Gears of War 3

Hendo · April 9, 2010

The way they explain things in the games (setting up the history) is so bad that the following I found on the wiki page is never really clearly explained in the games:

The Gears of War series takes place on a fictional Earth-like planet named Sera. The planet had a history of conflict that took Sera to the brink of destruction. This shocked the people into a rejection of their destructive ways, leading to a golden age. Although most conflict was solved peacefully, civil liberties and crime remained as troublesome social issues. A golden age of culture, science, and the arts ensued, yet one problem stood prominent above the rest: energy. Sera's sources of petroleum and nuclear fuel were not sufficient to meet the global demand. Imulsion - with its promise of near limitless energy - was thought to be the solution to mankind's great need. Humans discovered liquid Imulsion, which flows underground, and became a key power source. The value of Imulsion led to a seventy-nine year war over the substance, until the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) was formed to put a stop to the war. Shortly after peace settled, however, humans were attacked across the planet from the Locust, a race of beings that dug their way out from underground. Much of humanity was wiped out during the first Locust attack, otherwise known as "Emergence Day," and the remaining humans gathered their numbers on Jacinto Plateau, a mass of hard rock the Locust could not burrow through; the humans that could not make it became known as the "Stranded," and took shelter among the ruins. Out of desperation, the COG employed a "scorched earth" policy by firing orbital lasers across the surface of the planet to deny the Locust any spoils of war. The COG forces and the Locust continued to battle, each side desiring the complete destruction of the other.
The campaign mode of the series has focused on the character of Marcus Fenix, a COG soldier formerly imprisoned for abandoning his post during the early Locust attacks to save his father, Adam Fenix, a key scientist studying the Locust. At the start of the first game, Marcus is rescued from an abandoned prison facility by his best friend, Dominic "Dom" Santiago, who had lost his wife Maria during the Locust attacks and has been looking for her since. Marcus, after his rescue, is readmitted to the COG force and promoted to lead Delta Squad. They are later joined by Augustus Cole, a star "thrashball" player before Emergence Day, and Damon Baird, the squad's mechanic.

The bits about energy and Imulsion pretty much blatantly show how the games are about America vs Iraq.

Even the fact that it's not set on Earth isn't explained that well in the first game.

Sly Reflex · April 9, 2010

If you bob the GoW1 disc in, and let it stay on the menus at the start, it tells you all that about the wars before and Emergence Day. why they had to hide it away like that I have no idea.

retroed · April 13, 2010

April 8, 2011.

Microsoft’s press release from earlier:

“Gears of War 3” Ignites Anticipation as the Biggest Blockbuster Game of 2011
Explosive finale to the landmark “Gears of War” trilogy available exclusively on Xbox 360 in April 2011

LONDON – 13 April 2010 – The spectacular conclusion to one of the games industry’s most memorable and celebrated sagas, “Gears of War 3,” is poised to take the world by storm next spring. At this time next year, fans around the world will experience the epic story finale to the “Gears of War” trilogy when the third installment in one of the biggest franchises in Xbox history arrives in stores April 8, 2011 in Europe.

“When we released ‘Gears of War’ more than three years ago, we set out to tell the world an unforgettable story of bravery and sacrifice in the face of insurmountable odds, and a year from now, players will get the chance to experience the final chapter in the story of Marcus Fenix and his companions in Delta Squad,” said Cliff Bleszinski, Design Director at Epic Games. “This is definitely the biggest and most dramatic chapter yet in the ‘Gears of War’ saga, and we can’t wait to deliver it.”

Developed by acclaimed studio Epic Games and available only on Xbox 360, “Gears of War 3” plunges players into a harrowing tale of hope, survival, and brotherhood that will conclude the current story arc for “Gears of War.” 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.

“Gears of War” is a blockbuster entertainment franchise that has inspired a full line of toys and collectibles, apparel, an upcoming film, graphic novels and a book series by New York Times best-selling author Karen Traviss. The award-winning video games have sold more than 12 million units worldwide, and due to their riveting multiplayer action, are some of the most popular games ever played on Xbox LIVE.

To accompany today’s announcement, Microsoft and Epic Games unveiled “Ashes to Ashes”, the first trailer for “Gears of War 3.” Created in Unreal Engine 3 by the same team behind the iconic “Gears of War” video spots (“Mad World,” “Rendezvous,” and “Last Day”), the video captures a desperate three-way battle between Delta Squad, the Locust Horde, and the fearsome new Lambent.

Additionally, fans who want to share their excitement on Xbox LIVE will be able to choose from new Avatar items, available on Avatar Marketplace starting April 20, including the new COG armor introduced in “Gears of War 3.”

For the latest developments on “Gears of War 3” and a video stream of the “Ashes to Ashes” trailer, visit www.gearsofwar.xbox.com or share updates with your friends on Twitter with #gears3.

-Ends-

Craymen Edge · April 13, 2010

I reckon the COG and the Locusts will find it's all been a big misunderstanding and have to team up to take down this bloke Lambert.

hinn888 · April 13, 2010

Yea i guess it a 3 way battle now including the luminous lot.

Hendo · April 13, 2010

Pumped!

Also, Sly said there might be female COG soldiers and he was right.

hinn888 · April 13, 2010

It was a blondie. I thought it was gonna be the redhead from the comics. Alex i think.

Hendo · April 13, 2010

4 player co-op confirmed!

The first proper Gears of War 3 gameplay details have been revealed, via a Cliff Bleszinski interview with MeriStation.
Our mate Cliff has confirmed that the third game will sport four-player co-op, an intertwining story and lots of new guns.

"One of the other things we're doing in the campaign that's cool is switching up the story a little bit," he said.

"At some point in the campaign you're not going to be Marcus and Dom - you're going to be another squad and you're going to experience their section and then eventually you're going to see some overlap and eventually they'll merge Pulp Fiction style, which is one of the cool ways that we're playing with the story this time.

"I can confirm today that we are doing 4-player co-op in the story mode," he added. "In Gears it's not the same as in other games because you're getting a story-based mode and in Gears 1 and 2 player one is Marcus and player two is Dom.

"The only way to play as Dom in the campaign is to be player two. That cascades down to players three and four; so if you want to play as Cole or Baird in the campaign, the only way you can do that is by playing three or four-player co-op."

Bleszinski explained that the third game takes place 18 months after the events of Gears of War 2, when nobody seems to know where the evil Locust Horde have disappeared off to and a new threat, the mutated Lambent are lurking in every corner.

On the weapon front Cliffy's confirmed the Pendulum Lancer - a precursor to the famous chainsaw version that "kicks like a mule" when fired and sports a nasty blade on the end for gruesome execution kills - of which Gears 3 will sport many more.

"We're looking at a double-barrel shotgun, we're looking at female Gears, we're looking at bringing back old maps - I can't confirm any but I can confirm that we will see some favourites returning," he said.

"We definitely want to improve players' ability to play with their friends and stick together as a party. We haven't announced how we're doing that yet but we definitely have plans for that."

Cliffy also promised improved lighting, a refined cover system and new moves for the third game.

Sly Reflex · April 13, 2010

I've watched the vid a few times now, and somethings don't quite add up. Marcus' scar isn't present.

Dom looks like Carlos

who is dead at the beginning of GoW, maybe Dom just grew to look like his brother?

is explained in the books and has a different armour set, the Maria tattoo looks a bit smaller than the full right bicep and it is indistinct. Look for yourself when 'Dom' is crawling after falling over. The real one looks like this. Who knows though, he might have defaced it somewhere down the line, it just doesn't add up right now

3120485576_fc3d6a3520.jpg?v=0

Cole is bald wearing some sort of headwrap with Baird, both of them look really skinny compared to their normal beefcake selves. This could be either before or after, although I am thinking after as Cole was a pro sportsman before so would have been a man mountain then.

The fight is set in an area that looks to have suffered a lot of Hammer of Dawn damage which would also indicate nods to Aspho fields, as does the Pendulum Wars era Lancer that gets given to 'Dom'. On the other hand you have Anya fighting along side them now which Cliff has said is Anya, although I think that might be a curve ball and other women could feature.. Too young for Bernie

Who was gang raped by stranded, don't know how the game will cover this, if at all if it even is her

(although her hair was greying which means she could be completely grey now) and as Hinn says wrong hair colour for Alex. Plus you have mutating Lambent Locusts like fromt he end of GoW2. I think there is going to be some serious twists in GoW3 and it's just a matter of time that the fans who have pored over every frame of that video will bring even more things to light that don't really make any sense yet.

Hendo · April 13, 2010

Fucking hell, you do know your Gears shit!

More info, some new, some not:

http://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=723963

Campaign Information
Features

Rod confirmed 4 Player Co-Op in the Gears IRC, with 4 unique characters. Rod confirmed that co-op includes Marcus, Dom, Cole, Baird and a "variety of other characters". Cliff confirms that at some points in the game you will play as an entirely different squad (that includes no Marcus and no Dom).

Story

The story is written by fantastic author Karen Traviss, who wrote the Gears of War book series

Set 18 months after Gears of War 2, and after the fourth Gears of War book.

The Coalition has disbanded or dismantled. Everyone is essentially a Stranded.

The Locust have not been seen in the time that has passed since the end of Gears 2 and the beginning of Gears 3

The location shown in the "Ashes to Ashes" trailer is a location nicknamed 'Char', where the remains of victims from the Hammer of Dawn strikes are heavily present.

Imulsion is infecting everything, not just the Locust. The Lambent are a ton of different nightmarish creatures.

Weapons

The Pendulum Lancer is in Gears of War 3

A Double Barrelled Shotgun was spotted in the Ashes to Ashes trailer. Lee Perry expands:

"FWIW, that weapon didn't exist until several hundred pages of the shotgun mechanic thread. That doesn't really give much away, considering the VAST amount of conflicting opinions in that thread; but the opinions in that thread definitely helped shape the weapon.

Haha, I wonder if we could have made a trailer with basically a slow camera pan down a new shotgun and had about the same amount of interest from existing players, hahha."

Cliff also confirms in the MeriStation TV interview (posted in the videos section) that the new shotgun does more damage but has a lower range and slower reload time than the Gnasher shotgun

Characters

Dom is now heavily bearded. According to Rod, this is due to his problems dealing with the loss of his wife.

Anya is the female COG soldier seen in the "Ashes to Ashes" trailer. We will learn more on her transition from pencil pusher to soldier throughout the books.

Enemies

Lambent Locust: These enemies mutate and transform as you fight them.

"Cliff confirms that at some points in the game you will play as an entirely different squad (that includes no Marcus and no Dom)." - Locust level?

Sly Reflex · April 13, 2010

Locust level sounds pretty cool. I am betting it will be Alpha 7 that gets a go though, it seems silly to build up a whole character and not have them in the final game. Plus we get the added bonus of having Nolan North quip at us.

hinn888 · April 13, 2010

Woah! Nice work there Sly. I thought Marcus's armour looked wrong, and i wernt even sure that was Dom at the beginning of the video

the trailer seemed like a prequel to me, like before it all started.

Hendo · May 5, 2010

Massive amount of info leaked from a Russian mag.

New Gears of War 3 gameplay details have arrived, via the pages of a Russian magazine that appeared on the internet this morning. Prepare for a BIG read...
According to the mag, the third Gears has humanity in pieces, split into tribes and fighting for their survival. After flooding the last human city, Marcus and Dom have taken refuge on an aircraft carrier called Raven's Nest (which you can see here), on which the game kicks off.

Quickly COG overlord Prescott lands on the Raven's Nest and drops the revelation that Marcus's father is still alive - and he's discovered a way to save humanity.

Here's the best bit: Marcus and co will occasionally have to defend the Raven's Nest from attack to protect their tomato patch (no, that's not a dodgy translation) as food's a bit scarce in their version of Kevin Costner's Waterworld.

The Locust have been kicked out of their homes and driven out by the mutated Lambent - the main enemy in Gears 3. According to the Russian mag, The Lambet are able to battle two-to-three Gears at the same time and once they're close to death they'll charge and explode on the nearest Human.

As our colleagues at Edge exclusively revealed, they've also got giant tentacles for reaching over cover - and these remain active even after they die.

Now the story rubbish out of the way, here's the stuff you're really interested in: Guns. Gears 3 is set to include several inventive new killing tools, top of which is a grenade launcher that fires organic bombs under the ground. After pulling the trigger, your payload burrows through the earth, underneath your targets cover and explodes - a bit like a subterranean mortar.

We already know about the Pendulum Lancer - the predecessor to the chainsaw version - but one interesting addition we don't have much info on is the DB Shotgun, a double-barrelled boomstick that takes a "long time to reload" and can only hold two shells at a time, the trade-off being that you can fire them both at the same time for massive damage. Sure to be a multiplayer annoyance.

There are three types of grenade in the third game; frag, smoke and ignitable - and they can be combined. For example lobbing an ignitable grenade followed by a frag will create a fiery hell in a closed environment.

Gears of War 3's new Lost Planet-style mech (which you can see here) is apparently called the Silver-Back and carries a hefty machine gun (infinite ammo) and grenade launcher (limited ammo). According to Russia, the Silver-Back is well protected from the front but not so much from behind.

Excitingly (if you're a mentalist), almost every gun in Gears of War 3 will have its own unique execution move, from throat-slashing bayonet kills with the Pendulum Lancer, to a neck-breaking shotgun move, head-squishing mortar smack and a flame thrower manoeuvre that sets people on fire... from the INSIDE.

Even cooler, with the meatshield you can now shove a grenade inside a captive Locust's armour and kick him towards a crowd of baddies - Sparta style.

On the multiplayer front environments now constantly shift and crumble during battles, which you can somewhat see in action via these scans. In Gears of War 3 players can also swap ammo and weapons, which is bound to solve a lot of the mortar squabbling from games past.

Other pics can be seen in the link above but I thought the mech was the most interesting.

Sly Reflex · May 5, 2010

Apparently a lot of that info is wrong. I give it until this or next months UK mags to give us the skinny.

Will Jace Stratton get a bigger piece of the action this time?

Looks like he will, seeing as he's been pictured in some of the screenies. Here's hoping some of the other literature characters get a chance to shine as well.

Hendo · May 24, 2010

More info, I've spoilered the story-specific stuff, just in case.

In Gears of War 3 you'll be able to perform flying-kick take-downs directly from cover, and there'll be a new Arcade mode with a HUD that tracks score, multipliers and your teammate's location.
There'll even be Unreal-inspired mutators available for co-op games that might swell heads to ridiculous levels or add another variable to the formula, according to GamesRadar's latest preview.

Gears of War 3 takes place 18 months after Gears of War 2, and begins on a huge naval carrier called Raven's Nest that has turned to a refuge for remaining dregs of humanity.

Hero Marcus Fenix moves through the decks looking for old friend Dom Santiago, who he finds watering his plants. Reunited, the pair soon run into Gears of War 3's new enemy, the Lambent, as gigantic stalks burst out of the water and spew Polyp onto Raven's Nest.

Polyp are fast, scuttling creatures that will be hard to hit. But they'll be the least of your worries; the Lambent Drudges are much tougher. These apparently look a bit like Locust Drones, only with glowing limbs. And they mutate.

One mutation has them grow in height and gob chunks of emulsion; another has their arms stretch and flail; another turns their legs into trunks to spawn Polyp; and yet another has their head detach and write on the floor breathing fire.

Thankfully, Gears of War 3 introduces co-op for four people during the campaign. Baird, Cole and Anya will be playable, as will newcomer Jayson Stratton. They'll need to work together to open doors, hold back fencing and even fire super weapons.

And they'll have a beefed up arsenal. That double-barrelled shotgun we mentioned earlier this month is the sawn-off Gnasher shotgun. This has an incredibly wide blast at close range but reloads slowly. A Gnasher execution involves neck snapping while reloading.

There's a new rifle called the Pendulum Airlancer that has a bayonet. This is strong up close but packs an incredible kick, making it tricky to stay on target. A Pendulum Airlancer execution involves a bayonet-stab to the side and a throat slash.

There's a beefed-up sniper rifle called the One Shot that fires bullets as big as forearms that can rip through even a Boomer's shield. There's no mention of an execution move, presumably because finished enemies will be at range.

But even the Mortar will execute: Marcus staves enemies heads in while feet spasm.

The biggest new weapon is the Silverback exo-skeleton. Not only does this have a minigun and a rocketlauncher, but players can also Roadie Run and Curb Stomp while using it. The suit overheats if overused and has a weak, unprotected rear. In defensive mode, the Silverback turns into an immovable lump of metal team-mates can use for cover.

Gears of War 3 will of course have multiplayer, although the modes are being kept under wraps for now. Maps include Overpass, a place where several earthquakes will happen during play and sink the city; Cracking Up, a map that turns from sunny to stormy to hurricane to volcano; Thrash Bash, a thrashball stadium with active scoreboard; and Barney Rubble.

Squeeeeeeeeee.

illdog · May 24, 2010

Squeeee indeed.

4 player co-op? Bash me off in my pants and call me Delilah.

Sly Reflex · May 25, 2010

I cummed.

Sly Reflex · May 28, 2010

I've been reading the books and it brought some things to mind which have never been brought up in the games. Everything after this will be spoilered, so if you plan on reading the books and comics don't click it.

First of all, the Indies.

The Union of Independent Republics or Independent Alliances was the main opponent of the Coalition of Ordered Governments during the Pendulum Wars for many natural resources. Little information is known about the Union other than that several famous members of the UIR were from the Ostri Republic and Pelles. The UIR used a mix of tactics to fight the COG, ranging from sabotage attacks on Imulsion pipelines in Sarfuth, to a fully mechanized army that fought COG troops at Aspho Fields. The UIRs greatest achievement was the creation of the Hammer of Dawn technology, which Chairman Dalyell wanted to capture and use to end the war. It is confirmed that the UIR were defeated by the COG, and the people of Sera enjoyed a new era of peace. The war was ended by the COG because Chairman Dalyell stole the Hammer of Dawn technology from the UIR and used it as a threat, therefore the Union of Independent Republics were forced to surrender, although it still took several years. The peace between the UIR and COG only lasted a few weeks before Emergence Day. But some nations refused to surrender and resorted to Guerrilla warfare. Unknown to the COG, some 4,000 UIR citizens survived Emergence Day and the Hammer of Dawn strikes and survived by moving around the continent by sea. They possesed a submarine, a tanker, a frigate and some patrol boats as well as an Imulsion Rig. They never joined the survivors at Jacinto as they didn't think it'd be any different there, but they met up with Jacinto's Remnant near the island of Vectes and joined them there. Part of the deal was that they join the COG in order to move into there, and they did at the agreement of Commander Trescu, ending any possible future hostilities with the surviving members of the UIR.

As far as I know, these people are never mentioned in detail in either game. To me that's pretty odd. Victor Hoffman, Marcus Fenix, both Carlos and Dom Santiago, Anya Stroud and her mother Helena were all born when this war was raging. Hoffman is undoubtedly the oldest person on the battlefield, yet nothing is even spoken about it even though it took up quite a sizeable chunk of his life. Bernadette Mataki is roughly the same age as Hoffman and fought roughly 27 years against the Indies, so you are looking at Victor having spent around 30 years fighting the UIR. That's a long time to be fighting an enemy and never mention them. Ever. At current standings in GoW3 Bernadette would be 60 years old. Since Hoffman is a little older that means he spent half his life in a war with this Republic.

It also mentions that guerilla groups continued to put up resistance in Republic areas. We never hear or see any of these, and even the stranded don't seem to mention this faction. Now, I am sure after the UIR surrendered to the COG that some would have ended up fighting for the COG's cause after Emergence Day. Why we have never seen a former Indie fighting alongside the current batch of COG's given that they are basically commandos and saboteurs in the same vein of Dom's COG designation. I will be really surprised if we don't see the remnants of the UIR on GoW3. As a last stand against the Locust you think they would want to put their differences aside until this major threat has been quashed.

Secondly, I want to cover the Pesangas.

The Pesang people lived on Jacinto Plateau, they are a rural peoples and with a great reputation. They volunteered their services to The Coalition of Ordered Governments as soldiers. The Pesang were not citizens or actual members of the COG. While the reason for this is not stated, Pesang troops risked their lives for the Coalition in times of war, often for little or no reward; for instance they cannot officially be awarded any medals by the COG, which Victor Hoffman resented, rebuking the current Chairman of the Coalition for implying that the Pesang needed to be conquered by them before they were eligible, and that the Pesang had helped the Coalition more than any of the COG's vassal territories.

Basically, these were the COG's Ghurka's in all but name. I always though Minh Young Kim was a Pesang, but it turns out he wasn't. Now, We have stranded from Operation Lifeboat fighting for the COG against the Locust, but it seems these old time Allies have been forgotten, which is a deep shame considering how formidable they were in battle. Their efficiency scared even Hoffman when it came to killing, it would be great to have them in the game.

Apologies for no links on this bit, you'll just have to believe me on what I have read in magazine screen shots.

The 4 player co-op is new to this game. Player 1 will take Marcus, player 2 will take Dom, player 3 will take Jace and presumably player 4 will take Anya. It is unknown if there will sometimes be a man over like in GoW2 where you have a 5 man squad consisting of Marcus, Dom, Cole, Baird and Benjamin. On opposing levels Player 1 will take control of Cole and player 2 Baird. 3up and 4up have not had characters set for them yet. Maybe one of these will be Clay Carmine, who if in the game will undoubtedly die a horrible death. I am not sure who either of these two will be to be frank though. Dizzy Wallin could be on for all I know. Could be Victor, or a UIR fighter. I wouldn't like to bet on it. It'll be interesting to keep an eye on new screen shots to see any clues to the identities of the remaining players.

Thoughts?

Apart from telling me to get out more.

Hendo · May 28, 2010

Apart from telling me to get out more.

Yep.

However...

The bit about the COG's stealing and using the Hammer of Dawn on the Indies, in the teaser trailer, Dom is running through people that have been turned to ash by the Hammer so that maybe is what that's all about.

Sly Reflex · May 31, 2010

I'm odds on Alex will make it into the game. If Jace made the jump, then she probably will too.

Gears of War 3

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