So Gears of War 3 for the Microsoft Xbox 360 just hit stores yesterday….The question on everyone’s mind is whether or not the final part in this Epic Games trilogy would live up to the hype. Our friends over at The Gamer Studio hit us with an exclusive early review of this blockbuster of a game. So did it live up to expecations? Did Microsoft publish another AAA hit, or did they strike out on their third time up to bat? Read the review below and decide for yourselves, let’s just say there is a lot of mayhem to commence! Shouts out to The Gamer Studio for this detailed Gears of War 3 review!

AAA games have an air of pressure around them. Considering the money and the talent behind them, expectations have to be high. The Gears of War franchise has been a routine heavy hitter for Epic. Cliff Brzezinski and his team have used this to create a benchmark for which all over the shoulder shooters will be judged. Make no mistake, Gears of War 3 is the best in the series, and leaves in its path huge shoes for any shooter to fill.

For most shooters, the Single Player experience tends to be left behind to focus on Multiplayer features. Gears of War 3 doesn’t sell out its fans who really care about the adventures of Marcus Fenix. This may be the most impressive thing up front; you actually get a single player experience.

The writing is impressive. Most shooters lend themselves to keeping subtitles on and plowing through cut scenes. Gears of War 3 brings you into the world of its characters, a lot more than the previous game in the series. The player really gets to see a lot of Augustus Cole’s personality early in the game, taking him from side character to more of a feature like Dominic Santiago. The character development of not just the Cole Train, but of the rest of the team really brings emotion. By the end of the game, you feel like you know these guys even more, and care about their actions.

Character development means nothing if the game isn’t playable, and Gears of War 3 brings some subtle improvements to those used to playing previous games in the series. The biggest improvement is the RB button that shows the current objective. It streamlines finding your next objective so you can really focus on taking out the Lambent and the Locust. Add that with the solid controls, and you really can get to work pretty efficiently.

Once you are finished the campaign, you can start in on arcade mode. In short, arcade mode is a chance to play the game for points. Your scores are placed on a board and you can compare with your friends. It’s pretty easy to get a competitive thing going on with friends, even if you aren’t a huge fan of a deathmatch situation.

Of course, plenty people get this for the multiplayer aspect, and there is more here also. Co-op is now up to 4 people, this goes for Arcade and Campaign mode. It makes it a bit more interesting when running with 3 of your friends on Insane instead of AI.

Horde 2.0 and Beast are two other cooperative play modes. For people who played Gears of War 2, Horde gets a facelift. Now it isn’t just a survival game, but more like tower defense. The addition of Towers and supplies makes Horde a lot more strategic. Epic ups the ante by adding boss battles every 10 levels.
Beast is the new addition to the series. This allows you to play as Lambent, doing your best to take out Humans and Locusts. It’s an interesting parallel running against as the mindless. It is 12 rounds of mayhem.

It isn’t hard to tell after playing Gears of War 3 that it is worth its AAA distinction. The single player experience is top notch. It lends itself to the budget; the writing, animation, and flow are top notch. The multiplayer modes have more than enough entertainment to keep you coming back for more. For anyone who is looking for a game that will impress the first time as much as the last, Gears of War 3 is a great bet. In short, they have done it again. — By: Adam Thomas of TheGamerStudio.com