Like a fine wine, the Gears of War franchise has only gotten better with age. The third installment in the series continues to polish and build upon the great ideas introduced in the first two games and brings them to a level just short of perfection. Those who haven’t enjoyed the series in the past won’t find much to change their minds, but long-time fans will be left more than satisfied.
At its core, the experience is the same as the previous two entries in the series, but layers upon layers of icing on the cake really show that Epic Games went all out to send the trilogy off with a bang. Tons of new enemies and new weapons to kill them with keep the action feeling fresh and give plenty of variation as you fight through a much more interesting and diverse range of environments than in the previous two games.
While predictable at times, the story is much more compelling than previous entries and there’s even a few moments where one can’t help but well up a bit. The characters show a wider range of emotion and come across as more human this time around, making it easier to form attachments to them, and the addition of female gears tones down the machismo a bit.
As expected from the Unreal Engine 3’s flagship franchise, the graphics are easily some of the best this generation has to offer. In conjunction with the game’s much greater use of color than before, the results are stunning. When taken in with the game’s top-notch audio, Gears of War 3 is truly a treat for the eyes and ears.
In short, Gears of War 3 is quite possibly the best entry in one of the biggest franchises of this generation. If you’re a fan and you haven’t already picked this game up, you owe it to yourself to go buy it right now.