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    Gears of War 3

    Game » consists of 8 releases. Released Sep 20, 2011

    The third and final installment in the Marcus Fenix trilogy. Taking place on the apocalyptic planet Sera, 18 months after the ending of Gears of War 2, players will once again take control of C.O.G. soldier Marcus Fenix as he takes on the Locust threat and their Lambent rivals.

    Short summary describing this game.

    Gears of War 3 last edited by Velutha on 06/26/19 06:54AM View full history

    Overview

    The third game in the Gears of War series and final entry to the Marcus Fenix trilogy. Gears of War 3 is a cover-based shooter like its predecessors, now with even more weapons, enemies, and multiplayer modes.

    Gameplay

    The new sawed-off shotgun
    The new sawed-off shotgun

    The single player campaign is playable as four player co-op instead of the series staple of two player co-op. Each of the four playable characters will be tied in to the plot and story as the campaign progresses to ensure that no player feels that his or her character is tacked on. It was first stated that this game was set to be easier than the previous one, due to the small number of players who reportedly finished Gears of War 2. However Epic went on to clarify that only the easier difficulties were going to be easier in order for the more casual players to experience their narrative, but the harder difficulties will remain just as challenging, if not more, as the previous games.

    The Lambent add a new dimension to the old Gears of War formula of "Stop-And-Pop" similar to what the tickers attempted to do in Gears of War 2. Larger Lambent creatures will be able to attack players over cover forcing the player to adapt and use new tactics.

    There is also the inclusion of mechs called "Silverbacks" in the game. The Silverbacks are modified labor exoskeletons that have been outfitted with a rocket launcher on one arm and a gatling gun on the other. The Silverbacks have access to many of the tools that the Gears use including it's own version of the Roadie Run and the ability to curb-stomp. Along with their more mobile form, Silverbacks have the ability to plant themselves down and act as a stationary turret as well as a cover point for teammates.

    Alongside the "Cinematic" Campaign mode, there is an Arcade option, wherein players compete for high scores with their friends as well as the inclusion of mutators (a throwback to the Unreal Tournament series) that can change elements of the game world such as gravity and head size, as well as adjust gameplay elements to make things easier or harder (for example, infinite ammo and allowing enemies to regenerate their health).

    New Weapons

    • The Retro Lancer, a Pendulum Wars era Lancer with a knife bayonet and charging pierce attack. The Retro Lancer features higher bullet damage but lower accuracy than the Lancer.
    • The Digger Launcher, a grenade launcher that shoots Piranha-like creatures into the ground that then explode under the enemy and cover.
    • Incendiary Grenades, which explode on impact resulting sometimes in an instant kill.
    • The Hammerburst, with enhanced first-person zoom.
    • The Gorgon Pistol, No longer a burst fire weapon. Although weakened, it is now a full-auto, Machine pistol.
    • The One-Shot, a recoilless sniper rifle that kills any enemy with one shot (hence the name), it takes several seconds of aiming to acquire a target.
    • The Sawed-Off Shotgun, which can only fire a single round at a time but can kill up to four enemies at a time with a single shot.
    • The Vulcan Cannon, A highly powered chain gun. Requires two people to use, One person to shoot, and one person to pump and carry ammo.

    Story

    Sera has seen better days
    Sera has seen better days

    The game takes place 18 months after the Fall of Jacinto at the end of Gears of War 2. After the Coalition of Ordered Governments had fallen apart, humans formed colonies and took to the sea in an attempt to be free of the ever-present threat of Emergence Holes. The story's protagonists find themselves aboard a "Raven's Nest-class aircraft carrier" that, along with other attached boats, forms a temporary haven known as Sovereign. Delta squad has splintered, with Marcus and Dom separated from Cole and Baird for much of the game, with the player switching between each team's story before they inevitably meet up. This was done in an attempt to make Cole and Baird feel like more fleshed out characters instead of bland secondary characters. However, two new playable characters, Jace Stratton and Anya Stroud round out the first team of four, and it is not yet known what two characters will be accompanying Cole and Baird through their stretch of the game, despite the game having been released three years ago. After a confrontation with the Lambent, the team receives a surprise visit from Chairman Prescott, who presents Marcus with a data disk from Marcus' father Adam, from which the Gears head off in an attempt to save what is left of the humans who have colonized Sera.

    A new character, Aaron Griffin (voiced by Ice-T) is introduced in the game, and is also available in the game's multiplayer mode. Just like the previous games in the series, this one features it's own member of the Carmine family. Clayton Carmine is the oldest of the four brothers (we only see three throughout the series) and was featured heavily in the games pre-release advertising.

    Campaign

    Prologue: Troubled Past

    Act 1

    1. Anchored
    2. Abandon Ship
    3. Homecoming
    4. Helping Hand
    5. MVP
    6. Hanging by a Thread

    Act 2

    1. Shipwreck
    2. House of Sand
    3. Forced Entry
    4. Trench Run
    5. Hijack
    6. Airborne
    7. Touchdown

    Act 3

    1. Unbreakable
    2. Rescue
    3. Breakneck Run
    4. Ghost Town
    5. Brothers to the End

    Act 4

    1. Ashes to Ashes
    2. Crater
    3. Hang 'em High
    4. Batten Down the Hatches
    5. Bon Voyage
    6. Watery Grave

    Act 5

    1. Home Away From Home
    2. Blackout
    3. Shattered Paradise
    4. Threshold
    5. Ascension
    6. Reckoning

    Skins

    A new addition to the series in Gears of War 3 was the inclusion of weapon skins. In addition to buying map packs and certain characters players can spend money to buy multiple skins for each of their favorite weapons. Just like the characters, some of them can be unlocked by completing certain challenges throughout the game while some can only be obtained through purchases. The skins are purely cosmetic and have no impact on the game. Epic has given out some free skins to players who log on during holiday weekends.

    In addition to skins this is the first version of the game to feature multiple versions of the same characters. For instance, the character can play as Cole or Superstar Cole where he is wearing his Thrashball gear. This fits the theme with the "old" versions of certain key characters which lets you play as their character model from previous games in the series. In addition to this is the ability to play as all three of the Carmine brothers in online play.

    Save or Kill Carmine Promotion

    To be or not to be.
    To be or not to be.

    As a part of a special charity promotion, consumers were able to decide whether Clayton Carmine will survive or die in the storyline of Gears of War 3. People were able to vote by purchasing avatar t-shirts on the Xbox LIve Marketplace. The avatar T-shirts cost $1 (80 Microsoft Points). Those who attended San Diego Comic-Con 2010 were able to purchase an actual t-shirt for $20 and also counted towards voting. All proceeds went to the Child's Play Charity and when all was said and done the promo raised about $150,000 USD.

    Multiplayer Beta

    Soon after the announcement of the game being delayed by several months, EPIC announced that there will be a multiplayer beta for Gears of War 3. Rod Fergusson mentioned that the team has always wanted to do a beta for the series, and now that they a few extra months of development time, they were able to make it a reality. The beta will run from April 18 to May 15 giving players up to 4 weeks of Gears of War 3 multiplayer action.

    Thrashball Cole with Golden Retro
    Thrashball Cole with Golden Retro

    Players who buy the Epic Edition of the Xbox 360 version of Bulletstorm will get first access to the public beta. The beta will start on April 18 allowing players with the Epic Edition to have an extra week to play. Players who pre-ordered the game from GameStop will get the beta one week later on April 25.

    In the final week of the beta, Epic allowed beta testers to give their friends access by unlocking "buddy tokens" in-game. You could earn these tokens by simply playing the beta, or by way of purchasing Gears of War related merchandise over Xbox Live, or even by upgrading your account to Gold for 12 months.

    Multiplayer

    Along with the established competitive multiplayer modes that have been in every Gears game to date, there have been significant additions and improvements across the board.

    Competitive Multiplayer

    Warzone

    Gears of War 3 Multiplayer
    Gears of War 3 Multiplayer

    The classic Gears of War multiplayer mode. Teams of five fight to eliminate all enemy team members. A round will end when either all opposing team members are killed, or the time runs out. If the time is to run out, the match ends in a draw, and neither team gets a point. If killed, you're out for the round.

    Execution

    Similar to Warzone, but with one main difference. The only way to kill an enemy is to use explosives, get a headshot, or perform an execution move when your enemy is downed. Shooting at range will down an enemy, but will not register as a kill towards your team's score. Like Warzone, there is only one life per player, per round.

    King of the Hill

    Consolidating the Annex and King of the Hill modes from the previous games, teams have to capture a designated hill that is situated at various weapon spawns on the map. Starting at 75 points, the hill counts down 1 point per second even if it is not captured by a team. To gain points, at least one player is needed to capture the hill, which takes at least 5 seconds of uncontested time in the hill (this is expedited when more players are in the hill). After all points are drained from a hill, it changes to a different weapon spawn and the process repeats. Overtime kicks in after a while, making the ring drain faster than 1 point per second. By default, rounds go up to 150 points, and the first to win 2 rounds wins the match.

    Wingman

    Wingman is a deathmatch game mode where players are split into four teams of two (2v2v2v2). The teams fight each other in rounds; players do not respawn until the end of the round when time runs out or only one team is left standing. You and your teammate share a character model, and the first team to reach a score of 15 wins. Map-based weapon spawns, or "power weapons," also do not appear immediately when the rounds begin.

    Capture the Leader

    Capture the Leader combines elements of Guardian and Submission from Gears of War 2. In this game mode, the objective is to down the enemy team's leader (Queen Myrrah or Prescott), and hold him/her as a meat shield. As a leader is being held, a timer counts down; if the leader is freed through teammates throwing a smoke grenade or damaging the captor, the timer resets. If both leaders are held at the same time, the timers lock until one breaks free. While a leader is being captured, they will occasionally try to break free by hurting the captor, giving teammates an opening to attack the stunned enemy.

    Team Deathmatch

    Two teams are each given 15 respawns for the whole team per round, and the first team to eliminate the enemy wins. There are two rounds per match, and players can be revived if downed. Once a character has been downed three times they can no longer enter the status of "down but not out" and will automatically die the next time they lose all their health.

    Guardian

    Guardian was a mode which was not originally included in the release version of Gears of War 3. Guardian was a popular Gears of War 2 mode. The mode randomly assigned a team leader each round who had to stay alive as long as possible. As long as a team's leader was still alive then they could infinitely respawn. To win a team would need to kill the enemy team's leader and then eliminate the rest of the team before their leader and their entire team is wiped. Three rounds of this need to be won for the game to end. This is the game mode with the highest potential for lengthy games. There is a time limit of 20 minutes per round and if both leaders manage to stay alive until the end then there is a stalemate. This means that it is possible for a single game in this mode to consistently go over an hour long.

    Guardian was included in the Forces of Nature DLC pack.

    Multiplayer Weapon Usage

    Gears of War 3 changed the format of picking weapons to use for multiplayer, as well as introducing new weapons to be used. In Gears of War 1, players would pick their characters live in the lobby and were limited to starting with the regular Lancer, the Gnasher Shotgun, a Smoke Grenade, and the standard pistol. Different weapons had to be picked up off the map at spawn times. Gears of War 2 would let characters pick their character live in the lobby as well, however, players were also able to change their primary starting weapon from the Lancer to the Hammerburst which was the stronger, faster, and more accurate weapon, but lacked the chainsaw auto-kill for melee.

    In Gears of War 3 Players picked the characters they wanted for each team on their profile, so when thrown into games that weren't already in progress they would already start as the character they specified. Weapons could be swapped out on the go with more variety as well. Primary and Secondary weapons could now be swapped out, only pistols and grenades could not be changed. On respawn a character could change their weapon on the fly.

    The choice in primary weapons brought back the Lancer rifle, the Hammerburst rifle (which was greatly nerfed since the previous game), and the new Retro-Lancer. The Retro-Lancer is stronger than the Lancer but has far worse accuracy. Instead of the famous chainsaw-bayonet that the regular Lancer features the Retro-Lancer has a traditional bayonet attached to the end of the gun. Holding down the B button causes your character to charge forward with their bayonet out. This charge will automatically kill any player it connects with, however it is as easy to be knocked out of as the regular Lancer's melee kill. Simply shooting someone who is charging makes them lower their weapon.

    For secondary weapons the player can still use the Gnasher shotgun, however they can now also choose to use the new weapon the Sawed-Off Shotgun. The Sawed-Off Shotgun only has the ability to shoot once before it reloads and it has almost no range whatsoever. The gun has a wide horizontal spread which can be used to kill multiple people standing in a line perpendicular to the character.

    Cooperative Modes

    Horde Mode

    Horde Mode has been redesigned for Gears of War 3, with the addition of some tower defense elements. After setting up a command post, players are able to set up defenses near the post, such as decoys, turrets, and barriers. Spending money on each of these fortifications builds experience points that are specific to each different type of defense, and leveling up these skills allows the player to deploy more effective versions of these fortifications and/or spend less money to do so. Players earn money for each kill, which can be spent on defense upgrades, respawns, weapons, and ammo. There are increasingly difficult enemies in each wave, which culminates in a "boss wave" every ten rounds, where enemies such as Brumaks, Gunkers, Berserkers, Lambent Berserkers, Reaver Squads, or Savage Corpsers will be released, along with regular support troops. After every tenth round, the intensity of the enemy waves will reset, but they will gain boosters such as 2x health or 2x accuracy. As before, the waves continue up to 50.

    Beast Mode

    In this cooperative game mode, the team plays as different Locust forces for 12 rounds. The players start out with small troops, such as tickers and wretches, each with a different cost to "buy" and use after every respawn. Through killing humans and destroying fortifications, they will eventually earn money and rank up to the likes of the Armored Kantus or Berserkers. The goal of the mode is to eliminate a team of AI controlled COG and Stranded forces, as well as destroy or circumvent their fortifications. The enemies become increasingly difficult between rounds. In later waves, players have to deal with Heroes, who are main characters from the game who must be executed to be killed. Wave 12 always consists of Chairman Prescott and a large group of Onyx Guards.

    Campaign

    For the first time in the series the campaign is fully playable by 4 people co-op. There is a limit of only two players who are allowed to connect locally, however those two can go online and connect with any other two people and finish the game together.

    Unlockable Beta Goodies

    Beta testers will have the opportunity to unlock the several Gold weapon skins as well as Cole's Thrashball skin for use in the Beta, as well as in Gears of War 3 itself. Each item has different requirements the player must meet during the beta time to unlock them:

    Beta Tester Medal

    To unlock the Beta Medal for use in Gears of War 3, you must complete the following requirement:

    • Complete 1 match in the beta to unlock the Beta Tester Medal.

    Once this requirement is met, the medal will be unlocked for display in Gears of War 3.

    Gold Retro Lancer Skin

    To unlock the Gold Retro Lancer for use in Gears of War 3, you must complete the following requirements:

    • Play 90 matches in the Beta. This will unlock the item for Beta play.
    • Then you must kill 100 players with the Golden Retro Lancer in the Beta.

    Once these two requirements are met, the item will be unlocked for use in Gears of War 3.

    Thrashball Cole Skin

    To unlock the Thrashball Cole Skin for use in Gears of War 3, you must:

    • Play 50 matches in the Beta. This will unlock the skin for Beta use.
    • Then you must play 10 more matches using the unlocked skin.

    Once these two requirements are met, the skin will be unlocked for use in Gears of War 3.

    Flaming Hammerburst

    • Complete 1 match by Sunday, April 24th, 2011 to unlock. Carries over to the full game.

    Flaming Lancer

    • Complete 1 match during the week of April 25th, 2011 to unlock. Carries over to the full game.

    Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun

    • Complete 1 match during the week of May 2nd, 2011 to unlock. Carries over to the full game.

    Flaming Gnasher Shotgun

    • Complete 1 match during the week of May 9th, 2011 to unlock. Carries over to the full game.

    In order to ensure that unlockables carry over, beta saves must not be deleted until after playing the retail version of the GOW3.

    Development

    Ashes to Ashes trailer

    On April 13, 2010, a new trailer was revealed by Cliff Bleszinski on Jimmy Fallon's late night show. The trailer revealed a grim, lifeless world, ash falling from the sky, and petrified human corpses littering the streets. The scene was reminiscent of citizens trapped in the Pompeii volcanic eruption, indicating some sort of massive calamity on Sera. The haunting music in the video is a song titled "Heron Blue" by the band Sun Kil Moon, fronted by musician Mark Kozelek, formerly of the band Red House Painters. The song joins other evocative songs that have been featured in the Gears of War series' trailers.

    The trailer also reveals Dom's new thickly bearded look as he is rescued by Marcus Fenix - wearing sleeveless armor - after being ambushed by a new Lambent monster with three tentacles. Dom is given a weapon by Anya Stroud that is an older version of the Lancer assault rifle; instead of the working chainsaw, this Pendulum era Lancer has a plain blade as a bayonet. This suggests that the human troops are short on soldiers and weaponry. After the end of the trailer, Bleszinski went on to state that there shall be female soldiers such as Anya. He also explained that the Lambent threat is far more severe than the Locust one, because Lambent creatures can mutate mid-battle.

    Limited Edition and Epic Edition

    Epic Edition
    Epic Edition

    The Limited Edition was be priced at $79.99 US and included:

    • An Octus Award Box with Octus Service Medal – A 1:1 match in size and weight, this zinc-alloy cog-shaped medal replicates. the award given to Adam Fenix in recognition of his work on the Hammer of Dawn.
    • Adam Fenix as a playable character for multiplayer, each Octus Service Medal is engraved with a code to unlock Adam Fenix.
    • A fabric COG Flag.
    • The personal effects of Adam Fenix, including his "Last Will and Testament," the initial Hammer of Dawn schematic, and other Fenix family mementos.

    The Epic Edition was priced at $149.99 US and included everything in the Limited Edition as well as:

    Retro Lancer Replica

    Sexy replica is sexy
    Sexy replica is sexy

    Just like with Gears of War 2, Epic also offered a replica of one of their weapons, this time the Retro Lancer. Re-created by NECA, the 1:1 replica of the rifle (3 1/2 feet in length) is "hand painted with weather and battle worn material," according to Epic's official website. Pulling the trigger will also make the sound of the rifle being fired, assuming batteries are in place.

    Consumers will be able to pick up the replica standalone for $99.99 USD, or, for $79.99 USD, it can be added to any pre-order bundle of the game for a discount.

    Limited Edition Gears of War 3 Xbox 360 S Console & Limited Edition Wireless Controller

    On June 6th, Major Nelson announced the limited edition Gears of War 3 Xbox 360 S console.

    Package contents include:

    • Xbox 360 S console, painted in "ox blood red", with 320GB HDD and special on/off and open/close disc tray sounds.
    • Two Xbox 360 wireless controllers, painted in "ox blood red", with Transforming D-Pad.
    • A copy of Gears of War 3 standard edition.
    • A download token for "bonus game content" (unspecified).
    • A download token for the Infected Omen weapon skins for the 5 starting weapons (Lancer, Gnasher, Sawed-off, Retro Lancer and Hammerburst).
    • A download token for Adam Fenix, Marcus' father, playable in multiplayer.
    • A wired headset.

    The limited edition Gears of War 3 Xbox 360 S console will be available on September 20th 2011 for £269.99 (UK RRP), $399 (US ERP). The limited edition Gears of War 3 wireless controller can be purchased separately from August 11th 2011 for £34.99 (UK RRP), $59.99 (US ERP).

    Downloadable Content

    As with other games in the Gears of War franchise there will be a large amount of downloadable content (DLC) released to the public. On day one there was a large amount of skins availiable for purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Some of these were static skins and others where animated to give the skins special effects. None of the skins were anything more than cosmetic upgrades to the players character and ranged in price from $3-$15 dollars. There was also a season pass released at the same time that allowed for players to pre-purchase the first four DLC packs and save on the purchase. The season pass also includes a Liquid Metal weapon skin pack unavailable through other means. The season pass is still available today for 2400 MSP or $30.

    DLC NameDescriptionPrice
    Horde Command PackThis is a Horde centric map pack that feature the new maps:
    • Blood Drive
    • Rustlung
    • Azura
    Character Skins:
    Weapons Skin
    • Team Plasma
    • Jungle Camo
    Fortification Upgrades
    • Command Center
    • Decoy Upgrade
    • Sentry Upgrade
    • Silverback Upgrade
    800 MSP/
    $10
    RAAM's ShadowRAAM's Shadow is a Single player centric add-on that has the player playing as both COG and Locust. On the COG sections you will play as Tai, Minh, Valera & Barrick members of the Zeta Squad and on the Locust you play as General RAAM. The entire campaign can be played in both 4 player co-op and arcade mode and is expected to offer about 3 hours of gameplay.
    In addition to the campaign there will also be versus multiplayer characters included and a chocolate weapon skin.
    1200 MSP/ $15
    Fenix RisingFenix Rising is primarily a multiplayer map pack, with the theme of introducing locales that represented pivotal moments in the lives of Marcus and Adam Fenix. It introduces the ability to "re-up" or prestige after reaching level 100, unlocking additional weapon skins and achievements. Unlike the prestige system seen in some other shooters, players retain all of their experience-related unlockables, as well as medal and achievement progress. Fenix Rising also features recolored versions of two character skins, Thrashball Cole and Savage Kantus, previously only available through playing the Beta and pre-order content respectively.
    Maps:
    Academy
    Anvil
    Depths
    Escalation
    The Slab
    Character skins:
    Recruit Clayton Carmine (a younger version of him in full armor)
    Thrashball Cole (LE)
    Savage Kantus (LE)
    Savage Marauder
    Weapon skins:
    Re-up 1 (Gold Plasma)
    Re-up 2 (Large Crimson Omen)
    Re-up 3 (Gold Electricity)
    800 MSP / $10
    Forces of NatureForces of Nature, the final DLC pack for Gears of War 3, introduces five maps with the theme of harsh weather. Periodically on each map, effects such as harsh winds, snowstorms, and rain will disrupt players and hinder visibility. Due to player demand, the DLC also reintroduces the Guardian gametype to owners, although it has some adjustments from the Gears of War 2 version. Similarly to Fenix Rising, the pack also rounds out the characters previously only available through pre-order bonuses with recolored versions.
    Maps:
    • Aftermath
    • Artillery
    • Cove
    • Jacinto
    • Raven Down

    Character skins:
    • Mechanic Baird (LE)
    • Commando Dom (LE)
    • Savage Grenadier (LE)
    • Savage Hunter

    Weapon skins:
    • Midnight (full black with small white Omen symbol)
    • Hype (liquid orange)
    • Ultraviolet
    • Major League (red and blue)
    • Vixen (pink and yellow)
    • Ivory (tied to achievement)
    • FL4K (black and yellow; tied to achievement)
    800 MSP / $10

    Soundtrack

    The original score for Gears of War 3 was once again assigned to composer Steve Jablonsky, who had already made the music for Gears of War 2.

    Track #Song TitleRunning Time
    01Restless01.03
    02Gears Keep Turning03.00
    03Meanwhile Below Deck01.21
    04Stalk City02.12
    05High Seas Tension01.49
    06Infected, Large and Hungry01.38
    07Marcus' Rock01.40
    08Calm Before Chaos02.13
    09Bridge Too Far Indeed03.41
    10Those Aren't Stranded02.13
    11Forever Omen02.06
    12Hanover's Favorite Son01.43
    13Fence House Suicide Pills02.08
    14Ghost Town01.42
    15A Fine Mess03.31
    16Loss of a Leader02.09
    17Deadland Dance05.17
    18Creeping Dead02.24
    19Hammer Meet Anvil03.05
    20Corpser Ambush02.15
    21Last Resort01.26
    22Full Circle03.42
    23Jumped Species Barrier02.05
    24Ashes Fall Down04.01
    25Fathoms Below02.36
    26Gasbag Airways02.06
    27Paradise Found03.11
    28Father and Son02.24
    29Fury of the Tempest03.12
    30Live for Me02.52
    31Finally a Tomorrow03.58

    Xbox 360 Game Installation

    Gears of War 3 requires 7.5GB to install the game.

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