I'll start by saying that GoW3 is easily the best in the series. Everything about the game has been vastly improved: the graphics, guns, characters, modes, story, even the controls feel tighter. The whole experience feels much improved over the previous games. I also love how they were able to add the 4-player co-op by having an extra 2 characters in the game (for a total of 4) with you at all times. This doesn't feel forced at all and comes across feeling very natural.
Here's a breakdown of my thoughts on the various parts of the game:
Story
Gears of War 3's story is it's strongest feature, while also proving to be the biggest improvement over previous games. The addition of prominent female characters having a large role in the whole of the game helps bring a much needed injection of femininity. In Gears of War 2 Epic tried its hand at a serious emotional scene in the story, but the results were mixed. But for GoW3, the evolution of Epic's ability as storytellers really comes through. Whereas previous games felt like a series of levels rather than a continuous adventure, Gears of War 3 feels like a true journey. I always knew where I had been, where I was, and where I was going.
There are at least two major emotional points in Gears of War 3. I won't spoil them here, but they take place very close to one another and both really come through. There are more of these in the game, but these two were the best in my opinion. I remember a lot of ads talking about "family" leading up to the release of the game and I see why. The theme that really seems to be at the center of the story is family. The feeling that society has broken down and the survivors are working together and only have each other to depend on is conveyed superbly. You really get that these people are everything to each other in their struggle to survive.
The relationships between all the characters, and pairs of characters, are well done. Something else that's new is the player being put in the shoes of someone besides Marcus. There is one part with Cole that was really cool and felt completely fresh. Then there's the reuniting of family, in multiple ways, and the budding of new relationships as well as the maturation of old ones. I really can't express just how impressed I was with how far Epic has come as story tellers.
And it has a real ending. There is actual closure, something rare in video games, especially a series as popular as GoW.
Graphics
Graphically the game looks better than previous installments, but it still looks like GoW. This is inevitable since its a GoW game and runs on UE3. The lighting looks better than in the previous installments and the textures appear more detailed. There seems to be a greater emphasis on color and an attempt to move away from the browns and grays in previous games. Easily one of the best looking games around.
Guns and Mechanics
The controls feel like they've been optimized and tweaked to create what is the best feeling GOW game yet. There doesn't appear to be much new in the way of gameplay mechanics, but it wasn't broken so I can't complain. The guns feel really good and I'm pretty sure the aim reticule's "bloom" is new. The lancer feels tighter than in previous games and I think the "crank up" animation for the chainsaw bayonet is new. The Gorgon Pistol is now fully automatic as opposed to the burst fire from GoW2. Also the Hammerburst now has a first person, Call of Duty style "down the sights" view for precision aiming. Also, and I honestly don't know if this is new or not, but the Boomshot feels a lot more like a rocket launcher than I remember. Whereas before you always had to adjust for drop of the projectile, now it seems to shoot pretty much in a straight line unless at long range.
There are also a few new weapons, and they are:
1) Sawed-Off Shotgun: Exactly as the name implies. Extremely effective at very close range, practically useless at any other range.
2) Retro lancer: Supposedly a relic from the Pendulum Wars, this Lancer packs quite the wallop. Unwieldy and inaccurate unless fired in short, controlled bursts, I found this to be one of, if not the most effective weapon in the game. It also sports an old school blade bayonet. When "activated" by holding down the "B" button, the character will roady run at the opponent and impale them with the blade. Good stuff.
3) Digger Launcher: This is basically a greande launcher that goes into the ground and comes out near your enemies, blowing them up.
4) Incendiary Grenades: As the name implies, these are fire grenades. Very effective with a direct hit, but they also have an area of effect that can harm local enemies.
And then there's the Cluckshot:
The last game introduced "support weapons", which are weapons you carry for a limited time and make you move more slowly, but are very deadly. There are several new additions to the support weapons in GoW3 and they are as follows:
1) One Shot: Basically a huge sniper rifle that literally takes out pretty much anything with one shot.
2) Vulcan Cannon: I huge shoulder mounted gatling gun. There is an ammo belt feeder that can be held by an ally to keep you firing as long as you want. But be careful, the gun overheats pretty quickly making it necessary to fire shorter, controlled bursts.
3) Cleaver: Basically a giant meat cleaver, it is only for very close range. Almost useless if you're not right on your opponent, but deals huge amounts of damage if you are.
Another new addition is the Silverback and the cargo loader. Both are mini mechs that the player gets into and acts as a robotic exoskeleton. The Silverback has mini guns and rockets where the loader only moves cargo boxes, although you can do a stomp move that will kill most enemies if they're close enough. My only complaint would be that I wish they were used more in the game as they were a nice break from the usual action of take cover/shoot. There were also some fun on-rails vehicle shooting parts that were a nice break.
Multiplayer Modes
I've yet to check out all of the multiplayer modes, but I have played the Beast mode, Horde mode, and regular team deathmatch modes online. I really enjoyed the Beast mode. Playing as Locust fighting against the heroes you're used to playing as was a fun change. As you advance through waves you earn money that can go toward buying respawns. If you pick a drone or a ticker you're going to get more chances than if you're picking a Boomer or something more powerful like that. As you advance through waves you also unlock new and more powerful characters to play as. Some friends and I managed to play through on Insane and get the associated achievement.
Horde mode is now more advanced allowing you to purchase things like turrets and ground spikes on the map. There will also be Silverbacks that become available and are very powerful. I found what I played of GoW3's Horde mode to be much better than that of the previous game. The only regular matchmaking mode I played was team deathmatch which was basically the same as I remember. They did introduce things like weapon skins that can be downloaded as DLC. I won't be downloading them myself but more power to those that do.
Conclusion
Gears of War 3 feels like a great end to the series. I felt Epic did a great job of wrapping up the series while leaving plenty of different multiplayer modes to keep fans playing for a long time. After the credits rolled I couldn't think of anything that should've been done differently or that I was unhappy with, and that is a remarkable feat with a video game. It will be interesting to see if Epic is truly done with the Gears of War universe or if they'll ever come back to it. But if they do decide to someday revisit Marcus Fenix and the GoW universe I'll be the first to see where they take it.
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