Gears of War 3 is the final chapter in the trilogy, which has recently released a beta. Unfortunately, this is only free to those who pre-ordered the game that is dropping September or had bought Bulletstorm. Having never played anything from the series before and having heard good things about the beta, I decided to go with the first option and give it a whirl.
For those of you who have some experience with shooters (and even those of you who don't), the Gears of War beta isn't hard to get into. There are four maps: Thrashball, Checkout, Old Town, and the Trenches. They resemble paint ball arenas and are filled with plenty of door ways, freezers, shelves, and sandbags to hide yourself behind. Which is good, because you're going to have to do. A lot. Some of these maps are confined and gritty, with Old Town being a bright juxtaposition, but they always give you the opportunity to flank the opposing team. Likewise, many of these maps have special characteristics to spicen things up. In the Trench, expect to have your vision impaired as a sandstorm hits. In Thrashball, the huge scoreboard can be shot and sent plummeting on top of anyone who happens to be underneath.
There are also three game types available: team deathmatch, capture the leader, and king of the hill. Each are played with their own twists. In team deathmatch, you share 15 respawns with your team. Whichever team is wiped out first loses, which really supports the idea of team work and revives. Capture the leader is an interesting concept where you pursue the marked leader of the enemy team and then use him for a meat shield for thirty seconds. If you succeed, you win the game. Likewise, the opposing team is chasing after your own leader, so a healthy mix between offensive and defensive needs to be deployed to be really successful. King of the hill is a game where each team pursues a particular patch of land and defends it against the opposing side. This inevitably leads to huge, concentrated fire fights where a whole team must be utilized to be effective.
Gears of Wars is renowned for having a wide array of brutal weapons complete with executions, and I can say I was duly impressed. Retro lancers, gnashers, digger launchers, incendiary grenades and a variety of others are all there to ensure you get the most bang for your goreish buck. Likewise, executions, on top of netting you extra points, are a grand way of really annoying the enemy.
That being said, this beta is a lot of fun and you can get plenty of things for participating. You gain some levels, unlock some characters, badges, and some weapon skins. However, there are some glaring flaws. Gears tendency to support team work also ends up with huge amounts of team kill stealing. You'll often see on the skillboard players who have gotten 11 downs (that is, they shot the enemy until they were on the ground and about to die) and 5 kills. Or, even more common, players who have 6 kills and 0 downs. Expect plenty of assist ribbons as you play. What may discourage new players even more, especially if they're new to the shooter scene, is team deathmatch. If you happen to be a newbie who's wasting all of your team's lives, expect some less than friendly ribbing. Likewise, expect an abundance of shot gun deaths- they're something of a favorite.
This Gears of War beta has plenty going for it and will probably be a huge hit, especially amongst shooter fans. Even for those who are new to series and even the genre can quickly learn the basics and become a real team player. I'd suggest it, if you've previously bought Bulletstorm or don't mind putting money down for the pre-order. But I'd do it fast- there are only a few more weeks left and each week you miss is another week exclusive weapon skin you miss.
For those of you who have some experience with shooters (and even those of you who don't), the Gears of War beta isn't hard to get into. There are four maps: Thrashball, Checkout, Old Town, and the Trenches. They resemble paint ball arenas and are filled with plenty of door ways, freezers, shelves, and sandbags to hide yourself behind. Which is good, because you're going to have to do. A lot. Some of these maps are confined and gritty, with Old Town being a bright juxtaposition, but they always give you the opportunity to flank the opposing team. Likewise, many of these maps have special characteristics to spicen things up. In the Trench, expect to have your vision impaired as a sandstorm hits. In Thrashball, the huge scoreboard can be shot and sent plummeting on top of anyone who happens to be underneath.
There are also three game types available: team deathmatch, capture the leader, and king of the hill. Each are played with their own twists. In team deathmatch, you share 15 respawns with your team. Whichever team is wiped out first loses, which really supports the idea of team work and revives. Capture the leader is an interesting concept where you pursue the marked leader of the enemy team and then use him for a meat shield for thirty seconds. If you succeed, you win the game. Likewise, the opposing team is chasing after your own leader, so a healthy mix between offensive and defensive needs to be deployed to be really successful. King of the hill is a game where each team pursues a particular patch of land and defends it against the opposing side. This inevitably leads to huge, concentrated fire fights where a whole team must be utilized to be effective.
Gears of Wars is renowned for having a wide array of brutal weapons complete with executions, and I can say I was duly impressed. Retro lancers, gnashers, digger launchers, incendiary grenades and a variety of others are all there to ensure you get the most bang for your goreish buck. Likewise, executions, on top of netting you extra points, are a grand way of really annoying the enemy.
That being said, this beta is a lot of fun and you can get plenty of things for participating. You gain some levels, unlock some characters, badges, and some weapon skins. However, there are some glaring flaws. Gears tendency to support team work also ends up with huge amounts of team kill stealing. You'll often see on the skillboard players who have gotten 11 downs (that is, they shot the enemy until they were on the ground and about to die) and 5 kills. Or, even more common, players who have 6 kills and 0 downs. Expect plenty of assist ribbons as you play. What may discourage new players even more, especially if they're new to the shooter scene, is team deathmatch. If you happen to be a newbie who's wasting all of your team's lives, expect some less than friendly ribbing. Likewise, expect an abundance of shot gun deaths- they're something of a favorite.
This Gears of War beta has plenty going for it and will probably be a huge hit, especially amongst shooter fans. Even for those who are new to series and even the genre can quickly learn the basics and become a real team player. I'd suggest it, if you've previously bought Bulletstorm or don't mind putting money down for the pre-order. But I'd do it fast- there are only a few more weeks left and each week you miss is another week exclusive weapon skin you miss.
