I mostly played the first two because the single-player has been a uniquely-designed, intense, over-the-top mess with creative weapons, enemies, and set-pieces, and I swore that I would only buy GoW3 so I can finish off the SP trilogy when the game got cheap. I gave in and bought Gears 3 out of curiosity and boredom, and I'm incredibly impressed with what they did. The SP ramps up the crazy, the game finishes off the story nicely (something a lot of modern games need to know how to do), and it seems like they hired some decent writers now, because the characters and narrative are more fleshed out and better-designed (not perfect or amazing, but above the bar for most games).

What surprises me most is the multiplayer, though. I didn't dig MP in the old Gears games, mainly because it was a run-in-a-circle shotgun duel no matter how I played it. Even the co-op Horde Mode rarely resulted in any real teamwork or strategy, but I have been having an absolute blast online. Horde Mode and Capture the Leader are my favorites, the former being re-designed to favor more teamwork, and the latter being an intense game of both attack-and-escort where you have to balance out your offense and defense so that you can protect your leader (randomly chosen character) while going after the enemy's. I'm looking for more people to play with, so if you have it, my XBL tag is Pennsylvanian. Invite me or I'll invite you, I'm up for a game anytime.

Preng wrote:

So far I have been very pleased with Gears of War 3. The Arcade Campaign, Horde, and Beat modes have been well-designed for a good bit of casual co-operative fun, and multiplayer is very satisfying. However, in a long-term look, I believe the game's unlock structure is far too grindy. Most of the medals won't be much of a problem, but they've included some extremely silly ones. There's a medal for pressing "X" at doors, ladders, and other areas within campaign. Why does this exist? The Sawed-off Shotgun is also a bit frustrating when opposing teams get mad and start using it in mass quantities.

1)Need to try Beast, want to get that Savage Theron skin.

2)Agreed, especially those "Earn all of the medals" ones. Luckily, none of the unlocks give you a real edge, so they're mostly just a sign of earning the stuff, so no harm in the long run.

3)Yes, but it's so fun. I see some kind of nerf in the future, though.