Ready for battle? Photo credit: Dewuka http://www.flickr.com/photos/dekuwa/5424766046/
In 2007 the Gears of War series kicked off with the much-lauded first installment.Gears of War 3 completes the story arch with all guns blazing. Once again, our hero Marcus navigates the troubled terrain of war against the “Lambent” (the less than friendly successors of the “Locusts”) with the help of a gaggle of heavily armoured comrades.
Does this iteration live up to the high standards set by its predecessors, and is it a satisfactory finale to the treasured series (if it does, in fact, end here)?
“Easily the best Gears of War yet.” videogamer.com awarded the game nine out of ten and declared it the peak of the series so far. The accessibility of the game to both veterans and newcomers particularly impressed reviewer Martin Gaston, who also recognised the surprising emotion in the story: “Alongside the fist bumps, biceps and brouhaha lies a deeply personal story.”
“Basically, Gears of War 3 is a tale of headshots and family”, wrote Gaston.
Dodgy Dialogue. It’s surprising that any game with linguistic gems such as “speaking scientifically, we’re gonna blow its brains out its ass” could be criticised for having “less than stellar dialogue”, as gamerevolution.com wrote in it’s eight-out-of-ten review, but the corny one-liners are mentioned in most reviews. The significance of this, however, pales in comparison to the plus points of a game that is “simply the best”, and which has refined the series down to this “lean, purposeful” conclusion.
A little too familiar. The major criticism levelled at the game is that it fails to break away from conventions instilled in previous versions. Eurogamer.net felt that the game was limited by “the blueprint” it had created in the previous editions. Tom Chick of gameshark.com was less generous, finding the game “cloyingly familiar.” He found himself tired of “the same characters doing the same things, having the same ridiculously earnest moments, and the storyline [that] involves figuring out yet another doo-dad that will save the world.”
A whole new world. A less than impressed Chick took things further, complaining that the landscape consists of “corridor after corridor after corridor.” We can only assume that Matthew Reynolds, enjoying fighting in “ships, supermarkets, stadiums and even children’s playgrounds”, was playing a different game. Reynolds revelled in the “great bump in visual quality, the diverse and engaging campaign that never lets up, and a universe that finally catches your interest.”
New modes. Reviewers appreciated the tweaks and improvements to the multiplayer modes. Generally, however, they found the new Beast mode somewhat lightweight and insufficiently beastly, although some reviewers enjoyed the “delicious novelty” of the new mode.
A fitting end. The Official XBOX Magazine declared the game a “deeply satisfying send-off”, while Nick Cowen of The Guardian wrote that the series ended on “a high note” in his five-star review. Whether or not this is the last appearance of Marcus and the Gears of War series remains to be seen, but Gears of War 3 has added real firepower to the already well-equipped franchise.
