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Developers: Epic Games
Publisher: Epic Games
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Platforms: Xbox 360
Release Date: September 20, 2011


Slogan


"Brothers to the end"



Plot:


"Let's finish this." -Marcus Fenix

Bleszinski said the plot of Gears of War 3 picks up 18 months after the end of Gears 2, and will close the book on the trilogy. "You can expect that we'll answer the majority of the questions that players have about the history of the world and what's going on," Bleszinski said. "We're not going to answer everything, but I can tell you this will be the conclusion to a trilogy."

So far, the game has been revealed to begin on the Raven's Nest, where a group of former COG, including Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, and Anya Stroud, are trying to live out their lives in what peace they can. Things start to get complicated though when Richard Prescott appears and reveals that Adam Fenix is still alive.

Throughout the campaign players won't always be Dom and Marcus like in the previous 2. In certain parts of the campaign the game will go to the history of both Baird and Cole and their squad and players will explore their history.



Links:
Gears of War 3
Epic Games

Screenshots:
gears-of-war-3-20100614013725788.jpg
gow3-screenshot.jpg
141.jpg


Videos:(PS.I made this fan trailer, hope you guys like it!).



 

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A Graphical Comparison between Gears 1 and Gears 3. They really have improved so much.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/886/charactersh.jpg

Edited by Colin-uk
changed image to a link

A Graphical Comparison between Gears 1 and Gears 3. They really have improved so much.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/886/charactersh.jpg

Thanks for embedding such a big image.

The character models and lighting are a bit better. The environments still aren't brilliant though, they still fall victim to the usual quirks with the Unreal engine.

awesome and glad we have the official thread now. this will be a good game, actually the coming holiday season should be quite sweet :D

this time will be focusing more on the MP than with the previous two Gears...i hope it's friendlier to newcomers!

We all know by now that earning the Veteran Gear Achievement in Gears of War 2 will net you *something* in Gears of War 3, but the precise details about that something were unknown.

This past weekend, Epic's Rod Fergusson revealed during a webcam stream what those of you who have earned your wings will receive in the upcoming title. Veteran Gears will be able to rock Member of the Old Guard medal and title for your multiplayer profile. In addition, you'll receive golden weapon skins for the Lancer, Hammerburst, Retro Lancer, Gnasher Shotgun and Sawed-Off Shotgun.

Not interested in getting Veteran Gear? There is an alternate way to acquire each gold-skinned weapon, though many have already passed by.

Golden Lancer: Have the Golden Lancer in Gears of War 2

Golden Hammerburst: Have the Golden Hammerburst in Gears of War 2/

Golden Retro Lancer: Unlocked in the Gears of War 3 Beta by getting 100 kills with the Retro Lancer equipped

Golden Gnasher Shotgun: Play a match within the first week of Gears of War 3's launch./

Golden Sawed-Off Shotgun: Have the Commando achievement from the first Gears of War, which is earned for clearing all levels on insane difficulty./

Contrary to the occasional rumor that has floated around, Epic is definitely not going to somehow scan profiles and penalize people who boosted Veteran Gear during XP events. In fact, Fergusson also revealed during the stream that XP events for Gears 2 will take place every weekend so that as many people as possible can unlock Veteran Gear before Gears 3's worldwide, September 20th launch.

but.

Update: Epic has heard the cries of fans who were unhappy with the methods of getting the unlocks and have issued some changes.
We want to thank you for reaching out to us over the weekend with your thoughts on Friday?s announcement of the Veteran Gear unlock for Gears of War 3. We value the feedback of all our fans, especially our Veteran Gears who put in so much time not only by playing the game, but by sharing your passion for Gears on a daily basis on the forums.

With that in mind, we?d like to let you know that the Golden Gnasher Gears 3 unlock will only be available to those who have earned the Veteran Gear achievement in Gears of War 2. We do want to reward fans who play Gears 3 during release week, but have decided to do so by unlocking the Golden Hammerburst and Lancer instead of the Gnasher.

So what this means is that Veteran Gears will still receive all the weapons, the medal and the title, but *only* veterans will receive the Golden Gnasher. The Golden Hammerburst and Lancer will now be available for playing Gears 3 during its first week of release and the Golden Retro Lancer will be available exclusively to those who unlocked it in the beta. The methods for obtaining the Golden Sawed-off and Golden Retro Lancer remain unchanged.

So in other words, if you want all Gold Weapons for Gears 3, the easiest way to get your 'Wings' is to play through the XP weekends which will ocuur starting this weekend (August 20th) and will end the weekend of the Release of Gears 3(Sept 20th).

If anyone wants to do some XP grinding, I will also be available to do Horde. PM me via XBL.

XP Boost Graduation

8-19-2011 9:00 AM EST Through 8-22-2011 9:00 AM EST 5X

8-26-2011 9:00 AM EST Through 8-29-2011 9:00 AM EST 10X

9-2-2011 9:00 AM EST Through 9-5-2011 9:00 AM EST 15X

9-9-2011 9:00 AM EST Through 9-12-2011 9:00 AM EST 20X

9-16-2011 9:00 AM EST Through 9-19-2011 9:00 AM EST 25X

August 19th-22nd

5x XP

This weekend, we?ll be having ?Tickers by the Boatload? in Horde as well as 32 rounds of shotgun ammo to take care of them!

but.

So in other words, if you want all Gold Weapons for Gears 3, the easiest way to get your 'Wings' is to play through the XP weekends which will ocuur starting this weekend (August 20th) and will end the weekend of the Release of Gears 3(Sept 20th).

If anyone wants to do some XP grinding, I will also be available to do Horde. PM me via XBL.

I don't like the golden Hammerburst part. That was supposed to be exclusive to people who went to Gears of War 2 midnight madness, as it would carry over.

  • 2 weeks later...

seasonpass.jpg

The launch of ?Gears of War 3? on Sept. 20 is still a few weeks away, but Microsoft and Epic Games are already announcing that there?s more to come by the way of multiple game add-ons for the year?s biggest blockbuster. Revealed today, the ?Gears of War 3? Season Pass entitles you to the first four installments of downloadable content that will roll out over the course of the next year, with the first releasing this November.

Adding hours of campaign and multiplayer mayhem, these game add-ons will be must-haves for any ?Gears? fan, and the ?Gears of War 3? Season Pass is your ticket to getting them at a discount the day they release. Available Sept. 20 for 2400 Microsoft points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, the season pass represents a 33 percent savings versus purchasing the add-ons individually, and also includes an exclusive Liquid Metal Weapon Set.

Quoting what I said from the news story:

These DLC plans are getting out of hand. It's no secret that DLC map packs cost very little to product, and having it planned out to the extent that companies currently do is insane. In some of the Black Ops files, for instance, people have been able to know the maps in the next map pack.

This all leads me to believe that developers/publishers are making these map packs quick and then sitting on them in order to release them at times where they can maximize profit. I mean, they're businesses so I can't fault them from that aspect, but for fans it sucks, because you're paying a lot for a few maps that really don't cost developers much at all.

If I didn't love Gears of War so much I'd boycott getting it... but damn does Epic know my weakness.

Doing it this way is a lot better than how they did it before. If you remember, they released all the map packs separately, and then released a significantly cheaper All Fronts pack which included all the new maps and the deleted chapter in the campaign. At least here the deal is a bit more open, the catch is you don't know what the DLC is going to be like.

I'm in Gears 3 for the long haul so I'll be buying it. This kind of business is why I have ramped down on gaming the last few years, developers look for every way to get money from people's pockets, often by releasing an unfinished game in the first place. I just love Gears too much to ignore the deal though.

I definitely understand the concerns that people have with respect to DLC map packs, and whether or not they're overpriced. It's hard, because I can honestly see both sides of the issue. In some cases, there is a lot of work going into those maps post-launch, and in those instances I don't have a problem paying $10 or even $15 for a map pack. However, we do have situations like the one that Ayepecks described, where developers are creating their map packs ahead of time and then just sitting on them in order to maximize their profit. Sometimes it's just impossible to distinguish between the honest developers and the dishonest developers (outside of rare instances, i.e. downloading a 100 KB key that just unlocks content on the disk).

That being said, I'm also in this for the long haul (been anticipating this game ever since the beta), and so I will certainly be getting the season pass. Feels a little wrong to support such an easily exploitable practice, but I really like Gears...

Neat trailer, though part of me wishes that some of the more emotional aspects of Epic's trailers would find their way into the actual games :p.

The trailer itself didn't really appeal to me. it wasn't as epic enough as the others.



ICE-T Unboxing. No the Lancer is not included btw. That masterpiece Gears of War 2 Triforce Lancer is $1,000. If you are being afraid to be spoiled the first few seconds of the game. I suggest you stop the video when he says ' I'm going into the Campaign '.
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    • You literally have to do it on a desktop, which is incredibly annoying in our mobile-first world. What???
    • What part of "you can’t really depend on service providers to maintain features forever" is not clear enough?
    • Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
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