Gears of War 3

[JetLagger]

It's partially to resolve the situation where there are guns on the ground and a downed teammate and the game keeps picking up guns every time you press 'X' rather than reviving your DBNO buddy.

Tap to revive, hold to pick up.

I'll tip my cap and concede that point. Too many times I've picked up a gun while furiously tapping to revive a teammate who is about to be stomped.

Surprised no one has mentioned designating targets. A great gameplay addition when things get crazy in horde mode and specific targets need to be focus fired.

Also my new favorite gun is the two man Vulcan cannon. My horde pug got one in a box drop. I grabbed the ammo feed and another player grabbed the gun. A few seconds after figuring out what to do, we wiped the map clean. Good times.

-Tim

[William Abner]

It's not worth reading the numbers metacritic assigns for Gameshark. When I was working there, we were basically told that they were going to assign us the values they felt out letter grade system represented, and we could like it or lump it. That's my recollection, at least - we weren't asked or consulted, they just picked a number and stuck it on there. I recall being pissed about the number they claimed I'd given a game on more than one occasion.

Every site that uses letter grades deals with that. It makes sense, technically, how MC does this. The MC scale tries to use the 0-100 scale, whereas when people see a letter grade they automatically associate it with "anything under a 65 is an F", so they see 67 and think "wow, that sucks" when that may not be what the writer intended.

Tom's Starcraft 2 review was a B which turned into a 75 and then someone at Blizzard said to him, "Hey you're that guy that gave us a 75."

So a "C" at a site that uses letters turns into a 50 at MC because it's half the scale. A 50 on MC is supposed to mean "average game" but most people still read that as a failing grade.

[WarrenM]

Oh yeah, spotting is WAY useful. For those don't know, click the left stick when you're zoomed in looking at an enemy. Calling out boomers and kantus during horde really helps everyone out...

[forgeforsaken]

Oh yeah, spotting is WAY useful. For those don't know, click the left stick when you're zoomed in looking at an enemy. Calling out boomers and kantus during horde really helps everyone out...

You can spot weapons too.

[MSUSteve]

Oh yeah, spotting is WAY useful. For those don't know, click the left stick when you're zoomed in looking at an enemy. Calling out boomers and kantus during horde really helps everyone out...

Nice! I will definitely be using this. I don't recall the game even pointing this out to me.

[idrisz]

I don't recall the game even pointing this out to me.

it did, at beginning of the game when you go try to save that dude who just came down from the helicopter.

[LeSquide]

I've played a little bit of Gears 1 and 2 and liked them, but never beat either of them. Would Gears 3 still be worth playing on its pure shooty merits?

[Adam B]

Absolutely. Pure shooty is what it does best.

[flyinj]

Absolutely. Pure shooty is what it does best.

I have to agree. I enjoyed Gears 1, and was bored silly by Gears 2.

I only picked up Gears 3 because of it's ridiculously high review scores. I was not disappointed. This game delivers shooty awesomeness on a sublime level.

[Telefrog]

Whooo

*it's an Easter egg from act 1.

The Easter eggs in the game so far have been awesome. (I just started Act 2 last night.)

[delirium]

I have to agree. I enjoyed Gears 1, and was bored silly by Gears 2.

I only picked up Gears 3 because of it's ridiculously high review scores. I was not disappointed. This game delivers shooty awesomeness on a sublime level.

Cool.. I'm on the fence on Gears 3 after feeling pretty meh about Gears 2 but really liking the first one. The first Gears of War is still one of my favorite co-op gaming experiences and the 4 player co-op might be too sweet to pass up. Glad to hear that this one is better than Gears 2.

[Gary Whitta]

It's been a while so what the hell.

[WarrenM]

YES..

[JZigish]

That's a good question, I'm not sure honestly but it's definitely just the Back button when playing single player.

And it's entirely possible that cut scene wasn't flagged as skippable for some reason. I wouldn't rule it out. :)

The host has to hit the back button. Everyone else gets to yell at the host. There's also like 2 cutscenes that aren't skippable for Obscure Technical Reason that involves the end of the world. Btw, if you're the kind of person who likes to skip cutscenes I HIGHLY recommend arcade mode, it's built for you. There are points!

[JZigish]

I'll tip my cap and concede that point. Too many times I've picked up a gun while furiously tapping to revive a teammate who is about to be stomped.

Surprised no one has mentioned designating targets. A great gameplay addition when things get crazy in horde mode and specific targets need to be focus fired.

Also my new favorite gun is the two man Vulcan cannon. My horde pug got one in a box drop. I grabbed the ammo feed and another player grabbed the gun. A few seconds after figuring out what to do, we wiped the map clean. Good times.

-Tim

The X Button Wars during playtest were legendary. We tried literally every combination of buttons to figure out what made the most sense for pickup. The worst case is when there are several weapons, a teammate dbno, and an enemy dbno in the same location, which is very common in multiplayer. What came out the other end isn't perfect and takes some getting used to, but it's far superior to the other alternatives we tried. Btw, teammate revive takes priority over everything else the x button does, and this time around the icon indicating what you do actually matches with what the x button will really do.

[Octonoo]

HAW! HAW! HAW!

It is obvious this game was made by trolls for trolls.

I am really enjoying it.

Thank you, Mr. Brzezinski.

Now let us see if I will get burned three times in a row by being able to buy a Gears of War game while in Asia but be unable to download any of its DLC...

[Demon G Sides]

Honestly, best Gears game so far. I'm only on Act 2 and so far my dreams have come true, and the return of one of the best characters ever.

[delirium]

DGS, that's kind of a spoiler eh?

[Demon G Sides]

No? I didn't mention who, and there are a couple of character who are mentioned in other media who aren't shown. In act two, I can think of like, 3 characters you haven't seen yet (Though one is going between Act 2 and act 3), and it's not like I said he was a fan favorite, I have no idea if he is.

Played Horde, and it is definitely so much better than the already phenomenal Horde from Gears 2. The buying mechanic is awesome.

[Brakara]

Surprised no one has mentioned designating targets. A great gameplay addition when things get crazy in horde mode and specific targets need to be focus fired.

It's actually very useful in all modes. In the campaign to have the AI concentrate fire on enemies you spot; In Horde as you said (and Beast for that matter); and in Versus to create fast situational awareness for your team mates without shouting into the mic. I just wish more people were using it.

[WarrenM]

I think it's an organic thing. People will see the markers, ask what they are, get told, start using them, rinse, repeat. At least we hope so. :)

[Telefrog]

Bravo, Epic! I have not played in a MP game without seeing at least one person with a pink or rainbow weapon.

[DrDel]

anyone notice gears3 chugs along on xbox 360? cinematics stutters intermittently?

xbox 360 slim, 1 year old.. game installed on hdd (internal 250)

[WarrenM]

Del

The cinematics are a little chuggy at times but the game itself should be smooth.

[Telefrog]

Yeah, I've not seen any slowdown in-game. There will be a little frameskip in cinematics, but the rest of it is smooth as can be. I think that's a fair trade.

[Guido Jones]

I had a slow down when I was aiming to throw a grenade somewhere in Act 2 - probably 10 or so enemies on the screen at the time.

[WarrenM]

Heh, OK, yes, if shit is crazy you might get a blip here and there. But under normal conditions, the game should be buttery smooth.

[DrDel]

Del

The cinematics are a little chuggy at times but the game itself should be smooth.

Ok. I was just wondering if others experience this.

Solid game so far WarrenM. Kudos. Great work.

[Demon G Sides]

I've had no stutters, and only one bad texture pop. Not installed tho.

[Harkonis]

I had a slow down when I was aiming to throw a grenade somewhere in Act 2 - probably 10 or so enemies on the screen at the time.

kill stuff faster ;) If there are 10 or more enemies on screen, you're doing it too slowly!