One of the bext-looking games of the year, Gears of War 3 has been an
eagerly-awaited release. Alex Wharton gets to grips with Gears 3
B
ig men (and now women)
shooting big guns at really big
enemies – the first two Gears
of War games have stuck to this
general theme, and it works so
why change it?
Gears of War 3 is the final part of the
trilogy and takes the story to new and
amazing places.
068
December 2011
In case you haven’t played the others,
Sera is a world in serious trouble. Humans
are spread out, living in small camps or on
roaming ships. The Locust, having lost all
their caves in the second game, are trying to
scratch out a living wherever they can – and
now there’s the Lambent, a race born from
the fuel deep down inside the planet. To be
honest, though, the Lambent just reminded
me of the Flood from Halo and the mutations
from Resident Evil 4 and 5.
Supposedly the last in the series (we’ll
wait and see if they pull a Halo ‘no more… oh
ok, have another’), the tale takes the familiar
Delta squad from cities to planes to sewers
to ships and back. Some of the set-pieces in
Gears 3 are the most impressive yet – the
game starts with you taking on a Lambent
Kraken from your ship, and it just gets bigger
from there!
The same complement of weapons have
arrived from GOW 2 with a few additions
– most notably, from the early trailers, is
a double-barrelled shotgun. But I found
that I needed to be so close that I could
have kissed them to make it actually do
any damage, so generally didn’t use it and
stuck with the pump shotgun. They’ve also
introduced the Retro Lancer – kicks like a
mule but has a huge bayonet on the front and
a cool stabby charge. Of course, the regular
lancer is the best by far, and the one which
saw the most use.
Multiplayer is a staple part of this game
and the regular modes from the previous