Gears of War 3

[fishepa]

Re: Gears of War 3

I'm calling you out on it

But seriously, I feel as though the hammerburst's stopping power isn't where it should be.

The hammerburst is worthless.

[pmurray20]

Re: Gears of War 3

I'm calling you out on it

But seriously, I feel as though the hammerburst's stopping power isn't where it should be.

im glad finally wont get downed by 3 bullets and as soon i i try to move. now they need to fix the lancers ammo which u can down 2 people without having to reload

[mrprice33]

Re: Gears of War 3

interesting column on gears and emotional storytelling...massive spoilers..

Spoiler

Gears 3 Spoilers & Emotional Storytelling

Taking a break from Terminator development to bring you this! A rant on what Gears does amazingly well and what it doesn’t. This post addresses plot spoilers in both Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3.

I didn’t entirely want to write a post about this but 140 character bursts are just not sufficient to really make my point (as I think is the case with most important points).

I think the Gears series is amazing at a lot of things. The cover, roll and run shooting is well done, and continues to be polished game after game.

It’s got a plethora of enemy types, but they have each been introduced carefully into the series, and each has its own distinctive behavior, so that we are able to strategize effectively when a teammate yells “BOOMER!”

The weapon selection is well done too — there are clear roles for each one, and we have quickly learned which weapons work the best against each enemy type (see above).

It also has great setpieces (by way of both environment and hulking bosses). They’re done in a way that makes you go “Oh, ****” and despite the hit/miss nature of the boss battles themselves, I love those moments.

And perhaps the most well-executed thing in the Gears series is the co-op campaign option. Here is a story about sticking together through thick and thin, and helping each other out. The game does an amazing job emphasizing companionship and brotherhood through both plot and mechanic.

What I don’t think Gears does well is emotional storytelling.

I don’t think it *has* to. Gears series is a great game as-is and I don’t believe that one of its key goals is to make you feel emotional over this plot. The characters are bigger than life, their catchphrases and actions are over the top and cheesy, and the game excels at playing up this “dude-bro”ness.

The problem is that it *tries*. It tries with the slow, moody trailer music that evokes feelings of fear and loss (Mad World, GoW 2; Into Dust, GoW 3). It tries with the moments in Gears 2 when Dom must kill his own wife, and with Tai’s suicide. It tries with Gears 3 when Dom sacrifices himself in order to save the rest of the team.

These are BIG things to pull with your players. Especially in the case of the Gears 3… this is a character that you have played alongside for the majority of the entire series, who has been a character foil for tough-guy Marcus and (as we keep being reminded) his brother to the end. Players in pairs have self-identified as Marcus and Dom, and I have a feeling that this sense of macho brotherhood has seeped into their personal interactions beyond the game (in a good way!).

So, Dom dies. You get a cutscene in which Marcus falls down and Anya rushes to him and comforts him for a few seconds.

[LOADING SCREEN]

And we’re off again! Whoever was in charge of controlling Dom is unceremoniously assigned a new character and things proceed without change.

What’s wrong here?

The series has spent three games leading you up to this point, has made a BIG DEAL out of this moment, and… that’s it. There are no consequences for this, no way of showing us that Marcus has felt anything at all (beyond a few sniffles) with the loss of his partner.

What could’ve been done? Of all games, I feel like AAA ones should be able to experiment a bit with how they handle these types of situations. They have the biggest captive audience and the experimental capital to spare.

What if in the chapter that followed Dom’s death, Marcus moved slower? Or reloaded crappy? Or wasn’t able to help downed teammates? Instead of just picking up and moving on (and yes, I understand that in real-life, you can’t always grieve your losses immediately… but this is a game. And we didn’t get a chance to grieve at all, save through cutscenes), we could’ve played through something different, something paced so that we felt the implications of Dom’s death instead of just shrugging it off.

Or even go abstract with the grieving. Give us a door that won’t open, no matter how many times we X-Button to punch through it. Let us keep punching and kicking it, over and over and over again. Over and over and over again. Make us feel that frustration, our inability to change certain things no matter how hard we try.

Plot twists alone don’t make a game deep. ‘Taking a risk’ by killing off a major character only works if you follow through. If you’re going to go for it, go for it all the way. Stories shouldn’t TELL you to feel sad. They should show you the impact of what happened, show you that things have changed and been affected by events that have passed. In the case of games, they should let the player FEEL the sadness through interactions themselves.

In the end, yes Gears 3 is a great game as-is. But it attempts to take credit for emotional storytelling that I don’t believe it deserves. I think in the years that pass people will look at Gears and claims it tells a compelling emotional story. It easily could’ve, but it doesn’t. Maybe Gears 4 will do better.

I have to say I really disagree with this. I felt like

Spoiler

mad world

was a cool nod to some of the history of the series, and I thought the characters reacted really maturely, and there were a lot of incidental dialog moments (as well as cutscenes) that characterized the event without being overbearing.

Thoughts?

[Jdoug312]

Re: Gears of War 3

^ I agree with you. In war if *that event* happened and you reacted in the proposed manner, you'd wind up dead.

And I think the hammerburst needs about another 5 or so bullets per clip, and it'll be nice and balanced. I hate always having to down someone, reload, AND THEN kill them. By that time, one of my teammates have stolen my kill.

Also, everyone add my gt "o H u n t 3 r". I'm eager to play with you guys in horde, campaign, and multiplayer

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Gears of War 3

Next DLC, 12/13/11.

http://majornelson.com/2011/10/20/ge...ming-dec-13th/

Today, Microsoft and **** Games announced “RAAM’s Shadow,” the new campaign experience for the award-winning blockbuster, “Gears of War 3.” Starring a cast of characters both new and eerily familiar to the series, “RAAM’s Shadow” will deliver more than three hours of gameplay set in a storyline that precedes the events of the first “Gears of War,” as well as six new multiplayer characters, the Chocolate Weapon Set and an additional 250 Gamerscore. “RAAM’s Shadow” will launch Dec. 13 for 1,200 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, marking the second major game add-on for this year’s critically-acclaimed blockbuster, “Gears of War 3.”

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Gears of War 3

Next DLC, 12/13/11.

http://majornelson.com/2011/10/20/ge...ming-dec-13th/

This is cool since RAAM is so popular amongst the fans, but would of loved some dlc answering some of our questions from gears 3.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Gears of War 3

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[MMurda]

Re: Gears of War 3

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F'n SICK!!

[rangersfan30]

Re: Gears of War 3

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Thats brilliant

[Jdoug312]

Re: Gears of War 3

How in the hell do I beat campaign on insane!!?

Every part with a gunker manages to kill me atleast 65 times! Now I'm in hanover and sliding down the wire with a pistol in my hand. As soon as I land a freakin gunker throws his crap at me killing me instantly! I've never been so tempted as to break a game in my life!

[Vast]

Re: Gears of War 3

I just picked this up, since my friends play this. Can't wait to get back into the gears universe. anyone still play online?

[Pete1210]

Re: Gears of War 3

I just picked this up, since my friends play this. Can't wait to get back into the gears universe. anyone still play online?

I'm stiill playing (mostly Horde mode) online.

[Jdoug312]

Re: Gears of War 3

I don't get the huge obsession with horde (or zombies) but I play versus all the time.

gt: o H u n t 3 r

Just msg me saying your from the OS.

[ESPNdeportes]

Re: Gears of War 3

I play versus and horde- and plan to for a long time.

GT: raginrapids

[C the Lyte]

Re: Gears of War 3

I'm looking for team deathmatch partners all the time.

Hit me up : GT - C the Lyte

Also, which system are you guys playing on? Im on 360

Spoiler

i KNOW