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E3 2011: Gears of War 3

The gears keep spinning as the trilogy starring Marcus and Dom come to an end with Gears of War 3. We take a look at the campaign and the game's completely different take on Horde mode.

Xav de Matos

June 15, 2011 4:15 PM

QUICKTAKE: The Epic Games-developed Gears of War trilogy comes to an end later this year with Gears of War 3. Though the original was known for ushering in the 'brown, next-gen color' found throughout games this generation, Gears of War 3 is a set-piece for the possibilities of Epic's Unreal Engine 3. Vibrant colors manage to cut through the game's typically dark facade to catch the eye and remind players of the humanity that the COG soldiers are fighting to protect. THE DEMO: In a behind-closed-doors demo, Epic's Cliff Bleszinski walked a room of journalists through multiple sections of Gears of War 3. My meeting apparently had began earlier than originally scheduled and when I walked in, Bleszinski was in the middle of showing off the section of gameplay that debuted during the Microsoft press conference. The level builds up to an epic assault where a behemoth sea creature (aptly dubbed 'Leviathan') is attacking a barge that a handful of COG soldiers have made their way to, led by Marcus Fenix and Dominic 'Dom' Santiago. Eventually the battle ends as a crate of trapped tickers is dropped on the Leviathan's head, sending the feral monster into a watery grave. The next section of the Gears of War 3 demo is a slice of gameplay Bleszinski referred to as the game's "Pulp Fiction-style" moment. Instead of showing players what happens after the barge attack, the game's timeline goes back two hours. This time players take on the role of another group of COG soldiers, led by Augustus "Cole Train" Cole and Damon Baird. In this section we hear Cole's group discussing strategy against the Leviathan with Marcus' crew. It's now up to the player to make it across a Locus infested bridge to push the crate of tickers on to the Leviathan's head as Marcus and Co. battle the beast in the distance below. This non-sequential story element isn't going to be standard throughout the game, but Bleszinski notes Gears 3 will feature dream and flashback sequences to help tell more of the game's story. DETAILS: Epic continues to use its own franchises to showcase how flexible its Unreal Engine can be. Dark grays and browns are still a predominant color on planet Sera, but now the game has been peppered with lush environments to show off the engine's enhancements. There was a tagline that was attached to Gears of War 2 that has sadly stuck with me: "Bigger, better, more badass." At its core, this ridiculous marketing line is meant to convey how expansive the world of Gears of War can be. The ability to look down from the bridge to see another battle occurring--against a giant sea creature, no less--does a good job of visually explaining that this war isn't relegated to corridors between a handful of gun toting man-beasts; a problem I felt the first game suffered. It does a lot to remind the player they are only one cog in the gear of this battle. The weakest element of Gears of War has always been its narrative. It's difficult to soak in the gravitas of Dom killing his wife in Gears 2, for example, in between lines about how many "shit loads" of enemies are infesting an area. Of course, the hardcore chainsaw fiends might not care about the game's narrative, but it's always left a bit of a hole in the franchise in my eyes. Features like multiplayer, campaign, and Horde that have made Gears of War so successful. While Bleszinski admits Gears was far from the first game to add swarming enemies to a game--"Robotron: 2084 went there first," he says--he's happy that the mode has been defined as a staple feature in the Gears franchise. Horde returns in Gears of War 3 with a number of changes. Now dubbed 'Horde 2.0,' players will earn currency for making kills, getting assists, saving allies and more. This currency can be used to purchase four types of reinforcements: barriers that slowdown attacking waves, decoys that draw attention away from players, turrets to help thin enemy lines, and the new man-controlled Silverback armored mech. Each of these reinforcements (save for the Silverback) can be upgraded multiple times. For example, barriers start as razor wire and can be upgraded to laser and electric wires.

Gears of War 3 adds a new layer of strategy in Horde Mode with purchasable reinforcements.

Earned money belongs to each player, so there is no fear of one teammate spending the squad's green on decoys to draw attention when the team needs something stronger to battle a new wave. Another big change is each tenth wave, which will now spawn a giant boss from the universe--a Brumak was one example shown in a trailer during our demo. Then there are additions that show off Epic's twisted sense of humor. Players can unlock mutators and activate them during modes. These mutators include everything from having flowers spill out of enemies instead of blood to the (brilliant) ability to active an 80's style sitcom laugh track during battle. When I asked Bleszinski if traditional Horde would be available for "purists," he insisted it's still available somehow. "Just go ahead and hit eject on your Xbox. Put in Gears of War 2. Horde still works there." I had to ask him to slow down for offering up such hot news scoops. Sarcasm aside, Gears of War 3 does not include traditional Horde mode, but I hear it works in that other game. There's a simple goal with Gears of War 3, Bleszinski says. "The goal is to be satisfying." There's certainly a lot added to the game, layered deep within an engine that somehow impresses after years of availability. If Gears of War 3 can correct some of the errors the sequel had online and offer a campaign fulled with the quality shown at E3, Xbox 360 owners are in store for a quality exclusive on September 20.

Xav de Matos

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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 reply
June 15, 2011 4:15 PM

Xav de Matos posted a new article, E3 2011: Gears of War 3.

The gears keep spinning as the trilogy starring Marcus and Dom come to an end with Gears of War 3. We take a look at the campaign and the game's completely different take on Horde mode.
- oscarkil09
  
   reply
  June 15, 2011 4:49 PM
  
  looking pretty damn good
- excessus
  
   reply
  June 15, 2011 5:30 PM
  
  Cant fucking wait, and pardon my english. Just the Horde mode can provide me endless hours of awesomeness.
- the archvile
  
   reply
  June 15, 2011 5:41 PM
  
  "the trilogy... come to an end"
  
  Uh, I hate to be a killjoy, but doesn't this sound familiar? "Finish The Fight"? Halo 3? Anyone?
  - Dravenport
    
     reply
    June 15, 2011 6:01 PM
    
    archvile, just stop posting, your shit is tired
    - MikkleThePickle
      
       reply
      June 15, 2011 6:25 PM
      
      http://www.shacknews.com/exclude/archvile/
    - [deleted] 328349105
      
       reply
      June 15, 2011 7:15 PM
      
      [deleted]
      - Vincent Grayson
        
         reply
        June 15, 2011 7:21 PM
        
        What's that? I seem to have missed it.
        
        Yanks
        
         reply
        June 16, 2011 7:42 AM
        
        That the archville basically only makes entitled PC gamer posts, stirs up pointless arguments and really adds nothing to the community.
        
        Dravenport
        
         reply
        June 16, 2011 7:46 AM
        
        and unlike other video game info peeps like Masem his shit is completely one sided, like shirif says he's basically the anti-valcan, but whereas I love valcan's enthusiasm for games, even if i don't care for the game, archvile is just a massive black hole of hatred towards EA, Activision and other big devs that make games he doesn't care for.
    - shirif
      
       reply
      June 15, 2011 7:28 PM
      
      He's like the anti valcan_s
      
      Seemingly aware of all things videogame related, but fully operating on seething hatred and vinegar, instead of amazement and joy.
      - [deleted] 877988455
        
         reply
        June 15, 2011 7:31 PM
        
        [deleted]
        
        Gwyndion
        
         reply
        June 16, 2011 5:22 AM
        
        This sounds dangerous to me.. it's like crossing the streams... the whole thing could blow.
  - XAVdeMATOS
    
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    June 15, 2011 7:05 PM
    
    I don't think you know what a trilogy is. The Halo trilogy, narratively, was only three games. Halo 4 is a different story. A new trilogy.
    
    Gears of War will obviously continue, but this is the end of this storyline.
    - the archvile
      
       reply
      June 15, 2011 7:19 PM
      
      Well, okay; I'm just waiting for Epic to do something not Gears (and not Bulletstorm or Infinity Blade), and Bungie to do something not Halo (that's coming, but I'm still afraid that I probably won't be interested in it).
      - [deleted] 877988455
        
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        June 15, 2011 7:21 PM
        
        [deleted]
        
        geedeck
        
         reply
        June 16, 2011 8:35 AM
        
        haha this is what I was going to say too.
        
        Archvile, I think we need to have a gaming intervention for you buddy.
        
        1. You're a stereotype
        2. You seriously can't be happy
        3. Game should be fun
        4. You're becoming a dead albotross around the neck of the shacknews community
      - SlingBlaze
        
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        June 16, 2011 8:07 AM
        
        So you want them to do something different, they do two things different and thats not good enough?
      - purekillforce
        
         reply
        June 16, 2011 8:48 AM
        
        so you want developers to make any game other than the ones they are making?? lmao!
    - jtthe2nd
      
       reply
      June 15, 2011 7:21 PM
      
      Splitting hairs. Better to be honest and say 'possibly neverending story so long as sales are good'.
  - GeorgeB3DR
    
     reply
    June 15, 2011 7:30 PM
    
    Dude, just because one trilogy ends doesn't mean a new one can't start up. Also, who cares? More games is always good. I'm glad we got as much Halo as we did.
    - purekillforce
      
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      June 16, 2011 8:45 AM
      
      so close to my post i thought i had double-posted for a second!
  - purekillforce
    
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    June 16, 2011 8:44 AM
    
    just because one trilogy ends, doesn't mean another story arc can't continue in the same universe. you finished the fight in halo 3. halo 4 could be about something other than the war against the covenant.
- MrLobo
  
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  June 15, 2011 6:17 PM
  
  The horde improvements seem to make the old 'classic' horde obsolete. Having to salvage shields every round to have a decent chance of surviving the boomer / rider waves was annoying
  - purekillforce
    
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    June 16, 2011 8:46 AM
    
    we always made sure we grabbed a shield during the wave changes and then placed them back on the floor as barracades. was a good system for winning!
- ManiacalMoose
  
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  June 15, 2011 7:34 PM
  
  Bros to the end.
- SaucyFellow
  
   reply
  June 16, 2011 8:31 AM
  
  Hell yeah, Sabbath!