..Can I enjoy this game, (Gears of War 3) is it story heavy or is it just.

"Dude I'm big and tough and we gotta kill these guys!"

MOD - Please move this to the Gears 3 forum!

If you read an overview of the first two games then you would be fine on story but I would suggest picking up the first two (incredibly cheap) and playing the campaigns through with a friend. They are extremely fun.

Are you planning on getting it primarily for the campaign or mulitplayer? If the multiplayer go for it. There's a story but you'll catch up. If you want it for the campaign then I suggest you buy the Gears of War Triple Pack. It's $20 at Best Buy right now (assuming you're in the US) and includes the first two games.

There's actually some pretty cool story between the first two games, and the campaigns are pretty short too if you play on the easy difficulties, so if you can get them on the cheap, you might enjoy them. I wouldn't consider it essential, though- you'll be just fine jumping in for Gears 3.

You can pretty much skip Gears 1. Nothing big happens. 2 sets up pretty much all the plot points that are being answered in the sequel so playing that or reading up on it would be useful.

The story is the least important aspect of the Gears of War series. It's there, and it's actually decent by video game standards, but you should be able to enjoy the third game just fine even without having played its predecessors.

Having said that, I still strongly recommend playing them. They are really fucking good, can be found cheap these days, and the finale is bound more enjoyable (if only by a little bit) when you've experienced everything leading up to it.

The gameplay is the good part, you'll have a great time.

Story of Gears 1: I got a chainsaw on my gun and I'ma shoot and stab these dudes while hiding behind chest-high walls

Story of Gears 2: It's giant worm!

Again with the silly jokes...
 
Gears 2 was my entry, played 1 after and had a massive good time, totally worth playing em both.
If not for story then for gameplay, its fun as heck.

They are worth playing through. The campaigns in both games are a lot of fun, especially with a friend. The stories aren't that great and the characters aren't super memorable, but it is all fine for what it is. I mean, the characters at least have some personality and are fun to listen to at times. I suggest going out and getting them. I think I saw both games in a combo pack for 30 bucks at Walmart. So they aren't too expensive. The games aren't super story heavy and what story there is isn't very complex, so you could just read a wiki and be totally fine. Still, you'd probably get more out of the third one if you played the first two.

Eh, you could probably get by without playing the first 2. The story is there, and you'll probably miss out on some references and stuff, but the gameplay is what makes those games amazing, and gears 3 easily plays the best out of all of them.

Ok so I decided to not get Gears of War 3, instead I got Gears of War and am going to beat that, followed by of course Gears 2 and then finally Gears 3.

Played some of Gears this morning, damn that game looks good!

@Hizang said:

..Can I enjoy this game, (Gears of War 3) is it story heavy or is it just.

"Dude I'm big and tough and we gotta kill these guys!"

MOD - Please move this to the Gears 3 forum!

If you can enjoy a good story I suggest picking up Gears 1. It still holds up well graphically/audially, and definitely holds up in terms of gameplay. Also, if you totally hate it you'll have saved some cash.

Edit: Just read last post. Good call!

If you don't care for the gameplay, just read up on what happens. If you like how the games play, then play the old games.

@Icemael said:

The story is the least important aspect of the Gears of War series. It's there, and it's actually decent by video game standards, but you should be able to enjoy the third game just fine even without having played its predecessors.

Having said that, I still strongly recommend playing them. They are really fucking good, can be found cheap these days, and the finale is bound more enjoyable (if only by a little bit) when you've experienced everything leading up to it.

What he said. Gears 1 and 2 have great campaigns. Tons of fun with a buddy.

PIcked up 1+2 as i was late to the xbox party (woo ps3) but loving the multiplayer, even if it boils down to the gnasher/sawn off...

If you've never played Gears of War 1 or 2 you've better get to work! :)

@EuanDewar said:

You can pretty much skip Gears 1. Nothing big happens. 2 sets up pretty much all the plot points that are being answered in the sequel so playing that or reading up on it would be useful.

ignore this. gears 1 is infinitely better than 2. you'll probably want to play the first two, but if you have to skip any of them, skip 2.

@Toms115: I didn't say Gears 1 is a worse game than 2. I'm just saying nothing huge plot wise happens in Gears 1, or at least nothing worth experiencing first hand.

@Hizang said:

Ok so I decided to not get Gears of War 3, instead I got Gears of War and am going to beat that, followed by of course Gears 2 and then finally Gears 3.

Played some of Gears this morning, damn that game looks good!

That was pretty much what i was going to suggest, its not that you have to play all of them to enjoy 3, but its definitely a fun experience, more fun if you can get a friend to play along with you on co-op. Once im done with 3 im planning on doing the full trilogy on hardcore with a friend, people can say what they like about Gears, but its a damn fun series.

You'll be lost unless you read a summary of the first two.

That being said, the first 2 games still have a great campaign that's 2 player co-op if you feel like playing through those. Otherwise if you read a summary on the 2 games and just jump in 3 you should be alright.

I think one of the only times to skip one game in a series, is when you consider DMC 2. So no, you shouldn't play Gears of War 3 until you have played the other two. You can of course look the story over on a wiki, but that's missing the point; Gears of War one and two still needs to be played for the full experience.

@EuanDewar: yeah i get that but i'm just saying gears 2's campaign is kind of shitty and gears 1's isn't, so it isn't worth skipping out on gears 1.