[Mechanical R]

Two weeks in and the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta is booming with customers. With the VIP's and Bulletstorm code owners having chainsaw'd, shotgunned and executed their evenings away for the past two weeks, those of you who pre-ordered a copy of Gears 3 will now be allowed to join in the masses and try out the beta for yourself, so what's new in the world of Sera and what can you guys expect from one of the Xbox 360's biggest trilogies ever?

Gears of War 3 was originally planned to hit us this month however due to the dates being pushed back to September, this gave Epic the perfect chance to try out the new additions to the gears competitive multiplayer to make it as balanced and iron out any bugs ready for day one. The beta has been going for a few weeks already but as the beta progresses, more and more game types and maps will become available, currently only Team Deathmatch, this standard game type is familiar to all, however the Gears take on it gives teams a pool of lives, once those lives are depleted, its one life left for each on that team, bringing back those tense moments of being the last man standing from Gears 1 we all knew and desperately wanted to avoid. The other game types are Capture the Leader, a game type similar to Assassination and King of the Hill, a territories based favourite from Gears 2 fandom.



With growing game types come new maps, in the beta there are 4 maps. Thrashball, a map set within Augustus Coles previous line of work, this sports ground, previously familiar with cheers and team pride has now become a desolate battle for survival, complete with overhead scoreboard, which if shot at can tumble to the ground and on any unlucky sod underneath it.

The second available map is Checkout, which is set in a small supermarket, this map is quite compact and open, giving players the opportunity to see where all the action is, including any enemy players not watching their backs carefully enough.

Maps to be unlocked as the beta progresses are Old Town, set in a rustic well...town. This maps winding passageways and rather irregular and asymmetric design will require a good amount of teamwork to ensure you don’t get singled out and on the wrong end of a chainsaw. The last map available is Trenches; set in a large desert this arch-like map has a steady and full on combat orientated centre which allows you to get stuck into the fight wherever you are. A dynamic similar to Gears of War 2's multiplayer map Nowhere is also present, where a loud siren will signal the approach of a sandstorm which engulfs the entire map leaving you in the thick of it struggling to tell friend from foe.



Now, it wouldn’t be worth it without a few new weapons. All fan favourites are back complete with new executions.

One new addition is the Sawed off Shotgun. The addition of this weapon somewhat baffles me. When the game already contains a shotgun, which in most online purposes can act like a flipping short to long range cannon, so why do they feel the need to add yet another weapon like this, only with the range of a goldfish and twice the amount of chance of you turning whoever’s stupid enough to get THAT close to you in to sushi. It just seems strange adding a weapon which is clearly tactic abundant and purely there just to annoy, especially in a game like Gears of War where the shotgun is already a predominant weapon.

Other new appearances include the Retro Lancer, another inaccurate but surprisingly strong weapon. Whilst lacking the mid-long range distance of the standard Lancer, the Retro makes up for with its power. If your clips running dry, you can always resort to roadie running with the B button to use the bayonet attached to the weapon to impale your enemies for a great execution.

Some old weapons have been altered including the Gorgon Pistol is now a plain SMG, and the Hammerburst has also been given an extra zoom function where the camera actually switched to first person mode. This surprisingly useful iron sights mode can often give you the edge on a large battle, with slow movement and an obscured line of sight being sacrificed for the little extra accuracy.



The new and probably more important addition to this multiplayer is the inclusion of challenges. Similar to the style of multiplayer challenges popping up in many games out there. Gears 3's multiplayer becomes a lot more inviting as earning kills, making executions and generally playing the game whether it be as a team or a lone-wolf will reward you in some sense. This makes levelling up and playing the online, whether your top of the lobby in points or not, a lot more fun and more likely for the majority of us to try and reach that elusive level 100 without the constant waiting for Epic to host 1000 times XP nights.

There’s also plenty to unlock with your kills earning you points, including new executions, medals and weapon skins. Here is what’s available for you to unlock during the beta;

- Beta Tester Medal: Complete one match in the beta to unlock the Beta Tester medal, which will carry over to your gamer profile in the final game. The Beta Tester title will be featured in the "Gears 3" multiplayer lobby as well.

- Thrashball Cole: Complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock the Thrashball Cole character variant in the beta. Once unlocked, complete 10 matches as Thrashball Cole during the beta and the character will carry over to your gamer profile in the final game.

- Gold-Plated Retro Lancer: Show your ultimate "Gears of War" fandom by unlocking the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer. Complete 90 matches in any game type to unlock it for the beta, and score 100 kills with it once unlocked to carry the exclusive weapon skin over to your gamer profile in the final game.

- Flaming Hammerburst: Complete one match by Sunday, April 24.

- Flaming Lancer: Complete one match during the week of April 25.

- Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun: Complete one match during the week of May 2.

- Flaming Gnasher Shotgun: Complete one match during the week of May 9.


The Gears 3 multiplayer beta is only open for a few more weeks, if you'd like to get in on the action then pre-order yourselves a copy of the game now to earn a beta key. If not, then you've got a little wait to play the finale of this trilogy in September.

This post has been promoted to an article

[MrNinjaTree]

Great review there, Mech

Only thing I would say is that the Sawed-off Shotgun is great IMO. Against the Gnasher it has no chance, because of the range, but it's great for seeing an enemy coming round a corner, waiting and BOOM!
It's a handy little tool for those who prefer a more stealthy approach, rather than running in guns blazing. I say it adds diversity to the game

[Mechanical R]

Thing is, though, is its nothing you cant do with the gnasher already. If you want to stealth, then you can do the exact same thing with the gnasher. If anything, its better because if theres more than one enemy not moving you've got another round ready to pump into him. Where as with the Sawed off, one kill and then you've got like 6 seconds to try and reload the gun waiting. And in a game like gears, 6 seconds is 6 seconds too much!

[callum89]

long as they have some good weapons to hold out in horde mode i'll be happy