Gears of War 3

*CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS*

The long-anticipated finale to Epic’s gory, testosterone-fueled trilogy has finally arrived. The tales of Marcus Fenix, Dom Santiago, and their band of tough-as-bones COGs are finally brought to a gritty conclusion.

Gears of War 2 left with the humans of Sera sinking their capital city in a last ditch effort to drown the remnants of the Locusts, a feral species no longer content to dwell in caves beneath the surface. At the conclusion of Gears of War 2, players were still unsure as to the Locust’s endgame. Had they invaded the surface of Sera for selfish gain? Or did they, like the humans, have survival at the forefront of their minds?

Turns out the latter explanation best describes the Locust’s actions. An underground fuel source, known as emulsion, has infected many of the Locust’s members, turning them into a rapidly-mutating, enraged subspecies called Lambent. In an attempt to save themselves, the Locusts broke the surface of Sera and declared war on humanity. Now, with the Lambent at their front and the Locusts at their back, humanity is taking its final stand against what appears to be inevitable doom.

The last hope for survival lies at an resort nestled on a Locust-occupied island, hidden for years behind an artificially-created storm, known as the maelstrom. Here, Marcus Fenix’s father, Adam, thought to be dead for the past two installments of Gears of War, has developed a catastrophic weapon that he believes will end the Lambent invasion for good. Hope rests solely on the success of Marcus Fenix and his fellow COGs to invade the island, free Adam from Locust control, and unleash the weapon in one, final strike against the growing threat of human extinction.

If that introduction didn’t hint at the violent nature of Gears of War 3, I’ll say it up front: Gears of War 3 is a violent game. Whether its ripping a Locust’s chest cavity in half with a chainsaw or curb-stomping an enemy into mush, players will get their share of blood and guts. Anyone who has played the previous installments already knows this. Epic wanted this game to appeal to the more visceral nature of gamers, and it certainly does.

In comparison to the first two games, Gears of War 3 exceeds in every department. Characters move with great agility, graphics are sharper, story plot is more intriguing, and blood flies and splatters with greater intensity. Action is fast-paced and enjoyable. Characters are voiced accordingly and complement the plot throughout the campaign.

Gears of War helped make popular the system of cover-based combat. The efficiency of this system is made prominent throughout both the single player and multiplayer aspects of Gears of War 3. Characters duck, slide, and roll with relative ease from cover to cover. Walls, overturned tables, and sandbags become your closest allies when battling with familiar weapons as well as a few new additions to the COG arsenal. These few new weapons, such as an ultra-powerful sniper rifle known as the oneshot, aren’t groundbreaking, but they do add a tad more diversity to the already-effective system of combat. In particular, the digger, a gun that fires an explosive round underground to seek out its enemy, changes up combat enough to differentiate it from the system used in Gears of War 2.

The single player campaign rounds off the story of the COG beautifully. Epic has had a knack for crafting stories and developing characters in the Gears trilogy that tug on the most human aspects of player’s hearts. One scene in particular, which I won’t spoil for those who haven’t watched it, is so soul-crushingly despairing that I couldn’t help but get a little choked up over it. Epic succeeds in weaving enough emotion into the story for players to root for the COG, whose individual personalities can seem stand-offish at first glance.

The multiplayer section of Gears of War 3 is where Epic really succeeded. Matchmaking is quick and easy. The new leveling system is addicting, and there are always new characters, weapon skins, and executions to unlock. The updated horde mode, complete with a fortifications system, really pushes the necessity for strategy and teamwork. Beast mode, the newest addition to multiplayer, is also entertaining and gives players the chance to experience the newest members of the Locust horde firsthand.

Sound quality in Gears of War 3 is as satisfying as ever. Heads squish, guns fire, and explosions rock the earth in convincing fashion. There’s not a lot of difference between the sounds of the third installment and those of the second, but there doesn’t need to be, seeing as not a lot has changed in terms of story or action that would require it.

The music of the Gears trilogy has always been a highlight for me. Epic brings back the commanding “Hope Runs Deep” theme from Gears of War 2, which is definitely one of the most memorable video game tracks of the past few years. Strains of Michael Andrew and Gary Jules’s “Mad World” are also strategically placed throughout both the single player and multiplayer modes, which adds beautifully to the air of hopelessness and struggle.

There are not many things I would have liked to see improved within Gears of War 3. I had to search long and hard to find complaints, which were very few and far in between. The one prominent complaint I had with Gears of War 3 was in the color palette. The Gears trilogy has been known for using three primary colors: grey, brown, and red (for muzzle flashes and blood). These bring across the sensations of despair and death quite well, but don’t add much to the overall beauty of the game.

It was my hope that Gears of War 3 would have added a few more lush environments to balance out this issue. Granted, the resort levels of the single player campaign did this to a small extent, but it wasn’t near enough in my mind. Levels like the ash-encrusted cities of Sera were simply too drab to overlook.

VERDICT

If you played the first two installments and are at all hesitant about playing Gears of War 3, don’t be. It is the perfect conclusion and epic finale the trilogy needed. Games of the future will be hard-pressed to equal the finesse and gut-wrenching action contained within this saga.

SCORE: 9.5/10