Other notable weapons include the Digger, which basically launches an underground torpedo that explodes on contact with an opponent, which is more than awesome for flushing out opponents who have holed themselves up behind cover as it travels below the surface. Incendiary grenades are now also found on maps, and are also handy for cover-hoggers, as their flames hang around long enough to force an opponent to have to leave his position.
Check out my new moves
Besides having the ability to tag walls added to grenades in Gears of War 2, grenades can now be even more dangerous than before, thanks to the ability to turn a hostage into an unwilling suicide bomber. When an opponent has been downed, you can press ‘X’ to use them as a meat shield like before, although now, by pressing your up on the dpad, you can attach whichever grenade you happened to have handy onto your hostage and then kick them towards your enemies, dangerous stuff indeed.
In Gears of War 1 and 2, it was never a rare occurrence to see two opponents slammed up against opposite sides of the same cover taking potshots over the wall with their shotguns until one turned into red mist. In Gears of War 3, you are now capable of vaulting over the cover towards your opponent and knocking them over and giving you the advantage to blow them away or whip out the chainsaw.
The left bumper, which was always used to bring up your ‘tactical display’ has also been made even more handy now, as it not only shows you where you teammates are, but also shows weapon spawn locations as well as highlight your surroundings with a light wireframe which can come in handy when visibility is low.
Location, location, location
The Gears of War 3 beta has shipped with 4 maps that range from dusty war trenches where sandstorms roll in and make things tricky, to a dilapidated Thrashball (think NFL) stadium, a beautiful old town as well as a trashed mall/supermarket area.
Most of the maps in the beta have both teams starting on opposite sides of maps that require the players to rush into a fight over the weapons placed on the map. While this was already seen in Gears of War 2, a local player did point out to me that the beta sorely lacked a map similar to that of “Canals” or “Rooftops”, which had both teams starting on a symmetrical map with a power weapon on each side that would become an integral part of how the map played out.
That said, the maps are well laid out, they have been very cleverly balanced using elements on the levels themselves to ensure that its not too easy to hold and abuse any specific locations, and they look as pretty as ever to boot.
Moving up in the world
What Epic have also done in Gears of War 3 so far, is really take a few pages from (ex) Infinity Ward’s book in terms of progression. In the old days, playing games was its own reward, but these days its about much more than that. We are new-age hardcore gamers and for some obscure reason, we require constant pats on the back to feel good about ourselves.
Points are earned in your matches of Gears of War 3, and in turn, levels are upped. There are also tons of badges to track and earn when playing online, giving players even more to strive for when busting each others faces.
The game has also included unlockables which are earned by completing certain objectives such as, for example, unlocking a new multiplayer character or outfit by playing in a certain amount of games of a certain game type. It’s a great way to get people to play all the different modes, especially when feedback is needed for a beta, but adds more to the overall experience.
So what’s the final verdict from a real Gears of War addict, for now?
My feeling on Gears of War 3’s beta are really nothing but those of excitement and anticipation. Epic thought they knew better when they went against the fans outcries in Gears of War 2 but its sudden drop on the LIVE activity lists proved them wrong.
The good news is that it forced them to listen, and in that way give the real Gears of War fans – the ones who hang around for years, not days – the next-level Gears of War experience that they have wanted from the beginning and by some miracle, have still kept in some of the elements from Gears of War 2 and made them work together.
Gears of War 3 looks set to be the squad-based, yet paster paced kill-fest that we all fell in love with back when the original first drew so many of us into Xbox LIVE and next-gen gaming.
It takes time to really feel out the game and how it will feel in the long run, and the beta won’t even offer enough for us to truly find out what the lasting appeal will be, but from where we are standing, Gears of War 3 looks set to steal all the original fans’ hearts back once more.
Last Updated: April 19, 2011
