Fast Review – Gears of War 3 Beta First Impressions

This one is going be a quickie on my first impressions of the Gears of War 3 multi-player since I was lucky enough to get my hands on a beta code. While I haven’t been playing it much, I have watched my favorite fellow writer, double-jump, play and I must say there were many a memorable moment to be had. And from my very first impression there was something familiar about the game that I really liked. Depending on how the game evolves between the beta to the it’s actual release, I am leaning towards the fact that I may actually play the multi-player this time.

Shocking!

 

Why is this shocking, you may ask? Well, it’s because I have a love-hate relationship with Gears of War’s multi-player. The original Gears of War’s multi-player was a glitchy mess with the second one following suit. But what was Gears of War 2’s saving grace for me was the Horde mode. It was a mode that allowed me to break away from the glitchy lag ridden multi-player and just gather up friends and fight wave after wave against the locust.

So, I wasn’t expecting much from Gears of War 3. When I played the beta, I felt something familiar. Instead, I saw a lot of things that I love from another game: Halo: Reach. Yes, I am going there and comparing Gears of War 3 to a game that I honestly consider to be my all time favorite multi-player experience on XBox Live. Hands down. In Gears of War 3…

There was no lag.

There was slight spawn camping.

There was slight glitching.

But more importantly, I was having fun.

Yes, I was actually enjoying seeing all the metals I was unlocking. All the experience points I had gained as well as all the new executions with the new weapons. Gears of War 3 was just as visceral as the original but was actually playable and fun. I wasn’t cursing every minute because my controls weren’t responding or because someone had a lag switch on.

Totally worth pre-ordering the Gears of War 3 to check out the beta. I only hope that the game is this “polished” when the final version hits my Xbox later this year.