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Gears of War 3 beta announced

Dedicated servers confirmed.

Gears of War 3 fans will get to try out the recently-delayed third-person shooter for free months before it's released with a multiplayer beta, Epic Games has announced.

It's due to run some time in early 2011, Shacknews reports.

Epic also revealed that Gears of War 3 will use dedicated servers for its ranked and social matchmaking games, which should delight fans of the series and eliminate host advantage complaints.

The Unreal Engine maker had this to say: "In addition to a swath of online code improvements, we're bringing dedicated servers to Gears of War 3 to drive a balanced, optimized, and thrilling online experience for Gearheads everywhere.

Last week Epic and publisher Microsoft delayed the game by at least five months to autumn 2011. Epic said the decision was a business decision between partners, and had nothing to do with the quality of the game. At a recent press event Epic said the delay makes the beta possible.

Oli went hands-on in June.