Joystick Revolution: Brothers to the End

Brothers to the End


I said brothers...

So here it is, three years later. Three years of painstaking and hair pulling insane difficulty campaign runs, three years of 4-player horde mode where we all made and “lost” friends (headsets will be the death of us, or at least our ears), and three years of trying to party like it's 1999. I’m guessing that 1999 was a time of towering pizza boxes, sleep withdrawal, Xbox RRoDs, and degrading social bonds. Anyway however you spent your three years, we can all agree that three years of time has passed and what does that mean? That’s right, Gears of War 3 baby.

Epic Games finished its trilogy on September 20, 2011 but seeing how the game has been so far, I can easily see it living on for years to come; and not only in the players but for the developers as well. Epic did a solid job in this latest installment by tying up loose ends in one of the best and most emotional campaigns I’ve had the pleasure of playing, and cleaning up familiar glitches and bugs that come with any game series.

Gears 3 brings with it some long cherished and loved past times along with some new and refreshing twists. Obviously at the first moment you popped in the disk you knew you’d be faced with the overwhelming and unnecessary gore we have come to love and crave, memorable chainsaw cut downs, and witty banter between Delta squad, woot! But Epic made some interesting changes with the game which all seemed to perform nicely while not ruining the Gears of War we have come to love.

First off let’s look at the campaign. Gear of War and shooters alike have always been about throwing players into a campaign in hopes of immersing them in a story that they will remember and have fun playing. However Epic had some creative ways of achieving this and made the end of the bro-mance Gear-heads know so well, truly epic.

Little bit to the left, little more. Perfect! Now smile!

At the start of the game we find our oversized heroes in a less awesome state then at the end of Gears 2. It seems that while we were practicing for beast mode and saving our allowances for the epic edition, Sera (the planet which the Gears of War story takes place) has taken some turns for the worse, leaving Delta squad in a bit of pickle…again. Except this time instead of being really bad, it’s really-really bad. The Locust have crawled out of the ground once more but this time for good, it seems that Delta’s makeshift bomb once again, failed. Getting a lot of déjà vu vibes here, hmmm may just be me. With their hollows and tunnels flooded they have been forced to set up camp surface side, and we all know what we mean by setting up camp in Locust terms, oversized bases with overpowered weapons and over the top surplus, but hey it’s all good, we got chainsaws man.

Hmmm I feel like I’m forgetting something. Locust, biodegrading world, and… Oh yeah the Lambent are back, with some upgrades as well. Instead of just the generic recolor of locust with a few steroid-like enhancements, we now are encountered with an entirely new set of enemies. Not symbiotes of the Locust, but fully evolving self-perpetuated killing machines made of all sorts of living organisms and body parts. Kind of like a Neapolitan of flesh, with a scoop of neon glowing skin, and more than one scoop of explosive gore. Mmmmm anyone else getting hungry?

To think that the Locust are only half the problem.

On the good side of our campaign we have our favorite gang of brothers to accompany your trip through Sera with their incisive talking and banter, but hey we love it. Woo! Cole train baby! Haha…ha… yeah its old now. However our squad of death has found some new friends to drag along to hell and back. Our new recruits include Samantha Byrne, the newly armored up Anya Stroud, Jace Stratton, and the new Carmine to weigh our team down is Clayton. However Clayton seems to be much more of an asset then a liability in this game unlike his previously gamed brothers. Even though these characters were thrown right in with the classic Delta squad, they quickly became likeable and players soon recognize them as a part of the squad, being as if they were with us through the whole series. Save Carmine!

Moving on from characters, let’s get to the story. Is it any good? Is it worth the time? Was that you crying at the end of Act III? Yes! Yes! And Yes! Wait, well that’s not entirely true. Epic is without question a group of passionate story tellers. Being a lover of rich stories and campaigns, Epic always caught my eye. The last two installments of Gears of War built a universe to last and built a foundation to share. And luckily Gears of War 3 doesn’t disappoint. Gears of War 3 is to gamer as super amazingly awesome book is to bookworm. My eyes we literally glued to the screen as I played and experienced the campaign. The story really had a lot of moments that pushed all the right buttons; varieties of epic firefights, heartwarming closures, and soul shattering cataclysms. The story was like a candy that was meant to hit all taste buds, if games were eatable and emotions were specified to certain locations. “But love is in the heart” shut up, it’s in your brain. Or is it?

Now don’t you worry Mr. and Mrs. Multiplayer; while Gears of War 3 is often recognized for its campaign, the Multiplayer is nothing to look beyond. Entering your first match you will see how far Epic has evolved from Gears 2. They really took into account all of the aspects of modern multiplayer-heavy games and bundled it together to really create a complete and substantial multiplayer that will last for years. The newest addition to multiplayer games in the last decade is the customization engine. Players have really taking a liking to the idea of personalizing their characters which everyone sees them for online. Gears of War 3 doesn’t incorporate the strongest of customization but it does have its qualities. The task of unlocking and choosing from the large variety of characters on each side is a fun process and it adds nicely to the immersion when instead of having 5v5 of the same characters every time, you have a bit of diversity to make the experience all the better.

Y! Y! Y! Y! Y! You like that?! Y! Y! Y! Y! Huh?! Y! Y! Y!

And rejoice gore lovers and blood enthusiasts, for multiplayer has just as much of our favorite red intoxicating vintage as the campaign. With the help of new and improved executions, the guys at Epic have finally found a way to vent all that inner rage that comes with a good game of multiplayer. Instead of the quick “one-two your dead”, a player can now take full advantage of their downed, crawling, and helpless prey. Depending on how much time you’re willing to spend on that player will determine how long you get to sate your increasing lust of revenge. You may feel the need to leave the on-switch on your lancer in the enemy’s abdomen for an unethical amount of time or countlessly and rapidly press Y as you play surgeon with your nemesis’ face. Reminds me I need a haircut.

Epic has also developed a Call of Duty-like badge system. You can now follow your progress and show off to your friends your metals of glory and not so glory. An engine that is fun to follow while at the same time presses you to focus on the game in front of you; in hope of avoiding the humiliation of your peers. So no more excuses when we rip on your K/D. “No man, that was my little brother that ruined my K/D” please we know you’re an only child. You know who you are.

The only downside of the multiplayer would have to be beast mode. Nothing in fact that has to do with the actual mode, it’s a ton of fun, but the way they throw you into it can be a bit misleading. There were no real instructions in the beginning and Epic just dropped the player into the mode while they tried to figure out why there was a ticking clock in the corner of the screen. But it only takes a few matches and some good laughs with buddies to eventually figure it out and really find the “Beast” within. Too cheesy?

Towards the more technical side of Gears of War 3, let’s talk about the performance of the game. As a package the game comes across as polished as they get, but that doesn’t mean it is void of technical glitches and errors. There was a few times through my playthroughs that I had to run back and reactivate certain checkpoints to move my team forward. Again not that big of a problem and easy to fix, just ruins the immersion a little when you’re in an grand firefight and your team is standing there with their feet glued to the ground and gossiping. What if they are making fun of me? Honestly however that’s the only thing that struck me as incomplete and I’m sure Epic is already working on a patch to fix it.

Graphics wise the game is gorgeous. The pure scale of the game is overwhelming yet amazing. While the game is a platformer and you follow a predetermined course, give or take a few side roads; the game feels as if it was completely open to the player. The character models are really clean and the voice acting is fantastic. Lips match words and movements match the conversation. A must have for any game trying to immerse the player without feeling like a 1980s Godzilla movie.

All I wanted was a nice group photo.

All in all Gears of War 3 will be a game to remember. One that is sure to create with it some good memories and powerful examples for games to come. Epic can really come out of this trilogy with their heads high. The only thing close to a disappointment when it comes to the team is that fact that we can’t look forward to a Gears of War 4. But hey I’m sure there next game will be as great as this one and I’m excited to see what Epic will dish out next, no matter the genre. Now excuse me, I’ve got to get back to playing.