By Chase Porter
Staff Writer

Epic is the only word describing Gears of War 3, the final installment in the Gears of War trilogy. The third person shooter trilogy was released on Sept. 20 but went out with a bang.

In 2006, Epic games began production on the sci-fi, third person shooter, the original Gears of War and it immediately became an instant favorite. After the game was released in 2007 the franchise became one of the major shooters on the Xbox 360 platform along with the Call of Duty and Halo franchises.

“I’m a fan of the Call of Duty games but I think I’m going to buy Gears of War 3 because its something different and everyone says it’s a lot of fun,” senior Matthew Ainsworth said.

Epic games ended this much-loved trilogy with the best game out of the three. The game incorporates everything long time fans and just all around gamers love; a ton of action, great story line and some corny jokes thrown in here and there.

The final chapter once again follows the actions of Marcus Fenix, the main character, and the rest of Delta squad in their war against the Locusts. Throughout the campaign mode all the loose ends are tied up from the past games with a bunch of little surprises along the way and the classic corny jokes that is Gears of War’s trademark.

Also, the desperate and dire feel to all of the characters makes for a great story mode that won’t leave long time fans disappointed.

“I always thought Gears of War was fun because it’s different from most games,” senior Ethan Evans said. “Also, the game is really fun to play with friends whether your playing campaign or online against other people.”

Not only is the story well put together, but also the landscape is incredible. Throughout the campaign and the multiplayer mode the games graphics are extremely polished and with the incorporation of the different lighting and billowing smoke in the distance, the intensity of the game is incomparable.

Something that Gears of War is known for is the combination of sound effects and music, which gives the player a sense of urgency during the heat of the battles. Also, the games incorporation of music into the game play makes the game feel that much more macho while at the same time keeping it fun and memorable.

“I usually like to play sports games like Fifa [soccer] and Madden [football] but Gears of War has always been fun because it’s not as repetitive as some of the other shooters games can be,” senior Michael Fix said.

Epic Games also includes new game modes including beast 2.0, allowing you to play as the locust against delta squad. They also revamped the classic horde mode which will keep players entertained into he holiday season. Not only are the game modes new and improved but the designers also added a few new weapons that are sure to entertain players.

Gears of War 3 isn’t just a great game because of the effects and the game modes but it stands out because of the smoothness of how the game plays. No matter what you are doing whether you’re sprinting, shooting from cover, or jumping over obstacles the game reacts swiftly and smoothly to action on the controller unlike the previous two games.

Not matter if your just a recreational player or a hardcore gamer, Gears of War 3 is a classic Xbox 360 game. Overall, the game is very entertaining and long time fans of the series will be blown away by the surprises in the games story and the reworked graphics that really set the game apart from others in the same genre.