[Sway]

So I'm like a couple weeks late on this, but this is probably my favorite game series from this generation, so I'll just go ahead and post about it a year out from the release.

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Gears of War 3 Announced, Trailer Debuts
Matt Peckham

Apr 13, 2010 11:16 am


Of all the places to launch a game, Gears of War 3 took its first public bow on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night. Lead designer Cliff Bleszinski was one of Fallon's guests and, as suspected, he used his spot to announce the third title in the Xbox 360-exclusive Gears of War series, pegging it for an April 2011 release.

Fallon introduced Bleszinski (and the trailer) by calling it "an upcoming game that is going to blow your pants off."

In a tip of the hat to pre-appearance gossip, Bleszinski called Gears of War 3 "the worst kept secret in the video game industry" before dishing game details. Players will once more on the side of the humanity-based Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) against the alien Locust Horde and "Lambent" (Locust exposed to a mutagenic substance).

Bleszinski also premiered the first official trailer for the game, dubbed "Ashes to Ashes" (not to be confused with the BBC sci-fi TV series sequel to Life on Mars, currently in its third and final season).

After playing to the studio audience ("You always have the best crowds here," said Bleszinski, eliciting cheers) Bleszinski cited Space Invaders as the game that initially inspired him ("Boom, this is the future, this is what I want to do"). He also talked about getting his name in the first issue of Nintendo Power for racking up a record-breaking high score in Super Mario Bros for the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

On what makes a good game: "Graphics are the...it's kind of the thing that initially pulls people in," said Bleszinski. "But what ultimately matters is gameplay."

On Gears of War 3's gameplay: "In the new game there's an even greater threat called the Lambent...these kind of crazy tentacled monsters that can mutate while you're fighting them."

On what to expect: "All sorts of new weapons...a double barreled shotgun," and "We have female soldiers finally in the game...fans have been asking for that one for awhile."

On multiplayer features: "Rod confirmed and I'm posting it here: 4 player integrated story co op in the campaign!" said Bleszinski in a Twitter update after the show.

Microsoft followed up this morning with specifics, pinning the game to an April 5, 2011 release date in North America, followed a few days later on April 7, 2011 in Asia and April 8 in Europe.

"With the last human city destroyed and the remaining survivors stranded, time is running out for Marcus and his comrades as they fight to save the human race from the jaws of extinction," reads today's press brief, calling Gears of War 3 "the final chapter in the story of Marcus Fenix and his companions in Delta Squad."

Apparently avatar stuff is already on sale in the Marketplace. Anyone else pumped for this or do you all love JRPGs?

[KennEH!]

I just started to play the first one, and I'm quite enjoying it. Four player multi-player and co-op is awesome, though I'm thinking to myself "finallly".

[???????]

Can't say I'm excited, having never played the first two GoW. I'm not a JRPG whore, though. I'll rent find some way to play the second game one of these days and if I like it, I'll start anticipating this one.

[Revon the Fish/Hedgehog]

This shit looks off the hook. I mean Dom looks like hell, but at least he's not a whiney bitch now, haha. I'm just playin', but really this looks BAMF. Too bad Tai won't return, he was my fave. Also, this next Carmine (or the next two if both are in it) better kick ass. I don't want any more pathetic deaths from them.

[Master of AFTER]

I enjoyed the hell out of the first GoW, but I never got the second mostly out of a lack of time and energy to make it through all the unplayed 360 games already sitting on the shelf. So many sequels coming out... Argh. There's just never enough time.

["Robert"]

I remember playing a ton of the Gears 2 campaign with my friend, and have yet to have heard about this one. Also, is it bad if I confused the new female character for a male JRPG when I saw the initial frame in the middle of the video?

In any case I'm rather excited about this, though I probably won't be able to end up playing it with said friend co-op, haha.

[Enraged Psychopath]

Gears of War is easily one of my favourite gaming franchises.
Also, to add something more substansial to this topic;

Some "Leaked" screenshots here

[Sway]

Cool shots. Here's another article too from earlier in the month:

http://xbox360.ign.c.../1089204p1.html

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Gears of War 3 Details Emerge
New weapons, modes, and multiplayer features are revealed.
May 12, 2010
by David Clayman

In the most recent issue of Game Informer magazine new information has been revealed about the third installment in the Gears of War series. We learned the first details about Gears 3 on the Jimmy Fallon Show which debuted the trailer back in April. So far we know that Dom has a beard, Anya fights with the boys, and Marcus has a new gun. But there's so much more.

It's been a year and a half since the fall of Jacinto and the Gears are now living aboard a converted aircraft carrier called the Raven's Nest. The government has disbanded and the survivors from the first two games call a make-shift flotilla their home. The crew rely on each other more than ever, which is highlighted in Gears 3 by the new four-player co-op. Marcus and Dom return to lead a new character named Jace Stratton and Anya Stroud.

Players can now trade weapons with each other or other soldiers in their battle against the lambent. This new enemy which first appeared in Gears of War 2 enters the game quickly when giant enemy crabs overtake the ship. These are a precursor to reanimated Locust troops called Drudges. When attacked, these enemies spawn tendril-like limbs that allow them to expand outward and upward, making cover a lot less safe. They'll also perform a last-ditch attack by blowing themselves up while running at the player.

To fight the new threat the players have access to a new "Pendulum-era lancer with a bayonet and more powerful, close-range rounds. There's also a redesigned hammerburst with a standard zoom, a sawed-off shotgun, and a massive one-shot rifle. One strange new weapon is the digger launcher which fires piranha-like creatures into the ground where they then seek and devour their targets.

The Locust still make an appearance along with new enemy classes like a grenadier and large, organic catapults. To face these larger threats, players can now suit up in a mechanized suit called a silverback. These come equipped with a rocket launcher and a heavy chain gun and can also be deployed as cover, allowing multiple team members to use the weapons.

There's also a new arcade mode that has highly visible scoring and stat tracking. Then it allows players to fiddle with variables including gravity, big-head mode, and sound effects. Arcade mode also includes an idea that appeared in Shadow Complex where players are alerted to how well their friends have done in a certain area.

As far as multiplayer, only two maps have been revealed including a ruined thrashball field and the sinking remains of Jacinto called Overpass. The multiplayer environments can alter dramatically during a match, like water flooding and receding from the ground. There's also a new multi-turret where players can affix their own weapons then hit a single trigger to fire bullets in four directions.

The article also promises a host of new executions using almost all of the weapons and more importantly, we'll finally learn the secret behind Adam Fenix and his plan to save the planet.

The new features sound just sick.

[Master of AFTER]

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Players can now trade weapons with each other or other soldiers in their battle against the lambent. This new enemy which first appeared in Gears of War 2 enters the game quickly when giant enemy crabs overtake the ship.

Haha, awesome.

[Stryker]

I gotta say Im actually looking forward to this. After the first game, I was skeptical when they announced a sequel, but i thouroughly enjoyed it, so the third one is def gonna be a rental for me when it comes out

[Sway]

Compilation of information shamelessly stolen from a Something Awful thread:

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Scheduled Release Dates
North America: April 5th, 2011
Japan: April 7th, 2011
Europe/Worldwide: April 8th, 2011

Watch the trailer now!

On April 13th, Cliff Bleszinski appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show (which I hope none of you had the misfortune of watching period) to announce what was probably his most obvious work in progress, Gears of War 3. Since then he's had various interviews that sprinkle hints about game play and story, but we probably won't see much more concrete news until E3. Cliff has stated that the campaign is already "playable" as far as production goes, and that he hopes with the time they have they can make it the most fun and polished Gears game yet. A whole year is a long time, but the decision was most likely made to keep the game from competing with Halo: Reach and Project Natal, both due to release near the end of 2010.

Interviews, News and Videos

• Reveal trailer "Ashes to Ashes" (video)
  
• Cliff's interview and reveal on the Jimmy Fallon show (video)
  
• Techland.com's interview with Cliff part 1 (article)
  
• Techland.com's interview with Cliff part 2 (audio)
  
• A Spanish magazine interviews Cliff (in english) part 1 (video)
  
• Spanish Magazine part 2 (video)
  
• Game Reactor interviews Mark Rein about Unreal Engine 3 and Gears 3 (video added May 5)
  
• Concept pictures from a Russian game magazine. NOTE: While Epic does not comment on "speculation", these pictures are either 100% legitimate, or someone is a really good artist. (Pictures/Article. Thanks for the link, Houdini. Added May 7)
  
• Possible translation of the above scanned article. NOTE: Again, not concrete information but pretty damn believable. The game still has a long time to come out, some, all or none of this will even exist in the game. (Article. Thanks MUFFlNS for the post. Added May 7)
  
• The GameInformer Hub, almost daily updates on GOW3 info (article/pictures, added May 12)
  
• Campaign, multiplayer maps and character screenshots (Pictures. Added May 21)
  
• Premier gameplay footage of 4-player campaign at E3 [Youtube link] (Video, added June 15)
  
• Interview with Cliff at E3 showcasing the new game mode "Beast". (Video, added June 16)

What's New

Game Modes

Arcade Mode
A new mode that will be available after beating campaign. You can return with your co-op buddies to enter in a score based competitive version of the campaign. Pop-ups will appear throughout the game to show what your friends are achieving, challenging you to better them on the fly. Mutators can also be added to increase the fun in Arcade mode, including big head mode, changed sound effects and more. These mutators will be exclusive to Arcade mode, and will not be found in competitive multiplayer.

Beast Mode
Following in Horde Mode's footsteps, Beast Mode reverses the role of the player: You play as locusts ranging from small monsters like tickers and wretches, a kantus who can mass heal downed allies, or even large monsters like maulers and berserkers who fight against AI cogs with an ever strengthening arsenal. The mode uses tickets that decide how many times you can respawn as well as what you can respawn as, so murdering yourself as a ticker should be not very costly at the price of having a short life. Some creatures like the berserker will need to be unlocked through gameplay. The mode is set to accommodate 5 players, just like Horde.


Weapons/Equipment/Abilities

Sawed-off Shotgun

This new shotgun supposedly has the power to gib multiple enemies at close range at the cost of having only one shot (both shells fired at once, the multiple shots fired in the trailer were purely for show) and a very long reload. When asked how long the reload is, Lee Perry, senior gameplay designer said this: "long enough that you're probably going to die if you don't flee like a little girl unless you finished the job with that one shot". The GameInformer articles states that the reticule takes up almost half the screen. For the execution, the reloading catch is unhinged, wrapped around the neck of the enemy and then used to snap the enemies’ neck.

Retro Lancer

This gun is an older model of the current chainsaw bayonet Lancer, one that was used before the Locust struck and the Cog were at civil war over imulsion. You can see Cog soldiers using these old Lancers in this section of the GoW2 opening cinematic. Instead of a saw, it has a regular knife bayonet, which is used to "cut enemies open" and "slit throats" for executions. This gun is the least accurate and has the most kick of the 3 assault rifles, but is extremely powerful at close ranges. It has a devastating charging move where you run at full speed to impale an enemy with the bayonet for an instant kill.

Digger Launcher

The gun that boasts the power to hit enemies hiding behind cover. It fires a locust "piranha-like" creature that digs underground, then explodes when it emerges. The gun is a boomer pistol, used by the Locust Savage and boomers who appropriately shout "Dig!" before firing. Once grounded, it kicks up a dirt trail in a straight line giving a visual que on its explosive destination. If it lands on an enemy behind cover, it beeps like a frag grenade and blows them to bits.

One Shot

A new heavy weapon that adds another count to the sniper list. Imagine a longshot that fires a bullet the size of a boomshot shell. It's huge, it's nasty, and, as the name implies, takes out most enemies in one shot.

Multi-Turret

A new fixed turret like the troika. The locust have made a contraption that can carry 4 different standard weapons, from the pendulum lancer, the gnasher, or even the boomshot, and shoot them all simultaneously from the safety of the multi-turret. Swap out your favorite guns and get behind this thing to have your own personal firing squad ready to mow down some enemies.

Incendiary Grenade

A stranded homemade style grenade not much unlike your average Molotov. Once it shatters, the ignitable fuel coats the area and it set ablaze, cooking everything inside its radius.

Silverback

A personal sized COG mech suit modified to include weapons. It includes a rocket launcher with limited ammo and a machine gun with unlimited ammo. In mobile mode it can move at high speeds and even curb stomp enemies in addition to its standard arsenal. In its stationary mode, the body expands to provide cover for allies while still allowing use of its weapons. While protective and powerful, the back of the mech exposes the user and is vulnerable.

Hammerburst 3.0
This time around, the Hammerburst claims to have an extended scope thanks to the new scope seen in the trailer. Like the previous Hammerburst, it can headshot enemies in campaign mode, but whether or not it can in multiplayer is still unknown.

-If an enemy is in front of you when you vault over cover, you can kick them down. The E3 gameplay demo showed the kick dealing an instant down to a locust.

-You can frag tag the back of a meat shield you're holding and kick it forward, turning the body into a staggering bomb.

-After chainsawing a lambent creature, you can kick it away from you to prevent the imulsion's explosive properties from damaging you.

-Smokes, frags, and inks are confirmed to return.

-The Lancer, Hammerburst, and Pendulum Lancer group and the Gnasher and sawed-off shotgun group are confirmed to be interchangeable starting weapons for multiplayer.

-Weapons can be swapped between allies. If you're low on ammo or just don't like the gun you're holding, feel free to pass it on to your buddy.

-Some executions will need to be earned, most likely by killing a lot with the weapon holding the desired execution. This way you can perform that execution and show off.

Characters/Enemies
It's 18 months since the End of Gears 2 and a lot has changed. The Locust are struggling to survive, The COG disbanded months ago, and a new threat called the Lambent, shape-shifting immulsion-infected creatures, plague what's left of Sera.

COG Humans
With the COG long gone and out of the picture, Marcus and his crew are described as more of a "family unit" rather than a squad. They seem to focus more on trying to survive and live life rather than taking the battle to the enemy. Marcus will have more of a story relating to his father, who apparently has a way to save Sera. Dom is losing hope, his freshly grown beard shows his depression from losing his wife and is overall depression the war has brought (He has made a complete 180 from the first game to now). Anya is now fighting with the boys, Cliff describes her as "a very capable Gear". Jace Stratton, from the Gears comic book series, is also confirmed to be joining Marcus to fight the good fight. Jace will be voiced by rapper Drake, if that means anything to you. Sam, a new character to the series, is a brunette female gear fighting with Delta.

Locust
As stated, the beginning of the game is supposed to feature few locusts. The Queen and her army are still surviving, but many locusts are becoming more primal in nature. Some of their weapons technology is even going backwards, made evident by a new enemy called the Locust Savage who charges at players with crude weaponry. The Locust have also enslaved a new beast that can catapult flaming balls by having its legs bent back.

Lambent
Locusts who have been a little too close to imulsion seem to react pretty badly. Any lambent that is close to death will charge at you kamikaze style in an attempt to deal explosive damage. To compensate for the new found powerful 4-player teams, the Lambent Drudge, an imulsion controlled drone, mutates as you fight it and can grow longer legs to get a shot on you over cover, forcing you to move from your position. It can grow longer arms to attack three people at a time to negate the group co-op advantage. Destroying the body of this enemy isn’t enough, as the lambent tentacles can still come after you after the inhabited body is destroyed. Berserkers also return, this time as a much more agile lambent type.


Campaign
The campaign is confirmed to be 4-player Co-Op

The campaign's story will be written by Karen Traviss, the author of the Gears of War book series.

Marcus resides in Raven's Nest, a heavily modified aircraft carrier known as Sovereign that has been converted to a floating village, where he and other try to make a life in.

The location in the trailer is nicknamed "Char", where the remains of victims from the Hammer of Dawn strikes are heavily present. Also, imulsion is infecting everything, not just the Locust. The Lambent are a ton of different nightmarish creatures.

Cliff has stated you'll be able to play as all of Delta Squad, including Baird and Cole, in the campaign. The game provides two story arcs revolving around the two main squads. Marcus and Dom control their own squad fighting in Raven's Nest, while Cole and Baird are fighting in distant wastelands. The two sides ultimately meet up at some point in the campaign.

[KennEH!]

This is what I love about the game, all the weapons seem useful and not minor variations of the same four or five weapons. I can't wait for this. Wonder why I ever liked Halo.

[Infernal Inferno]

KennEH!, on 24 July 2010 - 03:29 AM, said:

This is what I love about the game, all the weapons seem useful and not minor variations of the same four or five weapons. I can't wait for this. Wonder why I ever liked Halo.

I find this to be an incredibly ironic statement to make. You did read the part about the Retro lancer, right? Besides, the weapons in Halo do not feature as many intimate similarities as you may think.

This post has been edited by Infernal Inferno: 20 August 2010 - 10:44 PM

[NiGHTS Noob]

I don't you understood him. He didn't say that Halo had samey weapons. He was just saying that Gears of War is better than Halo.

Also, did you read the part about the older lancer? The thing is much more close range oriented and seems like it'll function more like a melee weapon with an assault rifle add on than the reverse of the regular lancer.

[Infernal Inferno]

NiGHTS Noob, on 20 August 2010 - 11:01 PM, said:

I don't you understood him. He didn't say that Halo had samey weapons. He was just saying that Gears of War is better than Halo.

His comment about "samey" weapons, and then the fact that he moved on to negatively comment on Halo by comparison, felt more than coincidental..

NiGHTS Noob, on 20 August 2010 - 11:01 PM, said:

Also, did you read the part about the older lancer? The thing is much more close range oriented and seems like it'll function more like a melee weapon with an assault rifle add on than the reverse of the regular lancer.

Much more close-ranged oriented? It is the same primary fire function, simply with a different style of melee weapon attachment. Both are Rifles with a melee weapon attached.

This post has been edited by Infernal Inferno: 20 August 2010 - 11:12 PM

[Muzzy Roberto]

I dislike duck and cover games, so I shant be getting this.

[Sway]

It's pretty disingenuous to pretend Gears doesn't have a diverse range of weapons just because they added another assault rifle and another shotgun (amongst a bunch of creative new weapons). I like Halo a lot and I am really looking forward to Reach, but I have to admit that Gears and the latest CoD have knocked it down a peg or two in my book as far as shooters go, especially since ODST was sort of boring. I don't think Kenn was actually arguing this, but yes, Halo has some pretty cool weapons too, and they're definitely more varied than weapons in games set in the "real world" like RE and CoD.

[Infernal Inferno]

Sway, on 20 August 2010 - 11:49 PM, said:

It's pretty disingenuous to pretend Gears doesn't have a diverse range of weapons just because they added another assault rifle and another shotgun (amongst a bunch of creative new weapons).

Strawman. I never directly stated that Gears of Wars' weapon set wasn't diverse. I also never pretended it wasn't diverse under the influence of two new weapons being added. What I did, was acknowledge that its set of weaponry was less diverse than Halo. As for creativity, the Digger Launcher and Multiturret are the only midly unique creations I have encountered so far. I'm not even going to elabourate on the rest of your post, as CoD games are generally god-awful and mired with a plethora of issues. And the only thing Gears has done to arouse my interest so far, is Beast Mode.

And as I said, his comments seemed more than coincidental.

This post has been edited by Infernal Inferno: 21 August 2010 - 12:10 AM

[Sway]

Cool man, well enjoy Halo.

And stop using bold for everything.

[Muzzy Roberto]

He's talking about HALO, Sway! One of the more generic Space FPS in recorded history!! HIS TEXT MUST BE BOLD OR WE WON'T THINK IT'S IMPORTANT!!!

HALO, PEOPLE!! HALO!!