The city of Jacinto collapsed 18 months ago, then the deliberate destruction of the only human stronghold failed to save Sera from the Locust invasion. Now not only is there another giant threat but there is only one way to solve this once and for all.
You start off by being reunited with your comrade Dominic Santiago, who when you first meet you find wearing dungarees and tending to his plants and vegetables aboard your new home a military warship.
This highlights one of the major focus points of the game, the characters and their families/background. Gears has always had amazing support cast, which are well voiced and scripted. Gears of War 3 has taken this to a new level as character stories are fleshed out and become a catalyst to the main story line progression. With Dom it is all about dealing with the death of his wife, for Marcus it is the pursuit of his farther whom he believes is still alive. Augustus “Cole Train” Cole is ensuring that the leaving behind of his high flying sports career is not in vain.
The world has evolved with pockets of humanity just trying to survive day to day, on islands around the world that are not yet consumed by the new threats. The Lambent are the most important of these new threats. The Lambent are an evolved breed of enemies that has been seen on occasion in previous Gears games, such as the Lambent wretches in Gears of War. The Lambent are now fearsome, explosive, mutated creatures of all sizes. They burst from the towering stalks of infected plant life that is slowly consuming the planet. The Lambent are great fun to fight, as there explosive weak spots can cause havoc for nearby enemies.
Gears of War 3 has got a whole new range of weapons to battle this new threat with. One of the best weapons is the “One Shot” it is a ultra high powered sniper rifle that will cause even the biggest of enemies to explode into a paste of blood and organs. There is also a giant machete like blade “Cleaver” is no longer confined to the hands of Butchers, which has to be one of the most powerful melee weapon. Another welcome introduction is flaming grenades.
Gears of War 3 has got exciting new enemies, satisfying new weapons and a great character driven story. Fire fights in wide open spaces that are bigger and better than ever before, with more explosions and enemies to learn how to take down. You also have three fellow soldiers at your side (controlled by the computer in the single player mode, or by friends in the new four player campaign), as a result many fights involve more enemies fighting against you.
No much has changed in how you fight enemies, you still very much run, cover, shoot and the greatest contributor to you not being killed is the wide range of cover and objects to hide behind. The thing is though it is still a great amount of fun and there are a few vehicle sections that help break things up, including an unexpected deep sea venture in a giant submarine. Ammo during all missions is in frequent supply, so if you’re a fan of spraying bullets every where your in luck.
Like in previous Gears of War games sections of intense action are broken up nicely with cut scenes. The emphasis on the story and characters makes these really enjoyable compared to many other games. The game is well scripted and the inclusion of female soldiers breaks up the rather one sided range of vocal tones in previous Gears of War. Relationships are a key part to the main plot, and that they result in amazing cut scenes and is a testament to the script writers, voice actors and animators.
This is game is graphically amazing, careful attention has been given to the design of the characters, who have visibly been aged by both time and circumstance. Dom has a bear, certain characters have tattoos of fallen loved ones, and faces seem amazingly realistic and emotions are clearly defined.
The environments are wide ranging and impressive in their size, design and detail. Whether indoors or outside, the locations that you fight through are amazingly rendered. There is still a big emphasis on browns, reds, broken walls and soil. Occasionally you get to see rich green vistas and rivers and they are a sight to behold. The glorious environments only make the giant fire fights and epic battles they stage feel even more breath taking. Epic appears to be pushing the XBOX 360 to its hardware limits and the lack of any mid game loading screens is very impressive.
Gears of War 3 is the toping on the cake for the Gears of War trilogy as it pulls together all the elements that made the first two games amazing and appropriately increases the emphasis on the story in a way that is not forced, tying up loose ends for fans and leaving everyone wanting more.
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Gears of War 3: Chapter 1: The Emergence
Each explosion reveals a chapter of the Gears of War story—a tale of brotherhood and perseverance. Join with a friend to see an advanced screening of the next chapter. It won’t be easy, so pick someone that will be your brother to the end.
