Gears of war 3

An epic finale to the curb-stomping, head-popping, locust-sawing gears we all know and love.

The third installment of the Gears of War saga is here. The end of a well-drawn-out trilogy has arrived in style, with improved graphics, an overhauled multiplayer system and some new characters. It's had us all brimming with great expectations. But does it deliver?

I think so. After playing through the campaign on casual I can’t say that it was very challenging, more like a walk through the park, but starting again on hardcore you start to see why they only recommend it for ‘hardcore gears players’ with each enemy taking a full clip of lancer ammo to kill. The storyline plays out well with the new lambent infection spreading ‘stalks’ are popping up out of the ground and (unfortunately for you) spurting out enemies left right and center.

The A.I can be quite stupid at times, running into a group of enemies, getting downed and then expecting you to come and rescue them like a lamb to slaughter. I just left them to it and got on with the objectives, which are very clear and easy to understand (Holding LB helps point you in the right direction). At times they seemed quite dull and tedious, like pressing a million buttons and levers to activate pipes and disarm bombs and all that jazz, but in some places it can be quite intuitive. Like using a fire extinguisher to put out a fire and using mortars to kill gas tanks.

There are three multiplayer modes, Versus, Horde and Beast.

Versus is quite reasonable, until you reach around level ten and they throw you out of casual gaming and straight into the hardcore level 70’s standard death match play. Which, I may add, is impossible. Unless you like running around with a shotgun being scared for your life and basically getting owned (A LOT in my case) I suggest you stick to the other two game modes available.

Horde mode is surprisingly fun. With three other players online, you get to whoop the locusts ass by setting up barricades and gun turrets. The difficulty increases with the levels eventually ending in a boss battle. Its all fun and games, seeing who can get the highest score, up until the boss battle. They tend to be overpowered due to the online multiplayer automatically set to hardcore and take (what seems like) years to kill. The reward is great, if your survive the level, which is highly unlikely.

In beast mode you can choose a selection of different locust creatures to defeat a team of A.I gears and hero’s. Killing A.I and destroying barriers earns you money which can be spent on more powerful beasts. This can be fun If you’re playing with the right people. Some players online tend to spend ALL the money on the higher powered beasts and then you’re left with just tickers, which can blow up a person if directly next to them but are useless against barriers. Overall I would say this is the best mode on the game as it has the greatest variety.

Pro’s

• Campaign wise – good end to the trilogy. Intuitive use of environments.

• Playing with friends – co-op campaign with up to 4 people means plenty of fun for all

• Plenty to do online, with leveling up system and different game modes.

Con’s

• Campaign can be a tad tedious and repetitive with lever pulling and button pressing.

• Versus online is VERY difficult after a certain level.

• Could be more weapon choices or ‘percs’ on multiplayer.