If you have been playing the Gears game over the years now, you must be aware of the ending of Gears 2, one of the most refined shooters of all time,and how it left humanity in a desperate and bloody situation after having sunk their last remaining frontier in Jacinto to flood the caverns where the Locust resided. But seeing how evidently that did not end the war (if it did then we wouldn't be having this game in the first place) it left Gears 3 in a tough spot to follow up to both the story of the second game and also the gameplay, which appeared as though it cannot get any better.
Or so I thought.
Gears 3 is one of the best stories and fitting conclusions to a trilogy you will find. There are absolutely no missteps in either storytelling or gameplay mechanics and is a very polished, gorgeous looking experience which will eventually become very close to your heart through the dialogues and camaraderie of its characters irrespective of whether you decide to play co-op, which is still THE way to play this title, or alone as you will always have the companions you need to keep yourself engaged in conversation or assist you in your bloody and gory grub-killing spree. The tone of the game is also spot on, with it embracing a brighter lighting to depict the oncoming victory for humanity regardless of how dire the situation seems at the moment, after shedding away the murk and grime of Gears 2 which was very much appropriate for the gritty and in-your-face approach it had to the story.
Humanity is on its last stand, after having lost its last bastion and has now resorted to staying in isolated patches around the safer areas of Sera to try and rebuild themselves. Dom has resorted to gardening as a method to overcome the grief of losing his beloved wife earlier, while Marcus is grumpy as ever, not having found peace in his life even after slashing through hordes of enemies. The setting aboard the ship Sovereign starts this game perfectly as a display of the current conditions of inhabitation which although is resource-stricken, is still looking up after enjoying the first few moments of peace since E-day when the locust came upon the surface world.
The peace of course never lasts and it is not soon that the Lambent attack the ship and you are forced to take up arms against their forces, but this time you are assisted by Anya from the previous games as she has shed her white-collar appearance and donned the COG gear to assist you more "actively" in the battlefield, which now spans across destroyed ships, abandoned parks and cities, huge corridors of hotels, and even underwater. The shotting is impactful, gleefully gory and fast-paced. You will have access to all previous weapons in addition to the One Shot, and mulcher which is a machine gun capable of levelling the field in a few seconds when used strategically.
But despite all the guts and glory portrayed by hulking men in muddy waters and stormy beaches, the game is centred around the people. Dialogues range from being genuinely funny to groan-worthy but the constant banter between members of your party instil a feeling of closeness among the explosions and firefights that are constantly happening around you. What Gears 2 did with Dom, 3 does with Cole. There is an act dedicated solely to delving into his past and him remembering what he was before the war. If you are in this just for the bullets you might feel bored because the party is different with him, and his mission is outside the borders of the main story. But as I said, the game is about the people, and this takes a look deep into the background of its biggest guy and what makes him tick, what gives him the perpetual electric energy that you hear in his voice whenever he comes up at the communication channel. It's really great that the developers have identified the biggest pluses of the series and have decided to focus more into it.
Lastly, the only thing that keeps it from getting a perfect score is that it doesn't make any significant changes to the gameplay. Neither did Gears 2, but it solidified the cover shooter mechanics and introduced vehicular combat. 3 takes the best from the first 2 titles and refines them thoroughly. I guess the saying "no need to fix it unless its broken" holds truest for this game. You feel right back in place with this game, without having to learn new tricks.
The ending of the game brings an emotional journey to a close, by which you will have trodden through times you never thought would come to pass in a Gears game (if you have played the 2 before this) and cut through more locusts, lambents and hybrids than you had planned to and eventually arrive at a point when the ending will leave you satisfied, happy and nostalgic already. It doesn't seem so many years have gone by already but since it has, this is the ending we all needed, even if we did not know we did.