Gears of War 3 review (Tyler's first ever game review)

Ahh...Gears, I'll admit I have a love hate relationship with you. I enjoy the times I've had playing you with friends, but hate the times I play you by myself. Your story-line amuses me, but there are SO MANY plot holes that I feel you haven't adequately answered. That being said, I tried to go into the last entry into the GoW saga with an open mind. (I had to know how Dom's story ended, and if Carmine lived or not)

Right off the bat this game starts off somewhat confusingly. Flash-backs to the first game were rampant during the first cut-scene, and the first "mission" had an interesting survival horror feel to it.

Now, I'll try to get the (in my opinion) flaws to this games storyline. It seemed to me that the developers were trying to throw too much information towards you at once, and introduced characters that I really don't feel had any reason to be there (who the fuck is Jace and why should I care?) This is the last game of the series, it should have focused on answering the major questions that were still there about the major characters already introduced, not bringing in new people, or making minor characters, main ones.

Also, why is it that the lambent ALWAYS know when to attack you? I can understand the locust setting up ambushes seeing as how they're SUPPOSED to be an organized army, but it's never explained why or how the lambent are so good at what they do, which in this game is simply piss you off and make you wish for some normal grubs to bayonet.

The game play is the same as all gear games, killing lambent fools, and locust grubs. As well as chainsaws galore, and while this set up is fun for the first hour or two, it does lose its novelty rather quickly. Difficulty is surprisingly high, with 4 person co-op we still ended up having to go through several of the missions repeatedly, which made another semi-flaw apparent. The check points in this game are spread out far too much. Expect to have to endure the same 30 minute long fire-fight several times on a regular basis throughout the campaign.

Cover is as important as always, and it's pretty easy to actually find a relatively safe area to hide behind. (Granted having parking barriers spread out in front of some random area makes it apparent whenever an ambush is about to take place.)

Alright, now we'll go into the story, and boy oh boy, does this one have some twists and turns. The main plot revolves around Marcus trying to find his father, while also attempting to finish the war once and for all. Old faces turn up in every cinematic, and who lives and who dies will leave you staring at the screen in disbelief. With 4 people the campaign lasted about 9 hours (Including smoke/food/bathroom/repeating the same battle over and over because one of us got curb stomped.) While it did effectively "end" the story, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth simply because of the fact that there was still so much left unanswered. It would be like if George R.R. Martin decided to finish his Song of Ice and Fire saga by simply saying "and then Bran nuked all his enemies, the end."

Horde mode is still horde mode, but the thing that surprised me the most was how fun Beast mode is. Chainsaws are fun, but being a berserker and full on destroying a contingent of Obsidian guard in a few seconds is a good ol' time all around. Every locust character you can be each have a very different strategy and feel to them. Being a ticker and hiding behind cover until a few survivors make the mistake of turning away, and then blowing them all into sticky bits is good for a laugh. Having four locust grubs bayonet charge the humans from all sides, and smiling as the puny humans twitch on the ground, leaves you with a sense of accomplishment that the campaign never really delivers, and if you were like me and actually had some empathy for the Locust and their plight, it's a welcome reprieve from killing them in their hundreds.

Overall I enjoyed this game, and while I feel it could, and probably should have done a better job at tying up all the loose ends of the story...it's forgivable. While this game didn't really bring anything new to the table, that's also expected, it's the end of a saga, not the introduction to a new one...and in the world of a never dying Halo series, and CoD, it's nice to see a series that definitively ended their story.

Overall I give GoW 3 an 8.5/10 the campaign leaves you content, horde mode is good for parties, and beast mode will leave you with a grin on your face. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some survivors waiting to be pound into pink mist.