Gears of War 3 needs very little introduction. As a franchise it has attracted millions of gamers worldwide and has one of the largest pre-order totals in Xbox 360 history. That’s testament to how good this game is; the gamers love it and can’t get enough of it. But all good things must come to an end and we’ve finally arrived at the end of this particular story arc in the Gears of War universe. For this preview, Microsoft kindly invited myself and a few other journalists to their offices to play through the first act of Gears of War 3′s campaign. I was excited, to say the least. Gears and I go way back. Gears of War was one of the first multiplayer games I ever played on the Xbox 360. Gears and I have history…

For my session at Microsoft, I was joined by Well Played podcasters Gerard Campbell, Siobhan Keogh and Aylon Herbet on four player coop along with Chris Leggett who played through the campaign solo. I guess I was a little overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions at the time; I was keen and excited to play the game, but I was also a little sad to think this could be the last we’ll see of a franchise that has been a big part of my gaming life for the last four years. It’s certainly the end of an era, regardless of what Epic Games may or may not do with Gears in the future.

So I wasn’t really going into this preview with any real expectations because if there’s one thing I know about the team at Epic, it’s that they rarely disappoint. I was sure I’d have a fantastic time playing the game and I did. A lot of the content I saw had already been covered in various trailers that have been spammed on the internet for the last six months. Content like the “Silverback” mechs, which, by the way, are very cool! And the new Locust enemies are challenging for a team of better than average players (read: campaign mode kicked our asses occasionally).

The future of Delta Squad hangs in the balance…

What really did stand out for me is the work Epic has done with the characters. I was really happy to see new female characters in the game. Anya is awesome but it was nice to play as Samantha Byrne – although her obvious Aussie accent sounded kinda weird in a Gears game. And… (I have to put this in caps, sorry for the upcoming eye-strain) THE RETURN OF THE CARMINE FAMILY was awesome! The Carmine brothers have always been favourites of mine, although there was a brief debate between jounalist’s about the state of Clayton Carmine’s voice  (is it the same voice acting talent for all three brothers?) I’m not entirely sure and I’m not going to google it either

For fans of “The Cole Train”, you’ll get to see (and hear) a lot of him in the campaign. There’s a particularly strange cut-scene that sees Cole Train reliving flashbacks of his Thrashball days. While I understand the emphasis on that part of Cole Train’s life (the Thrashball stadium map seen in the Gears 3 beta is proof of this), it just felt a little weird to me. I guess I just wasn’t feeling it all that much.

Gears of War 3 has always been as much about the weapons as anything else, and the first act allows you to try out a few of the newly introduced weapons. If you’ve participated in the beta, you’ll be more than familiar with most of them already, but it was nice to be able to use them again after so long.

"Take that mutha down!"

We talked a little about the enemies previously, but there are a few new challenges that Marcus and his squad face in Gears of War 3. There are enemy locusts that are bigger, badder and a lot tougher to combat, even in a squad. This is great because it puts the emphasis back on the teamwork element. With the brand-new four player coop game mechanic in Gears 3, it’s much easier to rely on your squad to get you out of tough situations. The team at Epic have done a nice job of providing a lot more of these tricky, tactical situations in the campaign.

I’ve also mentioned this in the Well Played podcast (*published 17/08/11) where we discuss Gears of War 3, but even though I love the Gears 3 campaign mode, I’m a multiplayer gamer at heart. And that’s where I’ll be spending all my time once I’ve completed the campaign. It will, however, be really nice to tie up the franchise with an “epic” finale and go out with a bang! I’m looking forward to seeing how the story finally unfolds but I’ll be even more excited to continue playing a great game (hopefully) for years after the release online with all mah Gears buddies!

Long live Gears of War 3! Bring on September 20th!