To say that I’m excited for the arrival of September 20th is an understatement – and the Gears of War 3 beta has made me all the more eager.
For the few of you who may be unaware, Epic has been bold enough to let gamers have a taste of the coveted Gears 3 Multiplayer experience, and it’s going to be worth the wait. Being fortunate enough to sneak in before the masses, I enjoyed some bragging rights on a leaderboard with only a few thousand players.
I feel obligated to preface this feature with the following: I am awful at Gears of War, and in no way is that fact a flaw in the game’s design. And as a casual player of the Gears multiplayer experience in the past, I apologize for any possible confusion between games – it’s been many moons since I last picked up my trusty Lancer.
First thing’s first – design. The menus are fluid, brisk and intuitive. Playing Gears online is no longer some tacked on piece of an epic campaign – it exists as a fully functional entity. There are stat lists for every conceivable detail of your experience, down to the percentage of times you died carrying certain weapons. For those of us who enjoy crunching the numbers, there is a veritable wealth of information at the ready. It allows competitive players to see their strengths and weaknesses at a glance while catering to the idle curiosity of a passerby such as myself.
There’s a huge emphasis on customization that anyone familiar with Call of Duty might recognize. Players can create entire profiles complete with “tags” unlocked by completing certain challenges during gameplay. During matches ribbons are awarded for specific tasks of excellence, which are added to experience point totals at the end of each round. Whether you are the first to die or the last man standing, Gears 3 will recognize you for that accomplishment. The beta demands that you fulfill specific criteria before characters/skins are unlocked, which may not be something restricted purely to the Beta. Hoping to jump right into Anya or Cole’s boots from the start? You’re going to have to earn those COG tags, soldier.
I use the term “passerby” vaguely here because I found myself much more attached to Gears 3 than previous installments. Character movement is fluid – or as fluid as a man weighed down by 50 pounds of solid armor would be expected to move. The levels are brighter and players are more easily distinguished between friend and foe. Level design is significantly improved, balancing the playing field with perfect combinations of high/low ground as well as cover/open areas.
The roster of fresh new modes that will be available for trial are: Team Deathmatch, Capture the Leader, and King of the Hill. Maps will include Thrashball, Checkout, Trenches and Old Town. For players joining in on the Bulletstorm or GameStop Preorder sides of Beta access, these will not all be immediately unlocked at the time of public beta kickoff. Though these are relations to previous modes available in the Gears franchise, I consider them a nice way to ease new players into the fold without complicating matters.
Team Deathmatch, a simplified variant of classic Warzone, is exactly what it implies; the team who eliminates their opponent by knocking off their respawns wins. Instead of just being a timed race for the high score, players must work together to survive as they share a universal set of lives. Teamwork is vital as one weak link dying repeatedly could put you at a critical disadvantage. If your team starts with 15 lives per 5 players, everyone must work to make the best use of each life, taking out the enemy and surviving as last men standing.
Capture the Leader is similar to Assassination/Guardian in previous Gears of War titles, but with regular respawns. Unlike Gears 2, if your leader is caught, players may continue to return to the match as many times as necessary. And unlike Gears’ Assassination mode, all weapons are available to the team regardless of the Leader’s activities. The object is to hold the enemy leader for 30 seconds without interruption to end the round. While you hold the target, the other team may continue to spawn without end in their attempts to thwart you. The person holding the target is able to fight back with their pistol, but your sidearm alone will not be enough to hold back the enemy reinforcements if your teammates aren’t by your side.
King of the Hill is Annex renamed, but the idea is essentially the same. A score limit is placed before both teams and areas on the map are selected where you may gain points. If your team claims that territory, it will start adding points in your favor. Unlike previous versions of King of the Hill, players are not required to stay within the circle to get points. However changing the tide of battle is quick, with claims on a territory taking only seconds to change as standing in the circle briefly can take control of it. A strong lead can be overtaken just as easily with solid teamwork and distraction from the point of interest.
Though these are just a slight sampling of Epic’s plans, they’re all solid and concise. There’s no confusion as to the terms of the game and they’re perfect for pick up and play matches. There’s no lengthy load times, no never-ending matches due to a hiccup in the rules – ideal in every sense of the word. A solid team working together can blow through their objective in mere minutes per round when put to the test, though novice players will not feel bored in the longer matches they may find themselves in.
In short, the maps were solid with enough variety and style to keep me interested in discovering more nooks and crannies with each visit. The game modes are different enough that most people will find themselves taking turns in each depending on their mood. And the gameplay itself is fluid, strong and above all – enjoyable. There’s no flaw I can find with the beta – though diehard Gears competitors may be able to discuss the strengths/weaknesses of the weapons at great length. Some things may need tweaking, but Epic does have 5 months yet to apply that final coat of polish. For a beta, something unfinished and “in progress” I cannot stress enough how impressed I am with their work.
On a side note, for anyone looking to jump into the Gears 3 Beta experience, don’t forget that there’s a list of unlockables available for translation to your final retail file, so don’t quit after just one match if you’re hoping to unlock some awesome goodies:
- “Beta Tester Medal – Simply participating in a single match of the beta will unlock this medal. In the full game, it will be displayed in the Gears 3 multiplayer lobby to let everyone know that you helped beta test.
- Thrashball Cole – To unlock the Thrashball Cole skin, simply play 50 matches in the beta. Once you’ve unlocked the skin, play 10 more matches using the skin to have it carry over to the full game. If you do not play these 10 additional matches, you’ll lose the skin when the beta ends.
- Gold Retro Lancer – Similar to the Cole skin, you unlock the Gold Retro lancer by playing 90 matches in the beta. Once unlocked, you must then get 100 kills using the Gold Retro Lancer to have it carry over to the full game. If you do not get 100 kills with it, you’ll lose it when the beta ends.
- Flaming Hammerburst – To unlock the flaming Hammerburst, simply play and complete one Gears 3 beta match by April 24th. This means you can only unlock the Flaming Hammerburst if you got early entry to the beta by purchasing Bulletstorm.
- Flaming Lancer – To unlock the flaming Lancer, simply play and complete one Gears 3 beta match between April 25th and May 1st.
- Flaming Sawed-Off Shotty– Complete one match between May 2nd and May 8th
- Flaming Gnasher Shotty – Complete one match between May 9th and May 15th
*Courtesy of Gears3Beta.com
This story was writen by Kristen Maloney
Gears of War 3 Beta access starts on April 18th for Bulletstorm owners, and runs from April 25th to May 15th for GameStop Pre-order customers.
Gears of War 3 will release exclusively on the Xbox 360 on September 20th in three editions with projected retail pricing at $59.99, $79.99 and $149.99.
