Assassin’s Creed was originally conceived as a replacement for the Prince of Persia franchise as it had seen so many sequels and reboots that fans grew tired of it and sales plummeted. Ironically, Assassin’s Creed is following suit with Ubisoft’s announcement that they would be releasing a new Assassin’s Creed game every twelve months. The series seems doomed to be milked worse than a dairy cow and now with the fourth game in the series, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, the proof is apparent.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations takes place directly after the events of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood after Desmond inadvertently killed Lucy. Desmond’s mind is fragmenting due to his immersion in all of the different memories and as a result, his mind is put into a safe mode within the Animus to separate and conclude all of the memories of Ezio and Altair that are left.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations continues the same tried and true gameplay mechanics of previous entries in the series, while adding a few new side quest game types and a new weapon, the hook blade. There are still shop renovations as in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, but now notoriety goes up every time a shop is renovated and the only way to bring it down is to bribe heralds or kill officials. Now players will need to take over a Templar Den to open up shops for renovation. Once the player kills the Templar Captain and controls an area, the area may be attacked by Templars, which will open up a Tower Defense mini-game, which is optional. If the player does not engage in the mini-game, the Templars will conquer the area and establish a new Templar Den for the player to take over again. The Tower Defense game seems out of place in an action adventure game where Ezio is known for discreet assassinations and then put into a situation of directing frontline combat with assassins. It just does not make sense. The second addition to Assassin’s Creed Revelations is a handful of optional Desmond specific missions. The missions take on a first-person perspective and mirror Portal’s puzzle traversing gameplay. The missions leave much to be desired in terms of backstory and the odd transition to the first-person perspective makes controls a bit odd.

In the single player campaign for Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Ezio has a few new tools in his arsenal. Bombs have been added that obscure, confuse, and distract enemies, which helps when attempting to obtain 100% synchronization, but not necessary for completing the game. The other tool in Ezio’s arsenal is the hook blade, which allows for a greater reach in jumps and for traversing zip lines between rooftops. It seems Ubisoft saw the trailer for Bioshock Infinite and decided to rip-off the idea.

Multiplayer remains relatively the same, with a few new game modes, and the ability to customize the user profile with a portrait and guild emblem, but differs very little in gameplay from the previous game.  Considering the horrible changes to the single player campaign, it is good that the multiplayer remains relatively unchanged.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations is a rushed game meant to fill in the gap between Brotherhood and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed III. The game features ripped-off gameplay mechanics from games such as Tower Defense, Portal, and Bioshock Infinite, with a relatively boring storyline except for the ending sequence. The game could have been released as a $20-$30 DLC added onto Brotherhood removing the out of place Tower Defense and Desmond side missions and just adding new maps for the multiplayer. Instead, a $60 turd has been created that threatens to destroy a great series and disenfranchise players to new entries in the Assassin’s Creed world. Go watch a YouTube video of the cinematics in the game and avoid buying this game. If the need arises to play the game, then rent it, do not buy it.

It is a rare time when I can say that a video game about Batman can tell a story better than the Christopher Nolan directed movies of the Dark Knight, but Batman Arkham City does just that and more. Batman Arkham City takes place after the event of Arkham Asylum, with the asylum being shut down and patients/prisoners being taken to the Arkham City prison facility. Hugo Strange is in charge of the facility and has a plan called Protocol 10 that he will enact soon to change the face of Gotham forever. Bruce Wayne begins lobbying to close the facility down because of the perceived dangers and launches a media event outside the prison to voice his concerns to the public. Bruce Wayne is subsequently kidnapped by Hugo Strange’s thugs and thrown into the prison population. Strange knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman and threatens to reveal him to the world if he interferes. The adventure takes off from there with players interacting with various common foes of Batman lore such as the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, Joker, Harley Quinn, and others.

The game plays almost identical to the previous game but fortunately tones down the detective mode of the first game that washed the scenery in blue and prevented the player from enjoying the gritty scenery. Now the player can enjoy all of the splendor of the Arkham City prison and free roam almost everywhere. There are a few new gadgets for Batman to utilize this time around like the Freeze Blast that allows Batman to temporarily freeze enemies and traverse certain liquid areas. There is also a Line Launcher that allows Batman to travel horizontally across areas and a Remote Batarang which leads to two annoying mini-missions of directing the Batarang to a switch. There are quite a few other gadgets as well, but these are the most memorable ones.

The campaign is about 8 hours long if the player just sticks to the story, but honestly there are so many side missions the player can engage in to open up more backstory and explore more of Arkham City. For players who purchase the game new, there is a downloadable Catwoman DLC that opens up a few missions for her as a playable character. Player who buy the game used can purchase the DLC on the Xbox Live and Playstation Store markets. It is not necessary to play the Catwoman DLC to complete the story, nor does it affect the storyline. Catwoman is dynamically different from Batman. She uses a whip and her claws to climb from building to building, is more acrobatic in her combat combos and is overall weaker when it comes to taking damage from physical hits and bullets. Catwoman has three missions that mostly require stealth to complete successfully versus Batman can use brute force to win almost any conflict. Thegame also has optional challenges for the player to take on based on certain areas and gadgets in the game.

The ending to Batman Arkham City is the best Batman ending to any game or movie based on the character and I highly recommend gamers to purchase this game. This game is perfect in every way and deserves praise for what most sandbox games fail to deliver on; solid gameplay and phenomenal storyline. The game is a definite purchase for the mutlitude of hours of gameplay beyond the main campaign and one of the best stories ever told through a game.

Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to one of the worst games of 2009 that for some god awful reason received tons of praise and even awards even though it had the buggiest gameplay in the history of video games and was so broken it was laughable with enemies not even reacting to player combat. I played Demon Soul’s to death just to see why everyone loved it so much and came to realize that it was the addictive gameplay and the ability to coop with another player. Unfortunately, addictive gameplay should not be a carte blanche to overlook the bugs the game had that made it such a painful experience. Dark Souls basically fixes all of the horrible gameplay issues of its predecessor and introduces new ones in the multiplayer. Story will not be discussed, because honestly it barely exists and makes absolutely no sense when you look at the characters.

Dark Souls is almost identical in terms of gameplay and difficulty of the first game. I would have to go against what most reviewers have said and say that this game is actually easier than the first one due to the fact that I did not encounter any glaring bugs that caused unfortunate deaths along the way. Bosses were definitely more difficult solo, but could be due to the fact that I rushed through the game and focused on magic very late in the game. Much like Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls is easier if the player focuses on ranged attacks such as with bows or magic when playing solo or coop. The game is huge compared to the first game with 22 bosses and 16 mini-bosses, some of which are optional encounters.  There are also 22 areas, with Demon Souls only having 6. Players can now more easily play solo with checkpoints in certain areas allowing for the player to not have to play through entire levels after death. Also, for certain bosses, the player can now
summon an NPC ally much like the first game and summon up to two additional online players in coop.

Dark Souls also brings back invasions from Demon Souls, but now with a twist. Players can invade as easily as the first game, but now there are also factions the player can join that give bonus items for participating and allow for automatic summoning for invasions when equipped with certain artifacts. Normal invasions pit player versus player with a level difference of around 10% of the host’s level. When a player joins a covenant and invades a host, the level difference is discarded and it is possible that the invader could be fighting someone of an extremely higher or lower level depending on who is available. The factions part of Dark Souls is a bit broken because of the level discrepancy that allows for such unfair battles to occur. As a result, players traversing certain areas such as Darkroot Garden may need to play offline just to make it through the area without being overwhelmed by extremely high level invaders or hope for coop allies. Otherwise, online play is very fun when playing with one or two coop allies, especially defeating
the difficult bosses. Players start off choosing a character class, but ultimately decide on their own what stats to raise to truly customize their character to their individual needs and play style as in Demon’s Souls. Gamers will need to replay levels to gain experience as one play through of each area will not be enough to pass through the game without difficulty at the boss areas.

Dark Souls is truly a huge improvement over the debacle that was Demon’s Souls and is a game every RPG enthusiast should play. Playing either solo or coop is an absolute delight although PVP certainly is not as fun as it was in the first game unfortunately. It seems the single player of Dark Souls will need to be merged with the multiplayer of Demon’s Souls in the third game to create a truly perfect game. Dark Souls is a definite buy for people who loved or hated the first game, as the difficulty has been toned down and the bugs fixed. Avoid the PVP and the game is actually quite fun. We will definitely be looking forward to the sequel or next “Spiritual Successor”.

I was never into the Resistance series until I saw the Resistance 2 commercial that caught my eye in 2008. Unfortunately, I played the second game before the first and as a result I personally favor the second game even though it was panned by critics. Resistance 3 takes place four years after the events of the second game and the protagonist, Joseph Capelli, that the player controls is the one who killed Nathan Hale at the end of Resistance 2. The Chimera have taken over the globe, with the United States being the only nation with survivors. Instead of converting humans into Chimera as was done in previous games, the Chimera are now exterminating the remaining humans. The scientist Malikov from Resistance 2 has developed a cure for the Chimera virus from Nathan Hale’s blood and has also discovered a way to finally defeat the Chimera, but needs Joseph to travel to New York with him to put the plan in motion.

The game has a nostalgic sepia tone throughout the game that creates an oppressive mood. The variety of enemies is minimal with only Hybrids, Grims, and Leechers being the regular fare and only a handful of Ravagers, two Brawlers, and one Widowmaker for the player to battle against, plus one large boss midway through the game. The gameplay becomes quite repetitive with the same grunts charging after the player. The levels are fairly short and restrictive in movement, that it seems the player is playing on rails compared to the other games in the series. Weapons are varied with the standard sniper rifle, assault rifle, and the well-known Bullseye and Auger making a comeback. Other weapons include the Wildfire (a rocket launcher), the Atomizer (reduces enemies to nothing with an electric charge), and the Mutator which infects victims with the Chimera virus. The campaign is fairly short and can be played solo or with a friend through local split screen or online coop. Multiplayer consists of 16 player matches through five modes of the typical Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Chain Reaction, Breach, and Capture the Flag varieties. Players gain rankings that unlock customized loadouts. The 8 player cooperative missions from Resistance 2 are no longer present though.

Resistance 3 could have been a fantastic ending to an interesting series, but instead the game feels lackluster and rushed, with a short single player campaign, on-rails level design, and a multiplayer that has been cut back compared to the previous game. Unfortunately, this game is a rental just so that players of previous entries in the series can have some closure; otherwise I would skip the game altogether. For new players, stick to Resistance 1 and 2, which are far better games.

Call of Duty, the mediocre clone of Battlefield that has millions of fanboys echoing praise even though the game has barely changed from its inception and offers nothing new in terms of gameplay with each iteration. Modern Warfare 3 is the so-called epic conclusion to a series that started off great, but then went off the deep end with an absurd story line. The critics who review the Call of Duty games must be highly paid to be giving such a mediocre game praise above and beyond a superior product as Battlefield.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 takes place hours after the second game, with Soap MacTavish dying from a wound in Afghanistan. The game then proceeds to take the player to events prior to the death of Soap from the New York Stock Exchange to Paris and other locations. The main villain from the previous games, Makarov is back with a vengeance. He kidnaps the Russian president and his daughter and prepares to invade Europe. The single player campaign is roughly eight hours to completion on normal difficulty. The player has access to a myriad of weapons including a mini-gun on a helicopter, a tank, and aerial explosives support. Health is regenerative as in previous games.

Multiplayer consists of a cooperative survival mode based on the Horde mode in Gears of War 2.  Spec Ops mode from Modern Warfare 2 returns as well. Other multiplayer modes include Free-For-All, Team Deathmatch, Kill Confirmed, Mercenary, Domination, Team Defender, Demolition, Headquarters Pro, Search and Destroy, and Capture the Flag. There are still no vehicles in the Call of Duty multiplayer besides the perks for consecutive kills. Also, environments are still not destructible.

For a series that prides itself on being the pinnacle of FPS games, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is severely lacking in innovation. It is the most milked franchise ever with an unoriginal plot that seems derived from crappy 1980s Russian invasion movies. The Call of Duty series used to be great back in its World War II heyday, but it lost its luster and way somehow. Call of Duty Modern Warfare cannot even come close to competing with the likes of a titan such as Battlefield 3 and the fanboys and reviewers who religiously praise the series are doing a disservice to themselves and gamers everywhere. Do not buy this shovelware of a game; do not even bother renting it. Players can buy a sandwich and a soda and get more value out of it than renting Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.

Deus Ex was a hugely innovative game back in 2000 when Eidos released it using the Unreal Engine on the PC platform. It included multiple player paths and an RPG element in a FPS, which was unheard of at the time. Deus Ex Human Revolution is prequel to Deus Ex and although it mimics many of the RPG and multiple paths of the original, it fails due to poor outsourcing of boss battles and moral choice implications.

Deus Ex Human Revolution follows the exploits of Adam Jensen a security officer for Sarif Industries, which specializes in augmentations for individuals such as prosthetic limbs, neural enhancers, etc. The company is about to reveal a new discovery that lets patients augment themselves freely without having to use anti-rejection drugs ever. The company is attacked and all of the some of the scientists kidnapped by augmented soldiers. Adam is severely injured as a result of the battle and is in need of augmentation surgery to save his life. The game sets the player on a course to discover the reason behind the attacks, the whereabouts of the scientists and ultimately the fate of augmentation
technology and the world.

Deus Ex Human Revolution allows the player to augment Adam Jensen with numerous augs that enhance his abilities, such as landing gear for large falls, increased strength, cloaking, enhanced hacking abilities and many more. The player also has a variety of weapons to choose from, but with limited inventory slots, the player must choose weapons and upgrades wisely. The game allows multiple paths for obtaining mission objectives. The player can choose to reach the goal stealthily or use brute force to barrel through foes. The game tries to influence the player to use non-lethal methods of subduing foes, which leads one to believe the endings are affected by player choices throughout the game. Unfortunately, moral choices and stealth do not affect the 4 possible game
endings. The game endings are actually chosen after defeating the last boss, which defeats the whole purpose of morality and stealth in the game, not to mention the numerous augs associated with stealth. The second problem with Deus Ex Human Revolution is the boss battles. Apparently, the boss battles were outsourced to a company that had never heard of Deus Ex and assumed that because it used the first-person perspective, that boss battles would just be of the run-and-gun variety. As a result, the boss battles force the player into combat that normally would not occur since the player is advised to use stealth throughout the game. Also, any stealth augs are useless as the boss battles require face-to-face combat, which makes battles overly difficult for those who chose hacking or stealth as their augmentation choices prior to the first boss battle not knowing that direct combat would be involved.

Deus Ex HumanRevolution has a wonderful story to tell and the endings hit home considering how technology keeps evolving in our society and the invention of mechanical exo-skeletons in the recent past and the innovations in genetic therapy versus the ethical implications. The hacking mini-game is also very fun, but by the end of the game becomes so tedious and repetitive that I felt I was being tortured. The problem with Deus Ex Human Revolution, is that for a game that stresses stealth and moral choices, they have absolutely no effect on the endings, which makes it a moot point to even try. Not to mention the boss battles that throw out the window all of the conventions built upon throughout the game. This game is a rental due to Square Enix dropping the ball and turning a fantastic series into a mediocre junk pile.

Sonic Generations is a celebration of the Sonic the Hedgehog 20^th Anniversary. The game spans all the way from the original Sonic the Hedgehog, up until the most recent game Sonic Colors. Elements of certain games within the franchise are ingrained within sonic Generations, such as level design, characters, and gameplay elements. Sonic Generations follows modern Sonic celebrating his 20^th anniversary birthday when suddenly a creature called the Time Eater, swoops in and kidnaps all of Sonic’s friend. Time Eater also drains the life out of all of the stages and creates a time warp that brings in classic chubby 2D Sonic. The goal becomes restoring all of the stages back to life, rescuing Sonic’s friends, and defeating Time Eater. Sonic Generations has 9 stages not including the 4 boss battles the player will encounter. Each of the 9 stages is further divided into 2 acts, one in 2D like the old side-scrolling adventures from the Sega Genesis, and one in 3D like the modern games from Sega Dreamcast console onward. The boss battles with the exception of the final boss are remixed instances of bosses from Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis, Sonic Adventure from the Sega Dreamcast, and Sonic Unleashed on multiple consoles from the current generation. In addition, once a player clears all 3 stages in an area, player challenges are available that unlock artwork, music, and Chaos Emeralds. Sonic Generations requires the player to collect all 7 Chaos Emeralds in order to reach the final boss, as the player will be in Super Sonic mode. The challenges for collecting three of the seven emeralds pits Sonic against Metal Sonic from Sonic CD, Shadow the Hedgehog from Sonic Adventure 2, and Silver from Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. The battles consist of running around an infinite track and timing attacks on the enemy until each is defeated. The other 4 Chaos Emeralds are acquired by defeating the boss battles at the end of each three stage area. Other challenges include time attack, beating Sonic’s doppelganger in a race, collecting a certain amount of rings, and specific character related challenges. For example, with Knuckles, the challenge is to treasure hunt for coins on the level for a set amount of coins before reaching the goal. Other character specific challenges include music mini-games, platforming with a certain ability, and more. Two challenges per stage are required to be completed to unlock one of three keys needed to the area boss.

Sonic Generations is a very short game that can be completed in about 5 hours if the player skips all of the miscellaneous challenges. If the player decides to complete all the challenges and unlock everything, the time would probably be around 8-10 hours as the challenges can become quite difficult. There have been many reviews complaining about lag and frame rate issue, but I experienced none on the PlayStation 3. I did experience a bit of a blurring effect in Green Hill Zone due to the 3D effect that was being created by the alternately moving backgrounds. The story in Sonic Generations is laughable at best, but then again who plays Sonic games for the story or Mario games for the story. The game is played for speed and platforming, nothing more. Some of the challenges are fun to try such as the doppelganger and time trial races, but the character challenges are boring at best and frustrating at worst (I’m looking at you RUN DMC wannabe crocodile!). There is quite a bit of nostalgia playing Sonic Generations, but with enough change and variety to spice things up. Stages have multiple routes to the goal, which add to the replayability as does trying the game out in Super Sonic mode after beating it once. Boss battles were a bit too easy once you remember how you beat the boss in the original game. If this is where Sonic games are headed in the future, I look forward to seeing a new Sonic game. Sonic Generations is the best 2D Sonic since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the best 3D Sonic since Sonic Adventure. Go buy Sonic Generations andsupport Sega in publishing a new and improved Sonic.

The Battlefield series has always had a cult following and has always lived in the shadow of the inferior Call of Duty series. I never quite understood how Battlefield never gained market dominance even though in terms of story and gameplay, it was a superior product. Vehicles, destructible environments, amazing graphics, and a plot that wasn’t too absurdly unbelievable. Everything that Call of Duty didn’t have, yet it was always panned as a clone rather than an innovation, even though the first game was released one year prior to Call of Duty. Unfortunately, Battlefield 3 fails as a single player campaign, but redeems itself as the best multiplayer experience ever.

Battlefield 3 single player campaign puts the player in the role of a soldier named Blackburn on a New York City train that has been hijacked and rigged with explosives. At the end of the opening sequence, the players is captured by one of the hijackers and the game proceeds to tell the story in a series of flashbacks prior to the train incident, with the final sequence taking place in the present. The player is after a terrorist named Al-Bashir across Iran that is dominated by the PLR. The player learns that Al-Bashir is part of a larger plot masterminded by a mysterious figure named Solomon to blow up Paris and New York with nuclear WMDs. The player action takes place mostly on foot, but the player will also participate in aerial combat with a jet, gun fighting from within a moving vehicle, and tank battles across 12 missions. The story in Battlefield 3 is believable and well written compared to the ridiculous story in Call of Duty Black Ops. The gameplay mechanics are tight and responsive, but the checkpoints are often randomly spaced. In one instance, the player is providing cover fire for the squad by way of a sniper point, but the sequence is so long that if the player fails, the entire sniping sequence must be redone. Also, respawns of enemies are actually visible to the player. A player can watch an area and visibly see enemies appear out of thin air when no enemies were there previously. This is unacceptable in this day and age in gaming. Exasperating this experience is the absurd duration of loading times. It will literally take almost 30 seconds at times to load a level even after death. Installing the game should have been an option to remediate the load times, otherwise the campaign is actually fun.

Multiplayer is where Battlefield has always shined. Environments are still destructible, not to the extent of Battlefield Bad Company 2, but enough to keep players happy. Adding to the arsenal of vehicle is the introduction of jets. Vehicles in multiplayer now have upgrades available as the player increases in experience. For example, tanks may take more damage to take down or jets have the ability to fire missiles. Multiplayer consists of 9 maps to choose from and the limited edition version adds the Back to Karkland expansion. Multiplayer modes include all of the classic modes, Rush, Squad Rush, Squad Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Conquest. Players can customize loadouts and vehicle abilities. Players who stick to one class will be able to customize more deeply as weapons are unlocked versus a jack of all trades switching between classes frequently.

Battlefield 3 is the pinnacle of first person shooter games and continues the tradition with the latest game. The single player campaign is not without flaws because of theloading times and visible enemy spawns, but the multiplayer experience makes up for it. Honestly, who really plays Battlefield or Call of Duty for the single player campaign? These games are meant for multiplayer consumption only and inthe future, it would be nice if the single player campaign were scrapped completely. The single player campaign issues take away one star from an almost perfect game. The only gripe with multiplayer is that waiting too long to buy the game will put players at a huge disadvantage to veteran players, so go out and buy this game now. There is no need to play any other FPS multiplayer except Battlefield 3.

Uncharted is the defacto series for action genre games. Uncharted is what Tomb Raider always struggled to be in terms of smooth gameplay mechanics and perfect camera controls. Playing any of the Uncharted games is akin to being involved in an interactive movie, where the cutscenes enhance rather than detract from the experience. Uncharted 3 Deception moves the bar even higher for great storytelling.

Uncharted 3 Deception has 22 chapters in the single player campaign, which will take approximately 8 hours to complete on normal difficulty. The game has 4 difficulty levels from easy to
crushing as in all of the previous games in the series. There are few issues with the campaign that make the combat a bit repetitive. At certain points in the game, there are fist fights that the player must partake in. The first fist fight occurs almost immediately at the beginning of the game and adds a bit of variety. Unfortunately, the fist fights are repeated constantly throughout the game as are battles that introduce one big armored enemy to take down the player. The other gripe with Uncharted 3 Deception is the fact that the ending sequence is anticlimactic. The last fight involves a quick time event and there doesn’t seem to be any impending danger as there was in the first and second Uncharted games. The ending seems to close out the series, but allows enough wiggle room to re-explore Drake’s fortune hunting adventures. On the plus side, the action sequences are cinematic and the overall game is one of the best experiences ever in great story telling.

Uncharted 3 multiplayer has vastly improved from the last game with less opportunities for cheap tactics. Team cooperation is essential to winning with spawn on teammate capabilities enabled now. Multiplayer has 9 game modes consisting of classic Team Deathmatch, Free for All, Team Objective, Capture the Flag (Plunder), and a few new ones. 3-Team Deathmatch is essentially a clone of Gears of War 3 Wingman. There is also a Hardcore mode that disables all boosters, mods, and medal kickbacks. There are also three Co-Op modes consisting of Co-Op Arena (a clone of Horde), Co-Op Hunter Arena, which is the player and friends versus the world, and Co-Op Adventure, which is 2-3 players partaking in Co-Op missions. Uncharted 3 multiplayer allows for a bunch of player customization in terms of loadouts, boosters, taunts, and clan tags. New to Uncharted 3 Deception is actual individual clothing customization for player avatars and Medal Kickbacks. Medal Kickbacks are temporary boosters for obtaining certain medals in multiplayer matches. There are 17 multiplayer maps in Uncharted 3 Deception including those that will be released on the PlayStation Store in the near future, allowing for a multitude of gameplay variety.

Uncharted 3 Deception is a flawed gem that still shines due to its solid multiplayer gameplay and fantastic storytelling ability that puts it on par with major Hollywood films. Hopefully, this is the last in the series, before the franchise gets milked to death as many games do these days. This is a must buy game even with the repetitive fist fights just for the story alone. We would love to give this game a perfect score, but the repetitive fights take it down one star. Go out and buy this game now, you will not regret it.

Gears of War is a series that was mainly created to showcase what could be done with the unreal engine on the XBOX 360. The story was paper thin, but the multiplayer was one of the most fun and engaging spectacles since the original Unreal Tournament. The ending was left open and Epic Games hinted at the start of a new trilogy. Gears of War 2 continued the story of the humans struggling to survive against the Locust army and the counterattack launched by the Locust horde. Multiplayer in Gears of War 2 added new multiplayer elements, but the game had a horrible matchmaking system and lag. In September 2011, Gears of War 3 was released and brought the series to an epic closing. Gears of War 3 has wonderful climactic precipices throughout the story, especially with the death/suicide of one of the beloved characters.

Gears of War 3 consists of 6 acts broken up into 4-6 chapters each. Every type of creature known to the Gears of War universe is within the game, including the Locust Queen and a few new enemies, mainly Lambent hybrids of Locust and humans. The single player campaign can easily be finished within less than 8 hours on normal difficulty and has up to 4 player online coop. It is highly recommended to play coop for the harder difficulties, as the AI is horrendous in assisting the player or each other even on normal difficulty. There are numerous locations to traverse, from a ship, to a bridge, to a secluded island refuge. Gameplay mainly consists of the usual run and gun, but intersperses a land based vehicle level, a dirigible flying level and an underwater submersible level to spice up the variety. Adding the vehicle variety to the game breaks up the monotony of Point A to Point B movement. There are 4 new weapons added to the players arsenal. There is a Sawed-Off Shotgun that is a one shot kill within melee range, but a turtle for reloading and useless at any other range. A Retro Lancer with a horrendous kickback but deadly damage and a nice melee charge that impales the enemy.
Another fun weapon is the Digger, basically a projectile that goes under the ground and through a wall to burrow within the enemy and explode, for instant death. It is easy to dodge from even a short distance, but great to surprise enemies behind cover. There is also a gun called the One Shot, which is basically an enhanced sniper rifle with laser sighting that will spell instant death for an enemy caught in the crosshairs.

Multiplayer consists of 8 multiplayer maps and 7 multiplayer modes, with the classic Gridlock map making a comeback. Multiplayer modes consist of the usual Warzone, Execution, Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill, Horde, and two new modes called Wingman and Beast. Wingman pits 5 teams of two players each against each other simultaneously to see which team survives. Beast mode is a take on the Horde mode, but with players taking on the role of Locust creatures fighting the humans. Each successful round gives players money to purchase tougher locust creatures to play as in the next round. Both Horde and Beast mode have up to 50 levels of mayhem to endure. Multiplayer now allows for 5 versus 5 gameplay and is hosted by external servers rather than hosted by players, which gave the host an unfair advantage in previous games and created lag in some cases. Also, there is cooperative multiplayer where up to 4 players can play through the campaign and competitive cooperative where up to 4 players compete in the campaign mode to see who can net the highest score.

Gears of War 3 brings the series back to the glory of the first game in terms of multiplayer and improves upon a story that was sorely lacking in the last two games. Players will actually feel emotion for the characters for the first time, although the extra characters Anya, Jayce, and Samantha are very hollow. The death of one of the characters added a sense of believability that most games these days fail to accomplish. The multiplayer is solid, but there is one major gripe that delayed our review and made us take away one star from having a perfect score. Multiplayer allows for dead to living talk even in ranked matches. This defeats the purpose of ranked matches as players will ghost through the map and tell their living comrades where the enemy player is. It becomes quite frustrating when the enemy player magically knows your every move. In player matches no one cares as it is not ranked, but in ranked gaming matches dead to living talk should be disabled and party talk should be disabled as it is also a work around for dead to living talk. Otherwise, Gears of War 3 is a great game that everyone should go out and buy.