Brothers till the end...

Everyone remembers when the world was introduced to Gears Of War, it was a simple advert fitted with the perfectly suited song ‘Mad World’, and from that moment we were immediately besotted with this shooter. Now, the sweetest words to anyone who owns an Xbox is that everything we loved about Gears of War is back and more explosive than ever.

Modes

Gears Of War 3 has both off and online components with the main story continuing the path of the heroic Marcus Fenix, the leader of the resistance and the human races last chance at survival.

The most exciting addition to the story mode is much idolised four player co-op, allowing up to four human players to fight side by side and control a different member of the squad. With this comes great team work and a real feeling that you can achieve more, due mainly to the added freedom and lack of reliance on AI - a problem is past GoW ventures; (Spoiler warning:) though statistically, there is always one out of the four people who will try to shoot his own team members constantly in the head, regardless of the computers friendly fire aversion.

However, story mode isn’t just a fun co-op game. It, like its predecessors, has a gripping plot that delivers many hours of tactical as well as frenzy shooting in order to defeat beautifully horrid creatures. You also don’t have to play the first two games to get in to this instalment, as the squadron keep you updated with previous updates throughout. Now, one could suggest that this may have an efferent effect on the gamers experience, but at least it means no surprises or times where you get lost in to the plot. In all honesty though, if you haven’t played the previous two then you have to question where you have been over the last few years.

The main aim of story-mode is to introduce the game play before you enter the online world, and this campaign mode definitely fulfils this in an exciting, action packed way. You get to use an array of guns and grenades to defeat countless enemies. You are given the chance to develop your skills, allowing the gamer to choose between an explosive shooter - who terrorises his enemies with nonstop attack - or a tactical specialist, one whose stealth and cunning allows for safer, albeit slower, vengeance.

In an era so dominated by the Call of Duty franchise, creators now understand how online components are a vital ingredient to a games success and lifespan. Gears of War have had success from the online modes in the past and, even though there are no real surprises for gamers to get use to, the game play and lack of lagging is a welcomed addition. One new mode allows the user to play as locusts, attempting to destroy their human counterparts in an exciting twist to the already large online options.

Emotional Path of the Protagonist

Marcus Fenix is a tough fighter who has seen and experienced a lot of terrible events in his life, most recently being the death of his father who, in an unusual twist, may not have actually been killed as we previously thought. His build is comparable to The Terminator (without the steel construction) but he is by no means simply a muscle bound fighter with little emotion. Marcus has a dark, gritty voice that expresses pain and fear for his life and those around him. He has the same likability as other character successes such as Max Payne and in today’s society we like a hero with real emotions and demons; just ask the millions of fans counting down the days to see how Nolan concludes Batman in The Dark Night Rises. Like Bales' Bruce Wayne, Marcus has to endure a lot of pain and death in his life and this story is no exception; you really do get drawn in to his life, investing time and real emotion into his ill-gotten passed.

Graphics

It’s hard to fault any part of this game graphically. You see amazing sceneries, beautiful landscapes and breathtaking realism, and such is your admiration for its beauty that you may find yourself distracted from the large enemy monsters trying to rip you to shreds. Furthermore, there are sections throughout where the game lets you admire by simply pressing the ‘Y’ button, giving you a full view of what you are facing and - through this short viewing - you can see how the planet is decaying and the full extent of your situation. Sounds glum I know, but it is quite spectacular.

Gears' cut-scenes have, since its original release, been a forthcoming feature of the game, one that - over time - fans grew to love and appreciate. The cut-scenes in GoW 3 are no different - each is a touching addition to the overall product, full of emotion and drama, which inevitably make fro an all-round great game. However, even though there are amazing scenarios and enemies it is not visually as realistic as the Call of Duty’s, Fight Night’s or Formula One’s of these third generation consoles. At times, it can look a bit more colourful than realistic, but this does not take away from the final product.

Controls

If you're a veteran of the series, picking up the controls will be as easy as winning a marathon against a tortoise (unless you are a hare that is). However, even new players will pick up the controls fairly easily, before casting their manuals aside and focusing intently on the screen. Getting the basics is quite easy, as it is similar to every other first person shooter on the market, but it's likely to take you that extra bit longer to master shooting your enemy right between the eyes, thus forcing a quite sadistic smirk.

Life Span

Unfortunately if you have a love for GOW and you are in a relationship, get ready to be single, as there is no shortage in life span with this game. An avid player  may get the story mode finished quicker than the casual gamer, however with the brilliance of this game you will go online and be lucky to come of it with a job as at no point does repetitiveness hit in.  There are many online modes to keep you entertained for months, and you can select how difficult you want campaign mode to be, ranging from easy to Gears of War God.

Overall

It’s hard to criticise such an all round enjoyable game. It has guns, monsters, emotion and yet it still, somehow, manages to improve on its predecessors. These days, you never know whether a game really is the final in the series, but if it is then I salute you GOW for destroying the curse of the third instalment; and even though it's unlikely to command the record-breaking following of the likes of Call of Duty, it is certainly one of the best releases of the year...

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