Review: Gears of War 3

Sera's an uninhabitable wasteland now. Mutated beasts are ravaging what's left of the human race. Things are really going straight to hell. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Gears of War 3, the third part in the third-person shooter trilogy, comes to a major climax, and reviews all over the interwebs are heralding its praises.

Spoiler alert: this review will be no different.

Epic Games has finely crafted its signature cover-dependent, active-reloading game to both an art and a science. In a word: it's incredible. Cooperative and competitive game types are better than ever, but the Campaign is -- somehow -- both the shining gem and the weak point of this trilogy's swan song. It's exciting, terrifying, and emotional, but it's also not terribly satisfying when it's over.

Read on for the full review of Marcus Fenix's last stand for Sera in Gears of War 3!

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'Gears of War 3' Limited and Epic Editions Unveiled

Epic Edition's 11.2" PVC Fenix Statue. Click for full size.

Epic's Gears of War 3 is one of the most anticipated titles this year, so it's no surprise that Epic has lined up some serious bonuses for the special editions of this COG team's last fight.

Aside from the standard version, both a Limited Edition and an Epic Edition will be available, priced at $79.99 and $149.99, respectively.  That's a non-trivial amount to pay for a video game, but Epic is making sure you get something great for your money.

Gears of War 3 Epic Edition. Click for full size.

The Limited Edition comes with:

• Octus Award Box and a removable, to-scale zinc Octus Service Medal.
• Exclusive Adam Fenix multiplayer character.
• A fabric COG flag.
• Adam Fenix's personal effects: "Last Will & Testament", Hammer of Dawn schematics, and Fenix family mementos.

The Epic Edition (pictured above) comes with:

• Everthing in the Limited Edition: Octus Award, Service Medal, COG flag, Fenix's personal effects, and Fenix multiplayer character
• 11.2" PVC Marcus Fenix statue (pictured top)
• Art and Design of Gears of War book
• Infected Open Weapon Pack (skins for Lancer, Retro Lancer, Hammerburst, Gnasher, Sawed-off Shotgun.)

Gears of War 3 is slated for release on September 20, 2011.  The standard edition is currently available for pre-order, with these newly announced limited editions soon similarly available.

Officially Official: "Gears of War 3" Announced

Despite the surprise announcement on the Xbox Dashboard last weekend, Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski went on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to officially announce Gears of War 3 and to premiere a never-before-seen trailer portraying our COGs, the Locusts, and the newly-featured Lambent.

Bleszinski announced that the release date would be "probably April 8th" of next year, but a following press release from Microsoft definitively stated that the game would be released "April 5, 2011 in North America and Asia, April 7 in Japan, and April 8 in Europe and the rest of the world."

See the announcement trailer, "Ashes to Ashes," right here, courtesy of Hulu:

Update on April 13, 2010 at 12:05 PM by Dwight Tejano

This just in from @therealcliffyb:

4 player integrated story co op in the campaign!

Feckin' incredible.  Easily the most exciting piece of news about the game thus far.  Other news: the feisty blonde dispatcher Anya is playable, double-barrel shotguns, and Dom has a beard.

Source

Gears of War 3 Releases Next April

Source: Kotaku.com

In a rather silly slip-up, Microsoft accidentally announced the conclusion of the Gears of War trilogy on the Xbox Dashboard this morning.

Epic Games' design director Cliff Bleszinski was scheduled to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to bring some big announcement.  The man formerly known as CliffyB, however, rescheduled his appearance at the last minute for Monday, citing that he "wanted to take a couple more days to polish what [they're] showing."

It seems that the timed ads on the Xbox Dashboard weren't given the memo, however; and Gears of War 3 (with release window) was officially announced (briefly) for everyone to see.

It's certainly possible that Bleszinski wasn't going to announce Gears of War 3, but the timing of everything makes the possibility of coincidence suspect.

About three weeks ago, Edge Online first launched the rumor that the game would be released April 2011, with the first trailer being released on April 8 ("exactly one year ahead of the game's pencilled release date.")

The uncanny accuracy in that post lends credence to the GoW3 gameplay rumors from the same source, most of which are worth a second look.  My favorite: COGs get underground grenades to destroy enemies behind cover.