Gears of War 3 (X360, 2011)

It has been a long running gag amongst my friends, that Gears of War is so manly that it's hard not to play it without occasionally shouting out in a symphony of raging awesome. This has always been the way of the series. Oh, look, there is a door that needs opening. YOU KICK THAT DOOR OPEN! Oh no, that enemy is gonna hit me with his gun. Well, SAW HIM IN HALF WITH THE CHAINSAW AT THE END OF YOUR GUN! Not to mention that historically, every guy in this entire series has a neck that is the size of a bulldozer. Gears of War is pretty funny in all of those respects. Gears of War 3 however, wanted to do something new, in that it added in a few female characters. Pfft girls in my video game? That's so gay! (for those who don't know, I'm kidding).

This game was not as much about being rage filled, boner swinging, badass who looks like they ate two dozen spicy taquitos and are trying to get them out of their system, so much as it was a grounded ending to a pretty epic trilogy. The question is, how did it do for that. Let me tell you that Gears of War 3 is the least exciting in the series, in that it all feels much more grounded and perhaps a little too structured. Unfortunately, in the narrative, every act feels like it is over stretched to fit in 6 chapters. It does get a little bit tedious after a while, and leaves me wondering if the entire trilogy was like this and my tastes have evolved, or if this game just lacks the energy of those before it.

The series itself, left a lot of questions to be answered within the storyline that I feel are pretty big and necessary to know. I usually stand on the side of "if it didn't tell you, it wasn't important" but I feel like it didn't tell us a few things that were legitimately important. I also feel like the newer exploding enemies, just aren't anywhere near as fun to battle. The final boss fight wasn't terribly fun either, but instead frustrating and  padded out to last way too long.

Don't take all of those negatives as me hating the game though, as I really don't. The game has some seriously good things in it too. It seems to me, this time around, this game was trying to be less of an EXTREME experience and more of a story. Almost all of the main characters have something big and personal to overcome, and it's handled in a way that is relatively realistic. I especially enjoyed fan favorite Cole's big moment early in the game. It was a glorious moment in gaming, all the way. Another big thing to mention is that the story takes some very big turns that very few games would have the guts to take. A particular sad part occurs near the mid-point of the game, and proves to be effective. More specifically, I find the game is better after it happens, because it never forgets about what happened. It drives me nuts, how fast some games will overlook a traumatic moment sometimes, and just act like everything is ok right after, and it seems to me that the creators of this game shared my grief. Great job, on that.

Yeah, that's a chainsaw fight.

I will say the resolution at the very end is a little bit sudden, but it works for me and, as a person who values a great ending above all else, this one didn't disappoint me. CliffyB, the game's director, really is becoming something of a storyteller, and I couldn't be happier because of it.

I would also be ashamed to forget to mention how great this game looks. There is a very good chance that this is the best looking game on the xbox 360. Kudos Epic Games!

Overall, Gears 3 is not a great jumping on point, but if you've enjoyed the first two instalments, you'd have to be crazy not to experience this one. It may not take you on as many highly imaginative adventures, but it will stay in your mind none the less. Apparently the multiplayer is fun and highly rewarding, but I don't feel like renewing my gold membership for the price of a new game, just so I can be told how gay I am every 5 minutes.