The end of 2011 is presented by the number 3. Within the closing months of the year we have already had Resistance 3 and Deus Ex 3. Still to come this fall are Uncharted 3, Battlefield 3, COD: MW3 and even part 3 of Ezio’s story in Assassins Creed: Revelations. To some gamers out there though there is only one 3 they are interested in, Gears of War 3. Finishing off the trilogy that started back in 2006, Gears 3 tells the final tale in humanities battle for survival on the world of Sera and the last time fans will be seeing Marcus Fenix. Well, until Microsoft hire a new company to make a 4th game!

Things have not been good for the gears. It turns out that the Lambent problem has spread across the world like wildfire and since the sinking of Jacinto, humanity is surviving in small bands across the world. The command structure has broken down and only through the efforts of Delta team has any semblance of order been maintained within the military. However, moments into the game Marcus receives a message from someone long thought dead and is soon setting off to try and discover the truth behind the Locust and Lambent threat.

If you have played a Gears of War game, you know exactly what to expect here in terms of controls. The only real change is that you now have to hold the X button to pick up any item, meaning accidental weapon swaps are a thing of the past. The campaign gameplay for the most part follows the same structure it has in the previous games, but with a few tweaks that I’ll discuss momentarily. The truth is if you were a Gears fan before, this game is going to blow you away, on the other hand, if you weren’t you may want to at least check this one out. The changes made here may appear minor on paper, but they actually make a huge impression on the way the game is played.

For those who haven’t been following the build up to GOW3, you may not know that the biggest change to the campaign is the inclusion of 4 player co-op. No longer will you have to be escorted round by 2 AI characters, but instead can form a full contingency of players within Delta. This actually has a bigger impact on the game than simply getting more friends involved.

Giant creepy fish versus walking mech, just another day in the COG

GOW3 is huge, in design and in scope. Levels are no longer 2 path sections with randomly placed chest high walls at convenient points along the way. Now that teams can be comprised of multiple human players, the developers have designed the levels with this in mind, creating huge open environments where tactical spacing and cross fire is the name of the game. Nigh on every section in the game promotes players to split up and use the multiple routes provided to gain the advantage on your foes or attract fire so that your allies can move up to a better firing position themselves. Sure, there are still chest high walls scattered through every level for you to hide behind and open fire from cover, but these, for the most part, have been integrated into the environments themselves, looking like part of the scenery, rather than random chunks of concrete.

Speaking of the environments, I thought Epic Games had hit a point where they could do no better during Bulletstorm (overlooking the dam), but somehow they have managed to improve upon the Unreal Engine once again. Every level of the game is a beauty unto itself. Enter any town within the game and you can see architectural bliss within the chaos that is Sera, with buildings displayed in high detail and draw distances that make the mind boggle. Add into this the new shading textures they have implemented on the character models and you’ll find that GOW3 is easily the best looking game to have graced the Xbox 360 and possibly any console game. Honestly, I love the Uncharted games, but Naughty Dog are going to have to really pull out all the stops to top this level of quality. From Volumetric effects to lighting, GOW3 is a tough one to beat.

It's the Trashball skin for the COLE TRAIN BABY!

Back on to the subject of the campaign though, GOW3 has something a lot of games lack and that’s pacing. If you haven’t seen it I highly suggest you jump over to Penny-Arcade to watch the Extra Credits on this subject. The series has never really been known for doing this in the past, but this latest installment perfectly paces itself through the entire campaign. At first it’s a little jarring to constantly be drawn out of combat to listen to character conversation or watch a cutscene, but once you get used to the new speed at which the game wants to run, you’ll find yourself enjoying the experience a whole lot more than the previous 2 titles.

The game carefully balances the action and the story, taking a break from both at exactly the right moments, building action and excitement with skillful timing. Even in painfully predictable story moments, the game handles the events with such grace and style that you can’t help but be drawn into the experience. As with all Gears titles, there are sections of the game where the developers wanted to build tension with slight horror elements (the imulsion factory in Gears 1 and the mansion in Gears 2). In Gears 3 however, the developers handle this event slightly differently, easily creating one of the most memorable creepy moments in recent gaming history.

All this is presented incredibly well despite the previously mentioned predictable plot. Don’t expect any awards to be thrown Epic’s way when it comes to the award time for GOW3′s story. Yes, it handles the end of the trilogy with grace and does not allow itself to get swept away by its own popularity, but if you’re expecting something other than a plot on level with the recent A-Team movie, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s interesting enough and the collectable items scattered throughout the world add some interesting back-story, but you just feel a bit of subtly would have been appreciated. Hell, I can even guess right now what the campaign DLC pack that Epic have already promised will be about!

Weirdly, GOW3 has some very odd surreal moments within the game. Not only does the game open with a nightmare sequence that is either genius or completely out of place, but adds another scene exactly like this randomly within the first chapter of the game. I don’t know if other characters experience moments like this if you happen to be playing them at the time, but I’ll tell you now that you’ll see it coming, but never believe it when it happens. They’re just weird.