Gears of War 3 – Game Analysis & Review
By Patrick Newman
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Producers: Chris Wynn, Rod Fergusson
Designer: Cliff Bleszinski
Writer: Karen Traviss
Composer: Steve Jablonsky
Engine: Unreal Engine 3.5
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Genre: Third-person shooter
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
Rating: ESRB: Mature
The heroes of Gears of War have fought a long, brutal war that reaches it’s climax here in part three, when the brute soldiers’ struggle to control Imulsion (the underground energy source that might as well be called petroleum) has destroyed entire civilizations and leaves Delta Squad’s mission on the brink of failure. Gears of War 3’s decimated environments very clearly depict how war can ravage a society – A powerful thematic point that over-the-top voice acting and hammy dialogue often fail to deliver. Closing loose ends and cementing soldierly bonds, the game drives to strike an emotional chord as well as a visceral one. Like many of the action and war films that inspired its gameplay, Gears of War 3 works best when it lets the imagery speak for itself.
The story’s COG (Coalition of Ordered Government) has disbanded and almost completely dissolved their alignment with the war’s survivors, as well as remaining Stranded. The main thrust of the story involves Marcus Fenix and his squad in a tooth-and-nail struggle to hold their ground against the omnipresent Locust and Lambent threat. The five acts of Gears of War 3, which roughly take 15-20 hours to complete, as well as a staggeringly extensive multiplayer campaign, make this installment of the series every bit the epic conclusion gamers have yearned for.
Being the final act in a trilogy, Epic games means to go out with a bang by presenting the smoothest-running and most accessible third-person shooter on the market, and for the most part they’ve succeeded. The seamless visuals – which extend from smoke effects to fractured lighting – as well as skillfully deployed sound effects, which fully bring home the game environment’s postwar bedlam. Transitioning from Gears of War 2’s mere two-player cooperative mode to 3’s more robust 4-player mode (expanding the weapon arsenal concurrently) was a wise choice, deepening the tactical appeal of toughing it through the game’s war zones with friends.
If there’s an air of over-familiarity to the constant “blast-and-cover” strategy Gears of War 3’s gameplay requires you to mete out to succeed in combat, Epic games has done everything they can to up the ante for the finish. The sprinting feels faster and the covering system has been smoothed to near-perfection, with a new ability to kick enemies as you emerge from cover areas. The implementation of the Silverback, an armed Mech reminiscent of Ripley’s Power Loader in Aliens, as well as the Digger, a grenade launcher that digs like a mole underground to decimate its targets, add variety to Gears’ familiar formula.
The flaws to this enterprise are few, but to those with tastes that tend away from big, bruising shoot-em-ups, there is plenty here for gamers to jeer at. Evoking paragons of manliness from 80’s action blockbusters such as Schwarzenegger or Stallone, the heroes of Delta Squad constantly spout cheesy one-liners and boasts befitting their musculature and terrifying weapons. The game’s story and pervasive style calls to mind the films of Michael Bay, where the need to pull heartstrings is constantly in contention with the ludicrousness of the story, characters, and excessive aesthetics. On a technical level, the frame-rate is far from a smooth ride through Gears of War 3’s long campaign, as the game jitters when the frame is cluttered with enemies, or when clips are fired rapidly through ironsights.
All things considered, Gears of War is an expertly crafted entertainment that requires careful strategy and fierce endurance to move through the narrative, truly making the gamer feel as though he’s guarding the final outpost of an un-winnable war. Befitting the end of this long saga, the tone is dark and the circumstances dire, which makes for some of the series’ most intense dramatic moments, and the best total gaming experience overall.
Gears of War 3 – Cinematic Intro Launch Trailer:
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