Gears of War 3 is a 2011 third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the third installment of the Gears of War series, and final game in the original trilogy. Originally due for release on April 8, 2011, the game was delayed and eventually released on September 20, 2011. The story was written by science fiction author Karen Traviss.
Like its predecessors, Gears of War 3 received widespread critical acclaim from critics. Critics praised its story, voice acting, visuals, and music, but criticized its lack of innovation. Gears of War 3 sold over 3 million copies and was the second best selling game in the U.S.
A sequel titled Gears of War 4, developed by The Coalition, was released in 2016.
Gameplay Like its predecessors, Gears of War 3 is a third-person shooter that emphasizes the use of cover and squad tactics in order to survive combat situations. The player's character can carry four weapons: one pistol, one set of grenades, and two primary weapons. Firearms can be swapped with other weapons dropped by fallen foes or at stockpiles throughout the game, along with ammunition. When the player reloads a weapons ammunition, they have an opportunity for an "active reload", shown by a small cursor moving over a line with a marked section on the player's heads-up display (HUD). If the player hits a control button when the cursor is in the marked section, they will reload faster with the resulting reload being slightly more powerful than normal bullets, causing more damage to opponents as well as allowing for more "knockback" meaning that enemies running directly at you will be slowed on shot. If they press the button outside this section, this temporarily jams the weapon, leaving the player vulnerable and taking longer to reload. Alternatively, the player can opt to not try for the active reload, reloading the weapon at normal speed, but with no added damage.
When in combat, the player can take some damage from enemy fire, filling a blood-colored "crimson omen" on the HUD as a measure of the player's health, unlike the traditional health bar in other shooters. By staying out of the line of fire, this will dissipate over time, but by taking too much damage, the player will become downed or killed, and must be "revived" by an ally within a short "bleed-out" period, or else the player will die, unless playing the game on Insane difficulty in which case a player will die immediately after taking too much damage without the bleed-out. The player can also be killed during the bleed-out by the use of the game's signature execution moves by the enemy. Some types of damage, such as explosives or head shots, can kill the player immediately without the bleed-out period. Similarly, the player can also cause enemies to fall into bleed-out in the same manner. The player and their allies and enemies can use nearly any structure as cover, firing blind from behind it or leaning out to take aimed shots while usually exposing their head more. Players can quickly switch between nearby covering walls or jump over lower cover to rush forward. Within Gears of War 3, some cover can be destroyed after taking some amount of damage, which can be used to a tactical advantage to draw out enemies from cover.
New to Gears of War 3 is the ability to tag enemy opponents; computer-controlled allies will then concentrate fire on these marked enemies, while human allies will be alerted to their location on their HUD. Players can now also swap weapons and ammunition (and money during Horde Mode) with other allies in the course of battle.
The player maintains an experience level that persists across all game modes. The player earns experience through kills, performing special types of kills and executions, reviving and aiding teammates, and through general process of the campaign or competitive modes. Players can also gain experience points by winning medals and ribbons, which are awarded for defeating enemies with certain weapons or winning several matches. Earning levels unlocks the use of special characters and weapon skins within the game's multiplayer mode.
Synopsis Setting
Gears of War 3 takes place two years after Jacinto, humanity's last stronghold, is destroyed in an effort to completely eradicate the Locust Horde. The Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) remnants relocate to Vectes, a secluded island, in order to rebuild their civilization. The COG then disbands after Chairman Prescott mysteriously disappears and seemingly abandons his forces. A new foe, the Lambent, are threatening humanity's dwindling numbers. As the Lambent begin to invade Vectes, Marcus Fenix and his comrades retreat to the CNV Sovereign, a helicopter carrier, and take refuge at sea, whilst Hoffman leads other survivors back to the mainland to find haven at Anvil Gate. Delta Squad now consists of Marcus Fenix, Dominic 'Dom' Santiago, Anya Stroud, Damon Baird, Augustus 'Cole Train' Cole, Jace Stratton, Clayton Carmine and Samantha 'Sam' Byrne.
Plot
Gears of War 3 begins with Chairman Prescott unexpectedly arrives on the CNV Sovereign. Prescott informs Marcus Fenix he needs to relay important information to the ship's senior officer, Captain Michaelson. The Lambent launch a surprise attack on the ship, which leaves Michaelson dead and Prescott mortally wounded. Before dying, Prescott gives Marcus an encryption to the disc that Colonel Hoffman stole and reveals that his father, Adam Fenix, is still alive. Adam is captive on Azura, a secret COG base, that is now occupied by Queen Myrrah of the Locust. Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird fight their way to the Anvil Gate Fortress, where Hoffman possesses the necessary equipment to decrypt Prescott's disc. The contents of the disc reveal that Azura is an island bunker protected by an artificial hurricane, making the island only accessible by submarine.
Hoffman believes there should be submarines at the Endeavor Naval Shipyard in Halvo Bay, but it require Imulsion to fuel it. Dom suggests they detour to Mercy, an Imulsion township. There, they discover that humans are becoming Lambent. During extraction, the Gears are nearly overrun by Locust and Lambent forces. Dom sacrifices himself with an explosion that wipes them out. Demoralized, they are forced to continue their search for fuel in the city of Char after their truck runs out of fuel. The ruined city is inhabited by several Stranded civilians led by Aaron Griffin (voiced by Ice-T). Despite his dislike for the COG, Griffin reluctantly tasks Marcus to recover a supply of Imulsion. After acquiring the fuel, they are attacked by the Myrrah's forces. Griffin's people sustain heavy casualties in the ensuing battle, but the Gears are ultimately able to escape with the fuel. They reach the shipyard where Myrrah's forces are stationed. They defeat the Locust and prepare their submarine.
Delta arrives at Azura, discovering that it's a luxury bunker for Sera's most elite and powerful individuals. Adam contacts them and reveals he is being held captive atop Azura's main hotel tower. Delta shuts down the maelstrom barrier and ensues the final battle. After fighting through waves of Locust and Lambent, Marcus is reunited with his father. Adam explains that Imulsion is a living organism, a parasite, similar to fungus. He worked with Myrrah prior to Emergence Day on trying to stop the Lambent in order to keep the Locust underground, but he ran out of time. Since then, he created the Imulsion countermeasure, a targeted-radiation weapon aimed at killing all living cells colonized by Imulsion. Marcus and his squad protect Adam from the Lambent and Myrrah's forces. As the Imulsion countermeasure is activated, Adam reveals that he had to infect himself with Imulsion in order to test his machine, which causes him to disintegrate. Myrrah, who survived the final attack, insults Adam and mocks Marcus's grief before he kills her with Dom's commando knife.
Meanwhile, the machine emits a radiation wave that sweeps across Sera. Humans claim victory as the Lambent disintegrates into dust, Sera's Imulsion is destroyed, and the Locust are seemingly killed as their bodies become crystallized from the Imulsion that resided in their cells. During the celebrations, Marcus mournfully wonders what humanity has left. He is comforted by Anya, who assures Marcus that the sacrifices of Adam, Dom, and their comrades have guaranteed humanity a future.
RAAM's Shadow A DLC acting as a secondary single player campaign to Gears of War 3, the player takes control of both General RAAM, the Locust's main General, and Michael Barrick of Zeta-Six from the Gears of War comic series set during the Evacuation of Ilima several years before the first Gears of War game. Other major characters include Lieutenant Minh Young Kim from Gears of War, Tai Kailso from Gears of War 2, new character Alicia Valera and Jace Stratton from the comics and Gears of War 3. The main setting, the COG city of Ilima, previously briefly appeared in Gears of War 2 as ruins.
The surviving COG city of Ilima is besieged by a coming Kryllstorm, a mass of millions of Kryll that will devour everything in their path once the city is dark enough. To speed up the Kryllstorm, Locust General RAAM leads an elite unit throughout Ilima, decimating COG resistance and summoning Seeders to black out the sky faster. Throughout the battle, RAAM is instructed by Queen Myrrah who sees taking Ilima as a stepping stone towards reaching the COG capital city of Ephyra.
At the same time, Zeta-Six is assigned to help evacuate Ilima via convoys of APCs, only to have their checkpoint attacked by massive Locust forces. Repelling multiple waves, Zeta ultimately uses the Hammer of Dawn to finish off the attacking Locust and is reassigned to help another squad defending a bank with civilian survivors inside. Zeta fails to save the other Gears and most of the civilians, but discovers a young Jace Stratton holed up inside of the bank's vault. The squad rescues Jace and escorts him to a convoy for evacuation, killing several Seeders and a Brumak to protect the convoy. At Jace's request, Zeta agrees to check out the local high school where Jace believes that there might be more survivors, including his adoptive father Dr. Wisen.
Reaching the high school, Zeta finds it to be a COG evacuation center which has been overrun by the Locust, including a Berserker, packs of Wretches and several giant Serapedes. However, they overhear a message from Dr. Wisen directing the survivors of the attack on the school to retreat to his nearby orphanage. Zeta fights their way back outside, managing to kill the Berserker by using several exploding cars in the parking lot. Finding their comms blocked by the Seeders and with time running out, Zeta fights their way to city hall where Barrick uses the mobile command center located there to take control of the Hammer of Dawn and kill the Seeders. With communications restored and less than half an hour left until the city is consumed, Zeta contacts Command who reveals that they are the only COG forces left in the city. As Kim refuses to abandon the survivors at the orphanage, Command agrees to redirect the last APC to meet them there for evacuation.