Gears of War 3: The Basics

Gears of War 3 is scheduled to release this fall and continue the ongoing saga of Marcus Fenix and his band of surviving humans in their fight against the Locust horde. What can you expect from this upcoming entry into the Gears of War universe and what do we know so far?
What's the story?

Gears of War 3's campaign is still shrouded in mystery. We now know that the story kicks off on a mysterious message from Adam Fenix, who may or may not be alive, and the surviving humans are gathered on Sovereign. The first campaign trailer shows off lots of Lambent enemies, zip lines, enemies with jump-jet style packs, and more. Check out the trailer below:


We do know that the main game can be played cooperatively with four players and that Anya Stroud steps in as a playable character -- but we don't know how everything is connected. Certain sections of the campaign are replayed from different perspectives (depending on how many players there are), such as the fight against the Lambent Leviathan.

While the full path of the story is unclear, you can check out this insightful video to get caught up on what's happened in the series so far:



What's different on the multiplayer side?

For the first time in the series, Gears of War 3 adds a straight team deathmatch mode. Rather than time the round or build to a certain number of kills, Gears deatmatch gives each team 15 spawns and once those run out, whoever is left standing wins the round. It's quick, it's brutal, and it is a great improvement to the old multiplayer formula. Multiplayer has up to 10 players, with bots filling in any gaps in the two sides through the various game-type offerings.

Horde mode returns, in which teams battle waves of Locusts of increasingly difficult skill. But this time the mode is called Horde 2.0. In this update, the game now offers up a monetary system and tower-defense-style emplacements. Additionally, every tenth wave will offer up a boss, rather than just standard troops.



A new multiplayer mode coming to Gears of War 3 is Beast mode. This change is basically the reverse of Horde mode. You play the Locust fending off wave after wave of human as you earn tokens to unlock stronger classes.

Are there any new weapons and gameplay tweaks?

Yes!

Gears of War 3 introduces the Digger Launcher, the Sawed-off Shotgun and the Incendiary Grenade.

The Digger Launcher shoots an explosive charge that shoots underground and blows up underneath enemies in the distance (if you aim well).

The Sawed-off Shotgun is a wide-angle shotgun that only has four shots and takes a long time to reload.

The Incendiary Grenade throws just like other grenades in the series but it disperses a splash of flames that can down and kill players (or yourself).

One huge gameplay change is the addition of the Mantle Kick. While in cover, you can jump over the barricade and into an enemy. This kick will stun the enemy giving you a chance to incapacitate and kill them.

Gears of War 3 also features single-man mech-suits called Silverbacks. These powerful suist have heavy-firepower and are found in both the campaign and Horde 2.0.

What characters will be in the game?

From the trailers and the multiplayer beta we know of the following characters appearing in the new game, but we don't know the extent of their involvement in the campaign.

Marcus Fenix

Dom Santiago

Augustus Cole

Damon Baird

Anya Stroud

Jace Stratton

Clayton Carmine

Samantha Byrne


The multiplayer beta also revealed both Prescott and the Locust Queen being playable as the leader in Capture the Leader.

When does it come out?

Gears of War 3 releases on September 20, 2011 on Xbox 360.

Awesome! After having a conversation with Twyst3d, I decided to give in and try the third Gears of War game. =) Like he said, I don't even know what I'm missing.