Journal: Gears of War 3
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This is not so much a “review” but rather a “my thoughts” and therefore some specific features may not be spelled out properly but there have been reviews out for some time.
Currently, I am level 36 (or so) in Gears of War 3. I’ve completed the campaign on Normal and spent the majority of my multiplayer time across Horde, King of the Hill and Capture The Leader.
I enjoyed the stories of the first two games. They were a fun ride and everything made sense reasonably well. While I believe that the Gears universe is quite defined, my campaign experience in GoW3 did not reflect this. There are literary works that accompany the plot lines of the game but I haven’t read them. This led me to be confused as to who people were, where they were from and why they were here, accompanying me. I felt a lack of depth in the narrative…
<Spoiler>
…Marcus meets his father after believing he’s been dead for some time… but they don’t even embrace upon seeing each other? If a loved one so close to me were to be assumed deceased and then be found alive, once I found them I know I would at least hug them but that’s me…
</Spoiler>
…and there were other instances similar to that. Accompanying this, personally I’m not a fan of the “bouncing around to numerous locations and different battle settings”. I realize this happens in most narratives of shooters to either challenge or somehow engage the player more. I tend to enjoy one setting and to keep unraveling more and more about it as the game progresses (perhaps I play too many RPG’s?). I enjoyed the first Act of the game but after that, I was in various locations with little reason as to why I was there. Sure, the narrative explains it but somehow someone just happens to know of the only place where that ‘one something’ is that we need, and we must go there.
While it is a conclusion to the series, and perhaps I missed something in the accompanying novels, I felt as though I was missing that one thing that made the first two entries so memorable.
Saying this, the gameplay is superb! Across single and multiplayer the mechanics used before, along with new features really do make it a smooth and enjoyable experience, once you’re in battle. As an extensive Halo Reach player, I find that if I am 2 on 1’d in Gears multiplayer, it is far more difficult to come out alive but that is the nature of the beast and I’m content with that.
I thoroughly enjoy King of the Hill and Capture the Leader as while I’m not a killing machine, I can get ‘breaks’ or ‘caps’ in KotH and/or support and defend well in CtL. There is only one facet of Horde mode that irritates me but it has nothing to do with the game design.
In Horde, I enjoy building structures to defend as it becomes a pseudo-tower defense game and the upgradables and leveling up features are neat. Let me explain that one issue I have…
In Horde mode, there is a voting system across the party of 5 as to which map will be played (in normal online play). Obviously, majority rules and the game begins. Though here’s the issue; numerous times other players will leave if they do not get the map they desire. Though there’s a democratic voting system, there is no enforcement of this. As I mentioned, I played a fair amount of Halo Reach. If you quit a game early in Reach, you are docked points from your overall level as punishment. Do this too many times and you receive a 15 minute ban and the penalty increases from there.
In Gears3, there is no penalty. Players leave before a base is even established and back to searching for a game… aggravating, to say the least as it leaves the rest of our party at 4 (or less), though treated as if we were 5 and hinders our progress.
//Yes, I have tweeted some of the folks at Epic about it… not that it will do anything
Hopefully, one day it will be remedied and while it doesn’t “break the game” or ruin anything completely… it just kinda’ stinks for fans of the mode, such as myself.
Overall, for the grand gameplay and multiplayer experience, I thoroughly enjoy Gears of War 3 and believe it’s worth the purchase and endeavor, if you are a fan of the genre or the Gears franchise.
Thank you for reading.
- John
