Gears of War 3

Today on the second day of PAX East, I got an opportunity to play the long awaited Gears of War 3. I was hooked up to a system link with 5 other people in a team death match, Humans vs Locusts!

So far everything I’m saying seems like nothing new, well that’s good, it means they’ve stuck with what’s most important, the cove-system, the crazy guns, and the brutal executions!

However, they’re many subtle changes that really make the experience worth your while. For one thing, new, guns. You get to use an older model of the lancer that has a dagger instead of a chainsaw, so for everyone who thought the current lancer was too slow for melees, this is a great solution. The one downside is that it’s not as accurate as the current one but you’ll barley notice at close range. The other subtle changes include “easy to use menus” that look way less cluttered than in gears 2.  You’re also able to take 2 weapons into battle this time, a main weapon and a secondary weapon.

Something that truly makes the characters seem more badass is the fact that they’re wearing less armor this time around. There arms are completely venerable so it truly is the power of their manliness and 3 feet thick neck muscles that heal their bullet wounds, excellent.

Now for the main event, when you play Gears of War 3, you’ll notice something that the previous 2 games didn’t have, actual color! The environments are actually not different shades of brown. There are blue skies, green leaves, red blood, that is actually vibrant. Reviewers can no longer say “this game’s graphics have the gears of war kind of look and color scheme”.

So yeah, more guns, simpler menus, and color are all but small and simple changes that really enhance the experience. The maps are designed to make the game play seem faster. In other words you’re not just wondering around for the first 3 minutes just looking for people anymore.

Gears of War 3 comes out later this year so pre-order now.