Gears of War 3 Review

It's taken me a couple weeks, but I've finally been able to finish the Gears of War 3 campaign, play a lot of the multiplayer, and try out the new Horde and Beast modes.  I'm going to split up this review into categories and give scores based on each of those, then average the scores for a final one.  So, here it goes...

The Campaign:

Gears of War cannot be summed up without discussing the campaign.  While a lot will just discuss the multiplayer, the series' campaigns cannot be ignored.  Fighting for human salvation has to be one of the greatest things to fight for and the Gears 3 campaign was able to wrap everything up and give a very satisfying ending to the series.  It provides an emotional ride with incredible story elements, new locust monsters to fight, incredible graphics, and a journey to finally put everything to an end and save what's left of the dying human race.  Without spoiling anything, I'm just going to say that this was one of the greatest campaign's I have ever played.  Play the Gears of War 1 and 2 campaigns because without them, this campaign will still kind of make sense, but won't be nearly as satisfying.  Knowing what Marcus and his gang has been through makes this the most emotional campaign to date seen in any other shooter games, such as the Call of Duty series or Halo series.  Maybe the Halo campaigns brought a lot of emotional bends in them, but I felt more from the Gears series.  Whoever thought that video games can't be emotional are about to be proven wrong.  Anyway, to wrap things up, the Gears of War 3 campaign should be played by everyone and if you don't play it, then you're missing out.  It was of the greatest journey's experienced in video game history.

Score:  10/10

The Competitive Multiplayer:

Read the post before this one and that pretty much wraps up how I feel about the Gears of War 3 competitive multiplayer.  With great maps, new dedicated servers (slight lag is still seen every now and then), and some enjoyable new weapons, Gears of War 3 is by far the best multiplayer experience in the series.  I've played it for hours and I'm still not tired of it.  With ribbons, medals, characters, weapon skins, and more to unlock, this Gears has implemented more things that make the multiplayer all that much more enjoyable.  In Gears of War 2, a ranking system existed (the fight from level 1 through 100), but ranking up came with nothing (only a minor sense of satisfaction).  In Gears of War 3, the same ranking system exists (earning levels 1 through 100), but now unlockables come with that.  Need I say more?  The Gears of War 3 multiplayer has been made far more fun and enjoyable than its two predecessors.

Score:  9.5/10

The Horde and Beast Modes:

Sure, Horde has been seen in Gears of War 2, but now it has new elements that make it more fun than the one seen in its predecessor.  Gears 3 has Horde 2.0, a mode that includes a currency system that allows you to buy barriers, decoys, turrets, and more, and upgrade them too.  What's even better is that you have to unlock these things by playing more Horde and earning more money.  For instance, at first you'll only be able to buy barriers and place them where you want, but as you play more, you'll unlock upgrades for them and unlock more things to buy such as decoys.  It has pretty much a raking system of its own.  What else is cool?  There are medals and ribbons to earn for Horde modes as well, so there it plenty to do and stride for.  Also, boss rounds are now included, which makes Horde harder and more fun as well.  There are 50 waves, same as that in Gears 2, but getting through these waves has become harder.  Don't fear though because you'll now have the tools to get through these waves just fine.

Beast mode is new in the Gears of War series.  This mode puts you on the opposite side, where you will now be locust monsters instead of humans.  This mode works similarly to that of Horde; there are only 12 rounds though, instead of 50.  Still, it makes for great fun.  There is a currency system in this mode as well and more powerful locust monsters unlock as you gain kills with the ones given to you.  You spend money on the monsters and earn money by getting kills with them.  So make sure you spend the money wisely and gain kills with the monsters you choose to purchase.  There are four "ranks" of locusts, and if you're lucky enough to unlock the last set, it's by far the best.  The Berserker, while very expensive, is the best of the bunch.  There is nothing more satisfying then causing the humans mayhem with this monster.  It's attacks are very strong and is very hard to take down.  This may all sound confusing, but trust me when you start playing it, it's very easy to get the hang of.

Score:  9/10

Gears of War 3 is by far the best in the series.  They have made improvements in pretty much every aspect from the other games and have included more.  So, pick up the game; it's definitely worth the money.  This will definitely be a top contendor for best XBox 360 game of the year.

Overall Score:  9.5/10

Gears of War 3 - The Pros and Cons of Multiplayer

Over the past week, I've been playing quite a bit of the third and final game of the Gears of War trilogy.  It's a great game and the pros totally outdo the cons, but I just wanted to talk about what I love about the multiplayer and what I wouldn't of minded having left out.  Keep in mind that this isn't a review, it's just a few things that I took notice of during my playtime.  A review will be coming later.



Pros:

-The new look - The graphics looks better than ever, and that's really all there is to say.

-Team Deathmatch - I'm very glad that they brought in a game mode like this.  It isn't execution, where you have to wait to respond until the round is over.  If you're interested in just killing the opposite team and hate the wait of each round duration in Execution, then play this mode.  It's very fun and oh so addicting.

-The multiplayer maps - There is no dud.  Each map has it's fun elements and don't make you dread having to play some of them.  Gears of War and Gears of War 2 had there bad maps.  In Gears of War 3, their are no environmental hazards to worry about such as in Gears 2's Hail.  The only map that I don't entirely enjoy is Overpass.  Still, I don't entirely hate any of the maps like I did some in the other Gears of War games.

-The weapons - There are some great new weapons that they included into this game, such as the oneshot, the digger, and the retro lancer.  Also, they added new incendiary grenades, which are very cool to kill the other team with.  All these new weapons are fun to use and add some new strategy when approaching the opponents who have them.

-The dedicated servers - Host power has finally ceased to exist.  The new dedicated servers are up and going and give everybody a fair chance at killing their opponents.  This was definitely what go me the most excited for the game's multiplayer.



Cons:

-The sawed-off shotgun - This pretty much ruined the short-range gameplay of Gears of War 3.  For people who played Gears of War 2 like me will hate this new shotgun.  They should've just stuck with the gnasher, which is the shotgun used in the previous games.  I am finding myself using the sawed-off just because I don't stand a chance against somebody who has the sawed-off while I'm using the gnasher.  Epic Games needed to stick to their roots and should not of included this new shotgun.

-Execution - The game mode of Execution is now only three rounds.  What happened to five?  Why did they change it?  Those are the questions that I'm still asking today.  Execution was the best in Gears of War 2, but I now find myself not playing it because it doesn't last long enough.  It's very frustrating and you can only hope that they'll change it later on.  If they were to change it back to five, I would definitely start playing it.  But for now, I'm sticking with Team Deathmatch.



My favorite multiplayer maps out of the ten:

-Sandbar
-Gridlock (from Gears of War and Gears of War 2, but updated and altered to nighttime)
-Hotel
-Mercy
-Old Town (my favorite from the Gears of War 3 beta)



Gears of War 3 is probably still my favorite out of the three, but the two cons I noted definitely damper the time I spend playing it.  I love the game, and it will definitely be one of the best that come out this year.  It is the best game that has come out so far this year, but we'll see if it ends up being the best by the year's end, after Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, and other shooters are released this fall.  For now, it's back to shooting some locust monsters.

The Wait for Gears of War 3 is Almost Over

The wait is finally over.  Gears of War 3, the last in the Gears trilogy and one of this year's most anticipated game, is being released this coming Tuesday (9/20).  After being postponed twice, once from last Fall to this past Spring, and a second time to this Fall, will the game live up to the hype?  It had a playable beta released back in June and people seemed to enjoy it.  Were the bugs fixed, additions made, and will the campaign give the people who have been following the Gears series a satisfying ending to the trilogy?  Only time will tell.  So far, the reviews for the game have been very positive.  Let's hope the population who buy the game feel the same way when they get their hands on it this Tuesday.  I'm looking forward to it as I have been ever since it was announced.

With a new campaign featuring four player co-op, new multiplayer maps/game modes, an upgraded Horde mode, and Beast Mode, new to the Gears of War series, this game has no reason to not be the best Gears of War in the series.  I can't wait to try it out and I'm sure many others can't as well.  A review of the game will most likely be forthcoming from me within the next week or two.  Until then, enjoy the game when it's released on Tuesday.

For more information on Gears of War 3, go to http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/en-US/.

For a professional review, go to http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1194638p1.html.

Dead Island - Game Review/Information

Dead Island, the new video game by Techland, developers of the Call of Juarez series, was released this past Tuesday for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows.  I picked it up over the weekend for Xbox 360 and have put several hours into it.  I haven't even scratched the surface when looking at overall game completion.  Zombie Island is at core, a zombie's game such as Left 4 dead, but also includes RPG elements found in games such as Borderlands.  It has a skill tree that includes upgrades for your character as you rank up and includes weapon customizations.  There's an inventory menu, that has a select amount of weapons you can carry.  As you play, you can unlock more inventory slots.  It's an open world game, which means you're free to explore the area you're currently at while going on several quests; some are side quests while the others are main quests, meant for the story.  I've only played through the first act, but after the first one, I was sent into a different area, that had a new map to explore just as large as the first one.  So, I'm assuming that after each act, your character will be thrown into another map that needs to be fully explored, each one as massive as the previous.  There are four acts total.  Lastly, there are four characters for you to try out, each one with different specialties and skills.

Overall, the game is a lot of fun to play.  The fighting is enjoyable and fast-paced, and each the graphics are pretty strong.  There are different types of enemies, each one with their strengths and weaknesses, which makes you change up your approaches/strategies for each of them.  Also, the game's length is very solid.  You'll be getting your money's worth with the purchase.  I've played for a total of about six hours, and I'm only approximately 30 percent done with the main story progress.  Of course you can only focus on the main quests and get it done at a much quicker pace, but you'll be missing out.  The game's all about exploring the various areas, trying out each quest, including the side ones, and raking your character up.  This will take you a while.  On another note, there are 140 collectibles to find, so if you're one who like fully completing their games, finding each of these will keep you going as well.  Also, you might want to go back and try the other characters out.  So, overall, you're looking at a game that could take you 20 plus hours to get full satisfaction with, which is great.  The main and really only complaint I have is repetitiveness.  Each quest asks you to go pick up something for somebody because of a certain reason.  There are multiple side quests that you don't feel like doing because they get boring.  Still, the story quests are fun and at least you aren't stuck in the same area for the entire game.  Like I said earlier, I'm quite sure that there are four full maps to check out, one per act, each very large.  The thing that keeps you motivated to complete quests, both side and story ones, is ranking up.  You want to rank up your character and become stronger in various aspects.  The skill tree is split up into three categories (Fury, Combat, and Survival).  Fury includes upgrades for your special ability, which allows you to kill enemies in a cool way.  Combat includes upgrades for weapons, which allows them to become more effective and stronger in combat.  Lastly, Survival includes upgrades for you health.  It also includes upgrades that allow you to do things such as pick locks.  These make you want to upgrade your character and try out each skill, which is awesome.  The only bad thing is you won't be able to level up to a level where all upgrades can be achieved.  Your level is maxed out at 50, which will leave you short of about half of the total available upgrades.  Level 99 would have to be able to be changed to the max level in order for all upgrades to be achieved/maxed out.  Hopefully an update will be released that will allow you to rank up further and max out all of the skills or at least reset your skills.  That's another issue; once you buy a skill, it's permanent.  We'll have to wait and see if these minor issues are ever fixed in the future.

Dead Island's first DLC (downloadable content) pack will be released later this month.  The pack will be called Bloodbath Arena.  It will include four new maps and a new weapon called "The Ripper".  More information on this will most likely be coming in the near-future.

For a professional review of Dead Island or for more information on the game itself, see http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/955/955540.html.

For the emotional, heart-shattering, announcement trailer, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg.

Modern Warfare 3 Finds New Competitive Multiplayer Elements

Recently it was announced that Modern Warfare 3, the new Call of Duty experience coming from Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games, is including some cool new features to the game.  If you're familiar with the series' multiplayer, you know about how the system works.  You rank up as you play and unlocks come with that, including new guns, perks, etc.  There are also killstreaks that you can unlock as well.

With that said, it has recently been stated from Infinity Ward that Modern Warfare 3 will include gun proficiency levels. This will allow your favorite gun in the game to become more effective as you use it.  It infers that the recoil of each gun you use will become less of an issue as the accuracy for the weapons will increase.  This will also mean that the power of the bullets will increase.  Overall, the weapons will become more efficient as you them.

The killstreak rewards will also come with different elements.  Instead of killstreaks, they will be more like pointstreaks, which means assists will help you reach each killstreak reward as well as the kills that you get.  This is pretty cool considering assists will now actually help you reach these rewards.  Also, the killstreaks will be separted into distinct classes (Assault, Support, and Specialist), which will allow you to customize these rewards according to your playing style.

The game is being released on November 8 of this year.  These are some new features that have been announced and more will probably be revealed when the game comes out.  New perks are sure to be in the mix as well.  So, overall, it looks like this new Call of Duty may have some new elements in the mix that may make your decision easier to pick it up when it's released this fall.

For more information, see http://geek.pikimal.com/2011/09/03/call-of-duty-xp-hands-on-with-modern-warfare-3/.