Gears of War 3: Impressive end to critically acclaimed series

Having not played either of the first two games in this series, I went straight into the third release of the series a little unsure what to expect, both in terms of gameplay and more to the point, what had actually happened in the previous games.

Usually, this would have me reading up on plotlines for an hour or so, but as soon as I booted Gears 3 up, it gave me a handy option to watch a five minute cinematic briefing me on the events of the last two games.

After I felt I was up to scratch with the story of the game, I went straight in and started killing things.

The gameplay, from what I gather is much the same as the first two games in the series. You play in the third person, surrounded by an impressively detailed world, fighting your way through hordes of enemies, namely lambent and the locust.

It can get a bit repetitive at times as it is almost always running behind cover and firing a burst of munitions at oncoming enemies. However, whilst repetitive it is certainly not boring.

The boss fight at the end, without giving away any spoilers, is one of the better fights I’ve ever played on a console. It’s challenging without being impossibly difficult, but I did only play it on medium, so on a replay on hardcore difficulty, it could well be a different story.

Graphics wise, it is breathtakingly detailed when looking into the distance and the depiction of up close combat is about as good as I’ve seen in a game. However, all of the good points were slightly let down by the end cut scene, where a character looked as if they were made of about 10 pixels.

But, don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic to look at for most of the game.

I’d never really even been interested in the series before I played GoW3, but after this game I am a convert. I assume most fans of the series will already be buying this game, but even if you’re not a fan and want a fast paced third person shooter, look no further than Gears.