If all goes well today, I’ll be off playing the first four hours of Gears of War 3, arguably one of the biggest releases of the year – and I’m quite excited.
Bizarrely, despite the fact that it’s probably now my most played console, the Xbox 360 was the last ‘this generation’ console I bought. I picked up a Wii at launch, imported a PS3 from the US when it was delayed in Australia and didn’t buy a 360 for quite some time.
I had played other games in the various offices I had worked at, or at friends houses, but the original Gears of War was the first game I actually personally played on my own Xbox 360, and I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the franchise.
Love? Well, the obvious – you’d struggle to find a game that’s as polished as Gears of War, that’s paced as well, that feels as good to simply play. Gears of War 3 has that strange secret ingredient, that extra layer of pizzaz that means every single action you perform in the game somehow feels good – it’s enough to simply exist in the Gears of War universe. Very few games have that feeling – Mario, Halo, Assassin’s Creed. It has that genuine weight of control that I love in games.
Also, bizarrely, in ways you might not expect, Gears of War is quite innovative. It borrows from other games, sure, but the active reload, the way the weapons fire, it has a feeling that’s difficult to replicate.
And that takes me to the hate part – a part that is completely outside of Gears’ control, but must be mentioned regardless…
The imitators. The success of Gears of War is arguably its greatest issue – a market plagued with wannabe shooters, with plagiarised control schemes, with a look borrowed both from the art style of Gears and the engine it was built on. The tragedy of Gears of War’s success is that the attempt of lesser developers to borrow the elements of Gears that work has arguably reduced the potency of future Gears of War games.
Halo had the same problem before it, as did Grand Theft Auto III. That’s the price of success I suppose.
Regardless, I can’t wait to see what Epic has done with the threequel, what elements have change, what has improved, etc.
Look for a preview soon folks!
Chuloopa
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:05 PM…you bastard… you lovable, but complete bastard
The Cracks
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:15 PMSeconded. Despite the fact that I ignored the beta (which I had access to…).
Chuloopa
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:32 PMYOU bastard!
Aidan
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:10 PMAny chance you could ‘live blog’-ish the first hour?
Wildgoose used to do that with new releases (I remember Alan Wake, at least) and it was a handy way of seeing what the game was like.
The Cracks
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:46 PMI concur. More First Hour posts!
Matthew K
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:10 PMIt’s funny, I didn’t buy an XBox until the same day Halo 2 launched (which made it very hard to find Xboxes!). I bought my 360 when Gears of War launched – just coincidence. Actually, I hadn’t been doing great financially at the time and didn’t expect to be buying a “next gen” console anytime soon, so I hadn’t done any research. When my wife and I decided to splurge, Gears of War was one of the few titles I was dimly aware of.
SpandexArmstrong
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:14 PMCant wait to play Gears 3, but part of me feels that it wont be much different to Gears 2…how do I get the days? Lol
weresmurf
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:52 PMI dunno hey, I have a different feeling about 3? I feel it’ll be the sequel 2 wasn’t. 2 was an expansion pack realistically to 1. 3 feels like a full blown sequel so far…
jamesmacusedmyhandle
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:29 PMI knew I was getting an xbox the first time i saw the Gears ad with REM song.
Loved the first game, but always seemed a bit short. Never even played the second :(
weresmurf
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 3:25 PMREM song? You mean the Mad World song?
Matthew K
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 3:26 PMREM? Are you sure you don’t mean Mad World by Gary Jules (also well known for its appearance in Donnie Darko)?
In any case I always thought that was an odd choice of song to promote the game with and it didn’t even really seem to fit the ad. I wonder if they were trying to capitalise on the ongoing success of Donnie Darko in the young male demographic.
jamesmacusedmyhandle
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 4:23 PMoops :(
I always thought it was REM covering Tears for Fears (I ain’t seen Donnie Darko)…
Least i didn’t think it was Adam Lambert or Glee ;)
Matthew K
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 7:54 PMEasy mistake to make, I fact-checked on Google (I was 99% sure but, you know, had to check) and there’s a few people out there who think it was REM.
Johnny Sweetbread
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:47 PM“Love? Well, the obvious – you’d struggle to find a game that’s as polished as Gears of War, that’s paced as well, that feels as good to simply play.”
Like Gears of Whore 2 with its polished and faultess multiplayer? Where you struggle to find a game and is plagued by drop outs?
Third time lucky I guess.
cayal
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 3:01 PMAwesome, Gears is one of the few games I play on my 360 (Mass Effect ftw though).
Essentially it’s like a B grade movie from the 80s, and I love it. Just great fun.
I expect Gears 3 will be much the same fun as the others.
Dylan ashton
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 3:18 PMThis should be called ” Be Right Back, Off To Play Being a massive faggot”
NotoriousR
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 3:30 PMಠ_ಠ
Johnny Sweetbread
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 3:51 PMLol. I play gears and don’t like Bleszinski – I think he is an absolute douche and should’ve disappeared along with his game Jazz JackoffRabbit. BUT…
You can’t take Gears too seriously, I enjoy playing it. You need to take it for what it is and that’s a bit of mindless, thoughtless wholesome fun. I think Bleszinki has proven to us over the years that he is incapable of thought and ANY game he is involved with will end up featuring tight buns, sweatiness, rockets, explosions and chainsaws. Don’t expect a story driven, emotional epic because you won’t get one… EVER.
attila
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 4:58 PMFour player co-op campaign FTW
MrTaco
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 5:43 PMI played through the whole of the first GoW game in co-op with a friend or two.
I really don’t know why I played through the whole thing, when I didn’t find a single moment of it to even be the slightest bit of fun or in any way entertaining.