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The Clarion \ Sept. 30, 2011
Humanity fights to survive: GOW 3
By Patrick G. Veilleux
Managing Editor
Rev up a chainsaw bayonet, and dig into
one of the most anticipated video games of
2011.
The conclusion to one of the decade’s most
popular video game series hit the shelves on
Sept. 20. Gears of War 3 finishes what Epic
Games started five years ago.
The series began in 2006 with the first
Gears of War, which while it did not have a
very in depth story, or redefining game play,
still contended with Halo 2 and 3 for most
played game on Xbox live, and also received
the Game of the Year award from Imagine
Games Network (IGN.)
The game is played in a third person mode
where cover and tactical position
is essential. People trying
to walk around the field
and lay waste to the
enemy frequently
results in being
overwhelmed by gunfire and explosives as the
enemy picks off the protagonist from the
safety of a barricade or a cluster of rubble.
The original game sparked a storyline
comprised of a video game trilogy, five
novels, and numerous comic books; all of
which are considered canon to the storyline.
It’s direct sequel. Gears of War 2 built on
the first game’s success and brought new
game play conventions such as meat shields,
new brutal weapons and chainsaw dueling.
Yeah, you read that right, chainsaw dueling.
Paramount among these features was the
original Horde mode, where players would
fight waves of the games antagonists, the
Locust Horde.
Gears of War 3 builds on these concepts
presented in one and two. It allows a normal
bayonet to be used in melee combat in the
form of a charge, a sawed off shotgun that
will mince an enemy in close quarters,
and a multitude of grisly ways to finish a
downed enemy.
The third game modifies the
original Horde mode
by giving
currency to players as they fight through three
different Locust factions (some of which may
fight with each other) The currency can then
be used to buy decoys, barbwire fencing,
automated turrets, and several different types
of turrets that Gears can use to mow down
the onrush of Locust soldiers. In addition,
there is now a mode that allows the player
to assume the role of various creatures in the
Locust army to overwhelm humanity’s last
stand, called Beast Mode.
1 think Gears of War comes to its own in
campaign mode, where they allowed the
author of the novels to write the storyline and
scripts for the final installment. Karen Traviss
vastly enhanced the quality of the Gears
storyline. It made me appreciate every new
and old character on a different level, as they
behaved and reacted like real people instead
of cookie cut stereotypes that are offered in
so many video games.
The bad news about Traviss’ involvement
in writing is that unless you read the books
you will not know about most of what is
happening in the third game, even if you
played the second game. One criticism 1 have
heard which 1 do not empathize with, is the
amount of cut scenes incorporated into the
campaign, people say that it felt like a movie.
For me, that is what makes a good video
game, an almost cinematic value being
added in was incredible, as well as seeing
characters from the novels and comics
making appearances for the first time, and
playing pivotal roles.
The environments were another
positive aspect of the third installment.
You fight through deserts, paradise
islands, canyons, bombed out cities,
and even aquatic chasms, caves, and
jungles of seaweed via a restored
submarine. 1 cannot say if this is an
environment, but there is also an airship
chase through mountains, over forests, and
above open plains.
With a game like this you might expect a
very specific soundtrack of metal or rock and
roll. On the contrary. Gears of War typically
runs on large orchestral movements that
evoke the exact mood the creators wanted in
a given situation. The soundtrack provokes
aggression, surprise, fear, sadness, and even a
sense of empowerment, and it frequently does
this while beautifully providing background
music.
This game is nothing short of intense, and
any room you play in will fire up to the sound
of blistering gunfire, inhuman roars, and
the doom saying growl of a rifle mounted
chainsaw.