Brothers to the End

Okay, so my Rocky Mountain Showdown pick didn't exactly pan out. The Rams suffered a 28-14 defeat to the Buffs. A botched block punt (I still can't believe that a blocking a punt could be a game-changer... for the other team. Ugh.) by the Rams led to a CU touchdown that really changed the complexion of the game. Dumb penalties and an inability to get off the field on third-and-long doomed the Rams. They did bounce back last week with a 35-34 win in double-overtime against the Aggies of Utah State and are now 3-1 heading into this weekend's game against San Jose State.

Anyway, back to the main topic here: Gears of War 3. The third entry in Epic Games' hit franchise for the Xbox 360 was released last week with great success, selling over 3 million copies, but is it any good? The answer: yes, yes it is.

Gears of War 3 takes place about 18 months after the events of Gears of War 2. That game ended with the last human stronghold, Jacinto, being collapsed into the Locust Hollow, stopping the enemy advance in a flood of water but leaving the remaining human survivors stranded at sea. A new enemy was revealed: the Lambent.

The campaign in Gears of War 3 is the best to date. Written by author Karen Traviss, the Gears 3 story is the most seamless of the three and has quite a bit of an emotional impact. It's a story of survival; with their leaders having abandoned them, the surviving humans scrounge for whatever they can find, trying to persist for another day in the face of the Lambent onslaught. Without giving too much of the story away, Marcus Fenix and the members of Delta Squad discover that Marcus' father is still alive and may hold the key to humanity's survival.

As I mentioned earlier, Gears of War 3 has more of an emotional impact than the previous games. The settings and artwork really convey this. The towns and cities are largely abandoned and destroyed with rubble and rusted, abandoned vehicles strewn about the streets. The Stranded shantytowns really add to the desperate feel, and you are forced to scrounge for whatever ammo you can find at times.

The level set in the city of Char was the most haunting, impactful experience in Gears 3. Char was devastated during the Hammer of Dawn strikes early on in the Locust-Human conflict, and the designers at Epic did a phenomenal job driving that feeling home. The city has a post-apocalyptic feel, but most striking were the ashen remains of its citizens, frozen in time like the Romans at Pompeii. It's quite sobering and one of the most emotionally-powerful scenes I've ever witnessed in a game.

This is certainly the most tightly-written and most-developed story of the trilogy, but I did have some minor quibbles with it. First, past events are alluded to without explanation or fleshing out, and they weren't events from the previous games. My hunch is that they are from the Gears of War novels, which were also written by Karen Traviss. While I find it pretty cool that they might be integrating the books into the overall storylines of the games, I do wish they had explained those story references more in the game for those players who haven't read the novels. That might not matter to many players, but for those who do enjoy a game's story, it is an annoyance.

Story quibbles aside, playing the game itself is a lot of fun. The control scheme and gameplay are good. The cover system works well, and there is a wide variety of weapons at your disposal. The voice-acting and dialogue's nothing to complain about, and the wide range of environment keeps the game from looking repetitive. The game is visually arresting, with the dark, gritty, forlorn look of the ruined cities contrasting with the rich opulence of Azura. It was nice to be able to see and explore more of the world of Sera.

The multiplayer component is the component that separates Gears of War 3 the most from its predecessors, however. Gears of War and Gears of War 2 were plagued with multiplayer issues and problems. They just did not run as smoothly as other games such as Halo and Call of Duty. I'm an avid online gamer, and these problems really turned me off to playing Gears online. I barely played either of them online. I have yet to really play Gears of War 3 online, but I did heavily participate in its multiplayer beta this year, and I can safely say that it got me hooked. The big problems seem to be a thing of the past. Gears of War 3 is a fun game to play online. There is a bit of a learning curve, but I quickly found myself holding my own more often than not, which was a far cry from my online forays in the earlier games. There are some annoying tactics, such as the shotgun roll (roll at a guy then blast him with a shotgun), but they don't overpower the game like similar strategies in other games like Call of Duty, for example. Besides the typical online offerings, Gears of War 3 brings back the popular Horde mode from Gears of War 2, where players team up to hold out against waves of attacking enemies. Gears of War 3 ups the ante with Beast mode, where players control Locust units and try and defeat computer-controlled Human soldiers.

I must mention that this is definitely a mature game. While players are able to turn off the blood, Gears of War is a violent game that is not suitable for young children. The famed chainsaw bayonet on the Lancer assault rifle is back, allowing players to saw enemies in half. Each weapon has its own gruesome execution, and players and enemies alike can literally be blown apart.

In the end, Gears of War 3 is nothing revolutionary or ground-breaking. Rather than reinvent the wheel, Epic chose to make small refinements on its ultra-successful franchise. It will feel familiar to those who have played either of the first two installments in the franchise, but that's a good thing. The original Gears of War was a great game, and Gears of War 3 is that much better. Boasting great graphics, superb gameplay, a well-crafted story, and a much-improved multiplayer suite, Gears of War 3 is a must-have for any hardcore first-person shooter aficionado.