Gears of War is generally considered the greatest Third-Person Shooter game series ever released. This has been proven time after time by incredibly high reviews from professional sources and incredibly high ratings from all the reliable fans in the world. Gears of War is the games series that has spent more time on top of the graphics throne than any other videogame series this generation.
Recently a new game called Crysis 2 was released for the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 version of Crysis 2 has been called “The most graphically impressive game ever released for any console.” But Gears of War 3 definitely proves that Gears of War 3 is the new champion waiting to be crowned when it launches this September.
One of the main reasons why Crysis 2 looks so great is because you can see so far into the distance – far further than a game like Killzone 3 on the PS3. The campaign of Crysis 2 is amazing in that aspect. The outdoor environments are filled with realistic types of lighting, shading, reflections, and lens flare that most First-Person Shooter games don’t focus much attention on. Cyrsis 2 obviously uses the newest technology available to developers in modern-day graphics engines.
Gears of War 3 uses graphics technology based on the newest version of Epic’s Unreal Graphics Engine – the most popular graphics engine this generation. Developers programming Gears of War 3 now have access to all sorts of graphics techniques that were not previously available in videogames. Gears of War 3 is a showpiece designed to illustrate all of the amazing graphic and gaming features developers will now have access to if they use the new Unreal graphics engine technology that Epic has created.
This is the reason why Gears of War 3 has such an incredibly high development budget and developers are taking their time to make sure everything about the game is nearly perfect. Normally, shooting games such as Call of Duty, Halo, and Gears of War are limited to two years of development time. But Gears of War 3 has been given three years of development time so developers know how to use all that new graphics technology. The thought of the skilled developers at Epic having that much time to work on Gears of War 3 really puts a smile on my face.
Gears of War 2 used the same graphics engine as the first Gears of War game. Only minor adjustments were made to improve graphics. The reason for this is because the first game was created in about two years, while the second game was actually released with less than two years time of development. Gears of War 3 is the first Gears of War sequel that will be using technology that has been significantly updated.
Gears of War 3 almost looks like a "next-gen" type of game because it is so far ahead of Gears 1 and Gears 2 in so many ways. Gears of War 3 has an incredibly far-reaching line of sight, similar to Crysis 2. When you are playing in an environment where it is possible to see small details from a far distance, you see all of those details in Gears of War 3.
What’s even more amazing is that weather has an affect on virtually everything. The lighting, shading, reflections and lens flare are just as good as Crysis 2, if not better. But Gears of War 3 takes this a step further by adding storms, lightning, rain, and other environmental affects that are each influenced by moving objects and weather. The reason for this is because the new Unreal Engine has so many graphics modifications and improvements, it is absolutely incredible!
I studied the new Unreal Engine and everything new to Gears of War 3. Like I said, there are all sorts of weather tricks and graphic techniques to make fire, smoke, wind, lighting, shading, and reflections react perfectly in relation to everything else. For example, now we see Cole's Thrashball helmet has high-gloss reflections and lighting, just like a real football helmet.
Another example would be how the women in Gears of War 3 have faces and hair with so many polygons it looks vastly superior to other games. For example, I was watching how a new female villain character in Uncharted 3 has an area of the face around the jaw area that is made up of straight lines instead of curves. Having a face that isn’t curved shows there’s not enough polygons available for the character in that graphics engine. It isn’t like that in Gears of War 3 where the female characters have nicely curved faces.
This can also be applied to hair seen on characters, which is why it is much more noticeable when looking at a female. In Uncharted 3 the female villain looks like she has about four or five patches of texture-mapped polygon hair, similar to a low-polygon PS2 game. These patches of hair are clumped together in a triangular way that doesn’t look realistic compared to the men in Uncharted. In Gears of War 3 the females have nicely designed hair that curves and runs smoothly, even blowing in the wind while fighting during thunderstorms!
One look at Gears of War 3 and you will see the new Unreal Engine is absolutely phenomenal. This is particularly true when used with the high-power GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) of the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 GPU is the most powerful GPU ever in a gaming console.
The way Epic has it set up so you can customize and unlock your weapons in Gears of War 3 is awesome. The thought of having a pink lancer or an orange shotgun really brings a smile to my face for one simple reason: it is fun! This is the Gears of War equivalent to having a Star Wars collection of light sabers with various colors.
The way Gears of War 3 has 4-player Co-Op in the Campaign mode is fantastic! There are parts of the Gears of War 3 Campaign where you will be fighting alongside all four of your teammates. There will be other times where two of you split down one road and two of you split down another road, and then meet up somewhere. And there will even be certain spots where all four of you split up on your own!
During these co-op moments, all of you will still be talking with each other on your Xbox Live headset microphone. Even when you are split apart from your teammates, you will be telling your friends what or whom you are fighting against. Just hearing about what your friends are going through, hearing them say things like “Whoa!” and “Man that hurt!” and “I finally got that guy!” is going to add to the fun of Gears of War 3!
Gamestop is the best place to preorder Gears of War 3. You get the ability to play a beta test of Gears 3 later this month. You will be helping to improve the game! Plus, you will also be able to earn custom forms of weapons, armor, helmets, and other stuff that can be used in the final version of the game when it is released in September! With your input and suggestions, virtually every aspect of Gears of War 3 is going to be nearly perfect!
And just so you know, those custom forms of weapons, armor, helmets, shields, and other items are actually valuable in the real world! Believe it or not, custom items like those sell for quite a bit of money online! Gears of War 2 launched with a special Golden Lancer if you preordered the game. I’ve seen the token code that allows you to get that Golden Lancer being sold for hundreds of dollars online!
Gears of War 3 is definitely ahead of the pack! It will definitely be the king of graphics when this year comes to an end, and it will have the best Co-Op Campaign mode any Gears of War game has ever seen. There is even a new mode where we get to play “as” the Locusts and beat up on the COG soldiers such as Marcus Fenix, Dom, Cole, Anya, and the oldest brother in the family, Clayton Carmine (seeking revenge for the death of his younger brothers).
Gears of War 3 is definitely a winner, so preorder now while you still can! … And let’s hope the character named Clayton Carmine lives!
Here is a video for you to see for yourself:
Here is a great new video called the Horde 2.0 Briefing. The graphics are unbelievably impressive -- far beyond anything seen on a console so far. The new game play modes add unlimited replay value and significantly increase the strategy level used in the game.
