Gears of War 3
Review
Finish the Fight... Wait, wrong game.
by Keaton Arksey
reviewed on X360
Modes (cntd)
Horde Mode 2.0 lives up to its name, providing an upgraded experience over the original Horde mode, most noticeably in that now five players can team up. Before, players would try and defend a small portion of a map using the map’s layout and any other methods, like creating makeshift barricades using Boomshields to siphon enemies into more easily-managed numbers. Epic obviously paid attention, and now Horde has a quasi-tower defence style to it. Between rounds, money earned can be spent to create spike strips, place turrets, decoys, and even automated turrets to help keep the Locust numbers down. Resource management is important, as players use the same money to pick up new weapons and ammo, as well as repair any obstacles that the Locust destroyed. Teamwork is essential, as lone wolfing it will often result in premature deaths, and with 50 waves of increasingly difficult enemies, that can’t be accepted. In addition, every 10th wave is now a boss wave, throwing an incredibly strong enemy such as a Brumak or Corpser along with a few regular enemies for good measure. The fact that Epic did not rest on its laurels and added something to Horde to set it apart from its imitators makes Horde stands on its own alongside Versus and Campaign.
My personal favourite addition however, is Beast Mode. Think of it as Horde in reverse. Players now take control of the Locust Horde and try to kill humans who have set up defences and are trying to survive. Each round lasts a minute, but players gain time for kills and destroying defences. Like Horde, it is for multiple people, and instead of just a fight to survive it is a fight to finish as quickly as possible, with failure resulting in more time being added on to the final time. While some of the Locust play much the same as their human counterparts, the ability to play as creatures like Tickers and Wretches provides a fun new way to experience Gears. New tiers of Locust unlock as you accumulate points, eventually unlocking the biggest and baddest of the Locust, including the walking tank Berserker. While a VS. Mode akin to Left 4 Dead would have been interesting, teaming up with friends and playing as the bad guys is incredibly fun. While it only lasts 13 rounds, it still provides some of the most fun in Gears 3, which is high praise indeed.
Best in the series
It may seem hard to believe, but Gears of War 3 looks even better than Gears of War 2. Some of the lighting effects are downright amazing, and the issues of textures popping in mid cut-scene are entirely gone. The game runs at a silky smooth frame rate, and technical glitches are rare. The amount of polish Epic put into this game is self-evident in just how detailed and shiny everything looks. The soundtrack may not be phenomenal, but it does make excellent use of the ‘Mad World’ song from the first game’s trailer. The sound effects are as crisp and clear as ever, and the voice acting is robust. John Dimaggio, also known as Bender the Great, returns as Marcus Fenix, and rappers Drake and Ice-T voice new characters Jace and Griffin respectively add some more star-power to the cast.
Gears of War 3 is the best game in the series, hands down. With a highly polished and epic campaign, quick and fun multiplayer, an upgraded Horde mode that adds resource management and tower-defence style to the proceedings and an all-new Beast mode that finally puts players in the bodies of the diverse Locust Horde, Gears of War 3 rightfully takes its place in the upper echelon of 360 games.
9.7
fun score
Pros
Highly polished campaign, good story, quick and fun multiplayer, ridiculously fun Horde and Beast Modes, all in co-op.
Cons
Story drags after Act 3.
