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Gears of War 3
23:49, 24th Aug 2011
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We could, if we wanted to, fill this spread with nothing but a swathe of tantalising new pics of Epic Games’ latest entry in the Gears of War saga and the words “Buy it”. We could do that because, let’s face it, most of you will anyway. However the thought that some of you might miss out on one of the year’s finest shooters still weighs heavy on our gaming hearts.
Thankfully, anyone who is coming to the series late won’t be caught short. From the start of Gears 3, there’s a marked improvement in its approach to storytelling, with writer Karen Traviss spending the first hour or so slowly introducing the returning cast, new characters and establishing the state of the world. There are some real creative points here too – a Marcus Fenix nightmare serves as both a basic tutorial and a rare insight into his personality; a mission to the cheery Cole Train’s home town offers a glimpse behind his upbeat facade, and sparkling dialogue between the assembled cast makes everyone seem like fully realised and realistic people.
Traviss is no stranger to the Gears universe, having penned four of the canonical tie-in novels before getting the nod to write Gear 3 itself, and clearly knows her stuff. The game kicks off 18 months after the sinking of Jacinto, with public trust in both the COG and the Gears at an all-time low. Mostly, the assembled forces are doing a global version of holding the line against the Lambent – new, evolved Locusts mutated by Imulsion, spewing polyps and even grislier monsters from blackened pods sprouted on giant stalks. The holding pattern breaks with the return of Chairman Prescott (everyone’s favourite slimy politician) and a recorded video message from Fenix’s father – older than he was when he supposedly died and warning of even greater problems with Imulsion.
If nothing else, it’s a damn solid narrative base to launch the final chapter of the core series from. Getting into the nuts and bolts of the gameplay, though, we found everything has been fine tuned rather than massively overhauled. Long time gearheads will be able to drop straight in and feel instantly at home with the controls, with all the little tricks from the first two games in place. Timing your ammo refills just right still gives you a power boost, the cover system is still as intuitive as ever – it’s all like rekindling an old, gun-toting romance.
What few changes have been made only serve to make it more accessible to those coming in fresh. The blind fire mechanism is now a little more precise and not quite such a waste of ammo, and ally AI is much more competent…
Thankfully, anyone who is coming to the series late won’t be caught short. From the start of Gears 3, there’s a marked improvement in its approach to storytelling, with writer Karen Traviss spending the first hour or so slowly introducing the returning cast, new characters and establishing the state of the world. There are some real creative points here too – a Marcus Fenix nightmare serves as both a basic tutorial and a rare insight into his personality; a mission to the cheery Cole Train’s home town offers a glimpse behind his upbeat facade, and sparkling dialogue between the assembled cast makes everyone seem like fully realised and realistic people.
Traviss is no stranger to the Gears universe, having penned four of the canonical tie-in novels before getting the nod to write Gear 3 itself, and clearly knows her stuff. The game kicks off 18 months after the sinking of Jacinto, with public trust in both the COG and the Gears at an all-time low. Mostly, the assembled forces are doing a global version of holding the line against the Lambent – new, evolved Locusts mutated by Imulsion, spewing polyps and even grislier monsters from blackened pods sprouted on giant stalks. The holding pattern breaks with the return of Chairman Prescott (everyone’s favourite slimy politician) and a recorded video message from Fenix’s father – older than he was when he supposedly died and warning of even greater problems with Imulsion.
If nothing else, it’s a damn solid narrative base to launch the final chapter of the core series from. Getting into the nuts and bolts of the gameplay, though, we found everything has been fine tuned rather than massively overhauled. Long time gearheads will be able to drop straight in and feel instantly at home with the controls, with all the little tricks from the first two games in place. Timing your ammo refills just right still gives you a power boost, the cover system is still as intuitive as ever – it’s all like rekindling an old, gun-toting romance.
What few changes have been made only serve to make it more accessible to those coming in fresh. The blind fire mechanism is now a little more precise and not quite such a waste of ammo, and ally AI is much more competent…
SUMMARY
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