Famitsu Goes Nuts for Gears of War 3

[Logan Westbrook]

Famitsu Goes Nuts for Gears of War 3

Four-player co-op and strong multiplayer scores points for Gears 3 in Japan.

The Xbox 360 isn't a huge hit in Japan, but that doesn't mean that a good game can't get some kudos from the Japanese gaming press. Famitsu, one of Japan's leading videogame magazines, has given Gears of War 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Gears-War-3-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0H79C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316776879&sr=8-1] a near-perfect score in its latest issue.

Famitsu's four-person panel awarded the game three tens and a nine, a score shared by only 25 other games in the magazine's 25-year history, and only beaten by a further 15. Famitsu's reviewers praised the game's graphics and multiplayer, as well as the ability to play through the story with four players. The magazine listed 15-20 hours to complete the main story, and then an infinite amount of playtime for the game's multiplayer; the publisher apparently often supplies these figures however, so make of that what you will.

Sadly, despite this excellent review, Gears 3 won't shift millions of units in Japan, because the install base just doesn't exist there. Then again, it may help Microsoft sell a few more consoles in Japan, which is good news for everyone.

Source: Andriasang [http://andriasang.com/comya7/]





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[Zhukov]

Uh huh. Wasn't that the magazine that gave Metal Gear Solid 4 a perfect score?

[sub](Ohhh, look at me being all edgy and cynical.)[/sub]

 

[Yosato]

Usually I'd be jumping up and down saying that Gears 3 deserves such excellent praise, but Famitsu also gave Final Fantasy XIII that same score. Also look at the other games it's given the honour of a 40 or a 39.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famitsu#Perfect_scores

Nintendogs? Bayonetta? Pokemon Black&White? Final Fantasy XIII? Ultimate Ninja Storm? CoD Black Ops? New Super Mario Bros.?

I've played all of those games. Some are good, but I wouldn't call any of them perfect score material by a long way.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Well that's nice, isn't it.
Their top scoring games do seem to be a rather mixed bag, but who knows, maybe it will help sell a few systems over there. MS could certainly use the credibility.

 

[Synonymous]

As noted above, Famitsuu is a bunch of easy graders; there's hardly a game they don't give a stellar grade. I really wish we'd stop paying attention to them.

 

[Togusa09]

Must be my age, but these days a perfect score seems a good reason not to play a game, as they usually seem to be manufactured for a relatively large existing fanbase, usually with a decent amount of disposable income, without reguard to expanding the franchise.

Meta score of 70 - 80 is where it's at.

 

[Trasken]

"15-20 hour to finish the campaign"

Bullshit, you're lucky if you get 10

 

[Adzma]

I wonder if the Japanese players giggle as much at the huge macho characters of GOW as we in the West giggle at their androgynous teens.

Tis interesting to see that there is a player base for this type of game over there.

 

[Rayansaki]

This isn't that big. Great, Gears of War 3 achieved the exact same score as Final Fantasy 13.

 

[harvz]

uh, ok, i guess.
i dont mind the gears of war series, but im not paying $98AUD for it and seeing as ebgames has pretty much locked prices and that its not on pc so my options are limited, i doubt i will be playing it for at least 12 months.

 

[Ghengis John]

This isn't that big. Great, Gears of War 3 achieved the exact same score as Final Fantasy 13.

Yes but you see, Gears is a big unabashed western game. For it to do so well with the famitsu staff it not only has to be good, it has to be good enough to impress despite their distaste for shooters and the Xbox 360. In some respects Gears could be seen as the Rosa Parks of western Developed super macho space marine shooters. Granted, those respects would be slightly insane, but it's a matter of perspective.

 

[go-10]

15-20 hours?

man the Japanese must suck at shooters, 5 hours at most 8 if you're a noob

 

[Rayansaki]

This isn't that big. Great, Gears of War 3 achieved the exact same score as Final Fantasy 13.

Yes but you see, Gears is a big unabashed western game. For it to do so well with the famitsu staff it not only has to be good, it has to be good enough to impress despite their distaste for shooters and the Xbox 360. In some respects Gears could be seen as the Rosa Parks of western Developed super macho space marine shooters. Granted, those respects would be slightly insane, but it's a matter of perspective.

Their distaste of shooters didn't stop them from giving the same score to MW2 and RDR and Black Ops.

 

[bakan]

Usually I'd be jumping up and down saying that Gears 3 deserves such excellent praise, but Famitsu also gave Final Fantasy XIII that same score. Also look at the other games it's given the honour of a 40 or a 39.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famitsu#Perfect_scores

Nintendogs? Bayonetta? Pokemon Black&White? Final Fantasy XIII? Ultimate Ninja Storm? CoD Black Ops? New Super Mario Bros.?

I've played all of those games. Some are good, but I wouldn't call any of them perfect score material by a long way.

Well, in my opinion you shouldn't give games a perfect score.

Nevertheless don't hate on Bayonetta, it was awesome!

"15-20 hour to finish the campaign"

Bullshit, you're lucky if you get 10

As mentioned in the article the publisher gives out these numbers

 

[ccesarano]

Yeah, the 15-20 hours thing kind of concerned me as well. Single player on Hardcore won't even last me 10 hours. Unless there's an unseen asterisk where they include dying eight hundred times and doing a lot of repeats.

 

[Ghengis John]

Their distaste of shooters didn't stop them from giving the same score to MW2 and RDR and Black Ops.

Well to be fair, RDR wasn't really a traditional shooter. It was more an RPG. Yeah you shot guns, but you also wandered around a vast countryside, exploring freely and doing quests.

I personally would say it did as bad as FF13.

How they thought that box of crap was "near perfect" is beyond me and ruins their credibility.

I would say it's a matter of personal preference, or maybe cultural differences. You have to think that somebody released FF XIII and was happy with that product when they put it on the shelf, and some people out there as you see from cosplays and fan panels honestly loved it. I never even played it, but I'm citing it to note the Japanese love for games like final fantasy, not a personal value assessment.

But thank you for taking time out of your schedule to let me know that you hate things.

 

[Jandau]

Reading Gears3 articles makes me want to reinstall GoW1, play it and then ***** about how Cliffy B and his mates decided not to give me the other two games on the PC as well...