jullebull

Seeing split screen nowadays are rare and that's what caught peoples attention with this game. Playing with a friend at one couch brings many laughs and experience the crime saga together can be truly enjoyable, I think the game is just above mediocre but you still must play it. It's a special and new experience, the concept is new and while the story was okay the split screen made this game.

To begin with, the voice acting is kinda frustrating. It's so lame sometimes that it becomes laughable. The voice actors feel untalented and stiff. Character movement and shooting mechanics feel clunky. Gameplay wise it feels like an XB360/PS3 game with some bugs. There are some details that are small but still pretty bad like the prisoners coming into the prison with their own clothes. Or when Leo and Vincent are suppose to fill a cart with sheets and when you open it there are no sheets there at all. Or when Leo loses his parachute, parachutes cannot just go of like that. He also loses his guns and in the next clip he has it. Or Harvey telling his men to find the best hitman to kill Leo and Vincent, but that hitman can't even hit them with a gun when he's five meters from them. The story is great in the beginning, but the prison escape feels way to rushed, easy and unrealistic. Love the refrences to Shawshank though. This game opens up great but loses it in the middle. The plot is not pretty well written or thought out. The plot and cliches have been used so many times and it's kinda predictable to foresee the ending. Character development both feels good and bad but most time kind of lazy. The ending is also overused. Josef threw in so many things in this game so it felt very forced and if it's suppose to be this much stuff it should be longer.

But the story is not completely bad. It's original but we haven't seen it in a game that much and together with the gameplay it can be more interesting and fun. The story tries it best to make us empathize with Leo and Vincent by making them show feelings, their families and scenes were they talk about their lives and plans. It feels like a crime saga from the 90's and it was a long time ago I played a storydriven game like this.

Gameplay can be fun, it's very varied. Sometimes it's fast paced action, then later it's slow drama. But escaping cops, going down a torrent by boat, park core-ing through a construction site, shooting down an entire cartel and then escape with bikes. There's a lot going on and you get more than just one experience and genre.

The directing is awesome. This is were the cinematography along with the split screen plays a big role. So there's a scene in the prison were Vincent and Leo is in a fight and the camera switches between the players and makes them fight a little time each. Or when you escape trough the hospital the camera switches between the players with some satisfying camera angles and transitions. I can't come up with more examples but the directing is good as heck.

The ending is overused and predictable but the last 20 mins are still the most appreciated ones in the game. Honestly the game couldn't end in another way and that was the best way to close it. Kinda liked the sad endings.

6/10

The epic conclusion and ending to one of the best trilogies and the most memorable and celebrated sagas in gaming history. The father of the cover based shooter keeps the joyride up with tons of action, cool story with likable characters. This is actually the longest campaign. I feel that is good cause then I got more for my money and I am obsessed with and me and my brother had more laughs and longer playtime is always nice - but it became a little bit more tedious this time compared to the other two. However great game.

Gameplay: Gameplay is super fun, I absolute love the cover mechanic. And swapping between covers, running while crouching to avoid bullets brings a tactical feel. As usual there are not many guns but that isn't necessary. The guns we had feels heavy and awesome thanks to the sound and their function. I mean the Lancer and the Longshot are really satisfying. Enemies might not be smart but when they're many it can be challenging which is fun. The gameplay is the best part of this game, wow. A lots of action and a thrilling ride all the way through. But became a little bit tedious and repetitive sometimes gameplay felt way too long. But the boss fights. That was a challenge on Insane and Hardcore. The best one in all Gears and that's how you do a boss fight. An epic final battle, the boss fight is one of the best parts of the game. 9.2/10.

Graphics: Beautiful graphics for being 2011, still holds up today. I mean it looks so f**** good. From dark and gritty to colorful and bright colors. I think it actually were satisfying to see brighter colors, and characters look more detailed and realistic then ever. Environments may be small but the surroundings like buildings are really well made. The world we play as feels like Gears of War. Even with light colors it's a dark bitter tone. Beautiful graphics, amazingly build up world with environments and everything. Character models look good and real. Gears 1 was grey, Gears 2 was brown, Gears 3 is yellow. 10/10.

Audio: Voice acting is professional, the soundtrack is fitting to both gameplay, tone and story. I can almost pull a comparison to Star Wars but a little darker and more serious. I feel that the soundtrack is the great along with cool effects like explosions, gunfire and everything. 10/10.

Story: This is a bit more personal story which tells a more developed story for a few characters. Like Cole going back to his hometown and remembering his time as a Trash Ball pro and everybody loved him, and no everything is just gone. Marcus looking for his father and does everything he can to save him. And Dom who is yeah Dom who suffers after the huge tragedy, he's depression and suicidal personality is described well and we have gotten an emotional connection to him and can empathize with him. The personal parts are enjoyable to experience. It's less war this time and that can be uplifting storywise. The plot is also very dark and sad as usual. This one cuts deepest for me, god what a depressing story, what a depressing ending. The plot also gives us a final showdown were we the story also focuses on stopping the Queen - I mean finally! The story is so more developed this time with one of the best, most memorable and saddest scenes in gaming history. This one cuts very deep and the story is really really good. I know people complain about we didn't get any answers on the plot mysteries, like why the Locusts waged the war. Honestly that was a part of the story, leaving you there still with a lot more questions. In real life we don't get all the answers, there's still historical events that are mysteries and things we don't understand. I feel that was a good part of the story. It feels like the ending and when the credits rolls we are meant to feel empty and think: what did we accomplice? Beautifully done!

I love Gears 3. I played it in one sitting with my brother and it was the most enjoyable experience of them. I have a lot of memories from that night. Man what a brilliant game that deserves so much love.

10/10

This is the worst Gears of War. But I like that they tried telling a story of Baird and explained the events that started Gears 1. Like E-Day and the "destroying our own civilisation, sacrificing millions" part were a big part here. I didn't feel the first one explained it as much as it should that I had to read the books so it's somewhat interesting and thankful to see them explain this further.

Story: But overall it lacks on storytelling. There are no character telling. Just some dudes standing around and talking. "We did this, and we did that." There testimonies I thought should be personal are just the same. "We did this and we did that." But with different voices. The main villain is lame just as everyone else. Still there was not much going on and somehow slow and not that many scenes that made me enjoy the ride. The ending is boring. Aftermath made a better job though. It's cool to see them try something else and this time focus on Baird. Explaining E-Day and the brutal sentence of soldiers running from their positions and duty were a little bit interesting to see them dig further into. 6/10.

Gameplay: A truly fast paced and engaging gameplay that felt quicker than all the others. This fun gameplay with tons of action could be enjoying and engaging, kept the mood up. Brutal gore kills and nice weapons. Longshot feels so satisfying to use. Again great use of the covering and tactical shooting. Fun to progress through this sections of huge amount of enemies. But this is the most repetitive gameplay I've seen in Gears, fast pace doesn't keep the thrill up forever and in the end becomes boring. AIs are stupid tough and the point as you earn stars and sets up the missions in small parts felt underwhelming and unnecessary.

Graphics/style: Again the graphics are stunning. Environments and the looks of characters and locations are elaborate. The look of the game is nothing outstanding but still looks very good for being 360. But environments are nothing special or memorable. Just small tedious sections. 7.5/10.

Audio: Music is fitting and stunning, but again nothing that outstanding or special. Voice acting is good though. They don't feel talented which is good. The sound of the game feels smooth and clean, just like the gameplay and the cutscenes. 7/10.

Overall it was very short and not much going on. Tedious, repetitive sections and an slow plot with underdeveloped characters and underwhelming ending.