, is you never get back the almost "survival horror-esque" feel you had in Gears 1.
At the heart of Gears of War is its gameplay. From the get go in Gears 1, the gameplay was like nothing anyone had played. The cover system and the 3rd person combat was an absolute gem, and players immediately fell in love with it, as well as the iconic Lancer Assault Rifle, with its mounted chainsaw. The final Gears has this system polished to a shiny golden perfection, and you will surely notice. New weapons and finishing moves add greatly to the gore and variety of the game. And in multiplayer, ripping of a player's arm and beating them to death while 9 other real people watch, is quite satisfying. And no I'm not psycho. But what Gears created and was largely copied for was it's Horde mode, a wave based mode in which the locust came in ever increasing waves. They have made this mode deeper and more hectic than ever, with the addition of a money system, new tactical options, and "Beast mode", in which you can play as the locust horde.
Overall, Gears is an extremely wonderful experience, taking you to all kinds of places, full with a handful of great characters and a never ending apocalyptic mood. This game makes the right decisions and ends the series how it should be. Go get it, you will have fun, it is worth every penny.
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| Gears of War 3 has a multitude of savage beasts you would not want see whilst walking home at night. |
GEARS OF WAR 3 REVIEW BY PETER FRANKO
In 2005, a mysterious trailer was released for a game titled Gears of War. It showed a troubled soldier in a dark street, crouched over a puddle observing a remnant of how pre-apocalyptic life was, and shedding a single tear. Our lonely marine (the main protagonist, Marcus Fenix), does not have long to wallow in nostalgic sadness, for a massive underground tremor heads straight at him, demolishing everything in its way. Moving shadows and shady figures end up forcing him to flee into a nearby building. Catching his breath, he looks up to see dozens of glowing lights, belonging to a massive spider-like creature, and all of this to an extremely fitting eerie remake of the 80's Tears for Fears song "Mad World". Seeing this trailer while waiting for my feature film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to begin, made me want to cry, and pee my pants.
But it's 2011 now, and that trailer blossomed into a massive game franchise, selling over 10 million copies worldwide. The first two games were greatly received, being called "the most influential game franchise of this generation" by G4, as well as being hailed for it's clean, smooth, and brutal game-play which is now practically a sub-genre. To promote the arrival of the trilogy ending Gears of War 3, Epic Games, the developer of Gears of War released a free multiplayer Beta, available to those who pre-ordered the game. In one month, 1.3 million players gathered online to play over 11 million multiplayer matches—that's 249 years worth of matches, and no doubt, a lot of snacks. There was no doubt that people were excited. But now that Gears 3 has hit shelves and is in the hands of millions of gamers, the question is asked: did it live up to the hype?
Gears of War takes place on a planet called Sera, virtually no different to earth, it hosted a civilization, and an elite military group known as the C.O.G. All was peaceful on Sera, until one day hordes of beasts emerged from the crust of the planet, and wreaked havoc on civilian life. A massive war took place, and the population was almost wiped dry. These beasts are called "Locust" and they are extremely terrifying, and come in every flavor of "get the hell of my planet".
The game revolves around Marcus Fenix, a COG/prisoner who received life in prison for attempting to save his father at the cost of a whole battle, and Dom Santiago, a man who spent the first two games looking for his wife, who when he finally found was brutally tortured, so he ended his wifes misery and only seeks revenge. And Baird, but nobody cares about Baird. When playing as these characters and as they get more and more fleshed out, the experience grows richer. For instance at one point in Gears 3, Augustus Cole, an ex football player, revisits his home stadium, and has a sad reminiscence of what his life used to be like, but is brought back into grim reality as a bomb goes off. Spending 36 hours with these characters throughout 3 games makes one extremely drawn to these people, and makes the end of the trilogy extremely emotional.
The plot of Gears of War 3 picks up 2 years after Gears 2, Dom is coming to terms with his wife's death and grows out a sweet hippie beard. While Marcus learns about the fact that his father is still alive, somewhere. You start on an aircraft carrier, the last COG stronghold due to the "explosive" events of Gears 2. You meet Jace and Griffin, voiced by both Drake and Ice-T because apparently Marcus wants to boot up his rap career. But the boat is now longer safe so our COGs must find greater pastures now that there is a new threat.
Another thing one may realize while playing the game is the incredible environments. You'll surely go to some unexpected places and you will notice: the game is absolutely gorgeous. Whether your in a hollowed out portion of Sera's crust, washed up on a tropical beach, or high in the snow-capped mountains, the color themes and extreme backdrops are breathtaking. The art style in Gears game is also wildly creative, comparable to that of the Lord of the Rings movies, the Locust armor and Locust architecture, is well thought out, spooky, and adds to the dangerous feel of the game as well as making the experience extremely unique. Though one mood related drawback, is you never get back the almost "survival horror-esque" feel you had in Gears 1.
At the heart of Gears of War is its gameplay. From the get go in Gears 1, the gameplay was like nothing anyone had played. The cover system and the 3rd person combat was an absolute gem, and players immediately fell in love with it, as well as the iconic Lancer Assault Rifle, with its mounted chainsaw. The final Gears has this system polished to a shiny golden perfection, and you will surely notice. New weapons and finishing moves add greatly to the gore and variety of the game. And in multiplayer, ripping of a player's arm and beating them to death while 9 other real people watch, is quite satisfying. And no I'm not psycho. But what Gears created and was largely copied for was it's Horde mode, a wave based mode in which the locust came in ever increasing waves. They have made this mode deeper and more hectic than ever, with the addition of a money system, new tactical options, and "Beast mode", in which you can play as the locust horde.
Overall, Gears is an extremely wonderful experience, taking you to all kinds of places, full with a handful of great characters and a never ending apocalyptic mood. This game makes the right decisions and ends the series how it should be. Go get it, you will have fun, it is worth every penny.
9 / 10
IMAGES COURTESY OF EPIC GAMES
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