Review: Gears of War 3

Gears of War is now an institution. Its fans are ravenous in their loyalty and its detractors unwavering in their attempt to malign it at every turn. With the high testosterone look of the characters, the large weapons, and a seasoning of Bromance; Gears of War has made itself an easy target. At least on the surface. There is, however, a lot more going on in the series than that. And an only cursory look at the game will oftentimes hide what it really has to offer. With each new iteration of the series Epic Games has tried to bolster these underlying treasures while continuing to refine the gameplay mechanics which exist around them.

The third installment is no different, and goes even further.

Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release Date: September 20th, 2011

As is to be expected, Gears of War follows the continuing story of the Gears we've known for awhile now. But here they are even harder, worn, having been torn down futher by the weight of a withering humanity resting on their shoulders. And humanity is withering. On its last gasp and pressed between two fronts, the story in Gears of War is literally one of last hopes and futile attempts. The narrative compliments this story exceptionally well. It never seems too rushed or too obtuse for its own good. It breathes when it needs to, and never seems to be worried that the player might have lost interest. In every way, you can sense that the narrative in GOW3 was the story the developers wanted to tell, not the one they felt they needed to. There are many places in the story where the gameplay goes from intense firefights one moment, only to open up into grand vistas, both graphically and literarily, the next.

This back and forth continues until the grand crescendo at the end, and leads into what I might consider as one of the best endings I've seen in contemporary video games. Yes, I'm talking about Gears of War here. The ending is beautiful, almost sublime. It's an ending that speaks not just to the singular game, but to the series and the characters as a whole. Surely, one not to be missed.

Pacing like this is not the easiest thing to pull off. Often times I think developers are afraid to let their games slow down, even a bit, for fear they will lose the player if something isn't constantly exploding. GOW3 gladly takes those chances and the game is better off for it.

The gameplay has also been refined. Not with any particularly huge changes, but with taking what works and making it even better. If anything, Gears has always been a fantastically designed series and GOW3 continues to improves on those design decisione. Little things, like the fact that your damage induced 'jelly-vision' leaves both the your reticule and your peripherals unhindered, allowing you to better fight our way out to safety. The default running speed has been increased slightly to offer better movement to the characters who no longer seem to lug around as much. Ammo is placed where you need it, and taken away at times to increase tension. I would have to say that GOW3 is probably one of the best designed games I've played recently, and this is only preceded by its technically stability. After 20+ hours of gameplay I've only been stuck on a turret once, and that was easily solved when the Locust destroyed the turret. Honstly, besides some server problems that occurred this week, that's the only identifiable glitch I can even remember.

Of course Horde mode is back, but with a new build mechanic that allows players to build up fortifications with money they earn by killing enemies. It's a great addition and my only complaint is that I wish it was enhanced upon further. Allowing players to building wherever they wanted would have been a nice addition but I can understand how that might have broken certain aspects of the mode. I also found that it becomes a little difficult to gain enough money to do very much, or maybe that's simply because I'm not exceptionally good at the mode. I found myself using a lot of my money on the most basic fortifications without much left over for anything else after doing repairs. Perhaps the other players were saving their money because I was wasting mine on wire fence.

Beast mode is a new cooperative game in GOW3 which is basically Horde mode reversed. Here the computer AI plays the COGs, with fortifications and all, and the players are the Locust / Lambent trying to kill them all. It's a fun addition, but I tend to like Horde Mode a little more, and the inclusion of Beast Mode just made me wonder why we can't have real players on both sides.

Overall though, GOW3 is simply more of what made the series great, refined and distilled into what is the best Gears experience to date. And adherence to these fundamentals speaks volumes of a development studio who is completely aware and comfortable with the better qualities of their own product. There was no need to dramatically change the formula, just increase the flavor...and maybe the size of the packaging. It may sound like a strange notion, but GOW3 is a developmentally honest game that stuck to its roots when other games might have thought they needed to drastically change.

What this also means, however, is that GOW3 speaks to the GOW fan. It is, without a doubt, fundamentally the same game it's always been. So if there was anything that might hold GOW3 back, it would be that those who never found much in the series to begin with certainly won't find much to gush over here. But to the fan, Gears of War 3 is a treasure. A golden Lancer firmly strapped upon the back of strong narrative, and humanistic characters. A fitting, touching, and courageous end.

Score: 90%
(90-95%: These games are phenomenal and transcends all issues)