First Gears of War 3 details emerge?

By Ellie Gibson Published 9 April, 2010

Underwater levels! Mech suits! Explosives!

The game may not have been officially announced yet, but the first details of Gears of War 3 appeared to have popped up on the internet.

Edge Online quotes a "US publishing source" as saying the cover system is getting an overhaul for the third instalment. Expect to face new enemies with tentacles which can reach you even when taking cover.

Good job you'll have explosives which can be sent underground to attack enemy cover spots, then. Mech suits which provide serious protection and increased firepower are also promised. Word is all these elements will feature in both single-player and multiplayer modes.

The game's storyline will take place during the summer. There will be new locations to explore, including underwater environments.

Here's hoping for more news on Monday, when Epic's Cliff Bleszinski will reveal what could very well turn out to be Gears of War 3.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (53) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • wizlon #1 2 years ago

    Underwater with that amour on? You'd sink like a stone!

  • Ranger101 #2 2 years ago

    Mech suits? I know Gears is having a Lost Planet crossover, but I didn't realise it was mutual.

  • metalangel #3 2 years ago

    *grunts*

  • Xerx3s #4 2 years ago

    "Underwater with that amour on? You'd sink like a stone! "

    You assume that it is made from metal. WHAT IF IT WHERE MADE FROM FAIRY DUST?!

  • Doctor_What #5 2 years ago

    I just can't bring myself to be excited about a new Gears game. Was the multiplayer amazing, because the campaigns were really dull. Even in co-op the po-faced plots were dull to trudge through.

  • Apaar #6 2 years ago

    I guess Gears is more of an American thing. At least in terms of fandom.

  • mfnick #7 2 years ago

    Underwater levels? Oh no...

  • sfp_noodle #8 2 years ago

    i will only be interested in this if they make the online system like the original gears. i stopped playing gears 2 6 months after release the matchmaking was tht bad. yet, over 3 years later, im still blasting people in the original gears of war. tht game was the reason i bought a 360 and im STILL playing it more than rubbish like MW2
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/10 @ 10:11

  • AaronTurner #9 2 years ago

    Maybe they do sink like a stone underwater? No one said they'd swim.

    Enjoyed the first two, look forward to the third.

  • wizlon #10 2 years ago

    touché Xerx3s

  • DiamondIce #11 2 years ago

    I hope they stay out of the underground caverns; these didn't appeal to me all that much. I still played the GoW2 campaign 4 times, though. It was an achievement to complete it on insane with an AI partner (that was blood boiling).

    I am looking forward to the game (if there is a game to be excited about). I never bother with online so the problems from 2 never affected me.
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/10 @ 10:14

  • drumbaby #12 2 years ago

    Ducking amongst the coral while fish eat your enemies' spewing gibs...evolution.

  • Slipstream #13 2 years ago

    hahaha Underwater levels. Well there will be some submersive vehicle I assume, brace yourself for unresponsive controls, extreme linearity and swear words aplenty as your vocabulary goes down the drain, yep, welcome to a GoW vehicle level.

    Who knows, maybe they'll nail it this time a round, gotta go out with a bang. (Not the bang of your sub smacking against the environment)
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/10 @ 10:19

  • muscleblade #14 2 years ago

    "i stopped playing gears 2 6 months after release the matchmaking was tht bad."

    I never played a game for 6 months straight. Thats a long time for one game.

  • muscleblade #15 2 years ago

    "It was an achievement to complete it on insane with an AI partner (that was blood boiling). "

    No it wasnt. Thank god for that. It would have been really lame as Gears 1 and 2 is meant to be played in coop.

  • CaptainQuint #16 2 years ago

    Used to be a big fan of the franchise, but I dunno, the online mess that was Gear 2 kinda turned me off. I'm a little bit "meh" about Gears 3, which is a shame.

  • spiritsnake #17 2 years ago

    muscleblade you'd assume he played only that one game non stop for the 6 months... i think its safe to say that it was spots of the game over a period of 6 months

  • Shrike #18 2 years ago

    The Gears games are really good as gateway co-op experiences for people who don't play many games, I've found. Tbh all I want from this is more of the same in that regard.

  • Haloboy #19 2 years ago

    Gears 2 was a bloody horrid game with a painfully unimaginative campaign and gimped multiplayer. Cave. Cave. Cave. Fucking Cave monster mouth. Gears 3 excites me not.

  • The-Bodybuilder #20 2 years ago

    Do whatever you like, just bring back the beserker plz.

  • Eraser #21 2 years ago

    I am looking forward to GoW3. This first two installments were plain fun. I hope they will include and expand the Horde gametype in GoW3.

  • ignatiusjreilly #22 2 years ago

    Thats a long time for one game.

    Even for multi-player? I've played quite a few for more than 6 months (Quake 3, BF2, Company of Heroes etc.) and Counter-Strike is still one of the most popular games on Steam ten years after release.

  • ArchiRag #23 2 years ago

    Sounds interesting, i'm sure they'll pull it off (if only in a graphical sense) not too sure how it fits in with the story though. The remaining COG moves to an island with a naval base (Vectes) after you flood the hollow at the end of GoW 2 which kills the locusts but pressumably not the lambant? ah will have to wait and see...

  • stepneg #24 2 years ago

    "i stopped playing gears 2 6 months after release the matchmaking was tht bad."


    I stopped after a couple of weeks due to spending more time matchmaking than playing, I have recently gone back to it though and it is much much better. Now you can invite friends and jump straight into a game in no time at all, if only they would sort out the ridiculous host advantage.
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/10 @ 10:56

  • DiamondIce #25 2 years ago

    @The Bodybuilder

    The Berserker: I always laugh when I think of Dara O'Briain on Gameswipe: "Do you know what's behind door 2? There's another fucking door. There is no need for a 3rd door. It makes no sense..."



  • DiamondIce #26 2 years ago

    @muscleblade

    It was a bloody achievement for me. I have no friends...

    Well ones that will play the game on insane.
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/10 @ 10:59

  • Ranger101 #27 2 years ago

    I've played ridiculous amounts of Gears2 Multiplayer. I haven't played the campaign at all. If they can do some further magic with the MP, I'm sold. Hopefully bigger teams, faster paced action and less Chainsaw-trains.

  • CaptainQuint #28 2 years ago

    Did they ever address the nerfing of the shotty?

    It seemed like Epic went out of their way to piss off the faithful, when they dumbed it down in Gears 2.

  • AphoticCosmos #29 2 years ago

    Yay! It's about damn time.

  • Doctor_What #30 2 years ago

    Wow farticusmaximus, were you playing the same game as the rest of us? Your copy of Gears sounds much better than our ones ;)

  • miiiguel #31 2 years ago

    ^ you get what you give.

  • muscleblade #32 2 years ago

    @DiamondIce

    Sure. I got that one of course with help (not really) from a friend. I think the AI is better than my friend so i think you where better off than me anyway ;-).

  • VicViper #33 2 years ago

    Bizarrely I want to see where the go with the story, the second really expanded on the world of Gears. Its a lot more interesting than the first really let on and I curious about what the Lambert thing is all about, the locust queen and alex fenix.

  • muscleblade #34 2 years ago

    @Doctor_What

    Seems like farticus, the critics and myself played a different version than you and a few others on here then.

    Gears 2 was epic from start to finish.

    Underwater enviroments and lush jungles sounds great. New enemies and some fantastic bossfights too.

  • ignatiusjreilly #35 2 years ago

    you who are in the minority group of people that didn't like both gears games.

    There is nothing wrong with that, is there? Can't see why it derserves a sarcastic insult.

  • the_dudefather #36 2 years ago

    [link url=http://kotaku.com/5513222/gears-of-war-3-coming-april- 2011
    ]http://ko taku.com/5513222/gears-of-war-3...[/link]

    April 2011, yo

  • miiiguel #37 2 years ago

    Am I realy reading this? A user who seems to be a fan of Gears, the topic of the thread is being accused of "sarcastic insult" (wow, bit loose interpretation of the comment, no?) after a comment about diferent copies of Gears, which clearly implied the game's no fun as a fact.

    Weird. And I don't even liked Gears much, though I'm not picking on who do like, and then play the insulted role.
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/10 @ 11:45

  • Pastici #38 2 years ago

    If anything I think it will be a prequel, finding out what went down with Papa Fenix.

  • Dark_Stranger #39 2 years ago

    "The game's storyline will take place during the summer" and also during the day & night.

  • muscleblade #40 2 years ago

    "Weird. And I don't even liked Gears much, though I'm not picking on who do like, and then play the insulted role."

    You liked it enough to complete it multiple times though ;-).

  • miiiguel #41 2 years ago

    I complete every game I own, and yes I did it twice one on Hard alone and one on Insane coop, but I'm hardly a fan. I didn't buy the 1st one, 2nd I did because *someone* almost forced me to.

  • SuperNashwan #42 2 years ago

    @ farticusmaximus

    "Also, I bet the underwater section is in the sunken ruins of Jacinto. "

    That would be sweet, sort of like a hi def version of the 2nd level of "In the Hunt" ?

  • muscleblade #43 2 years ago

    @miiiguel

    I completed it on normal and insane myself. 2 playtroughs and i loved the game. You completed the whole thing 3 times :-O Thats more than most Gears fans i believe and around 40 hours just for the singleplayer. I complete all games i buy but not three times unless i really like them obviously.

  • Spekingur #44 2 years ago

    To be fair though, Gears of War is often just an engine showcase - as Crysis/Far Cry is for Cryengine.

  • vegard #45 2 years ago

    excited for this for singleplayer only, i don't do much online gaming. thought the second game made the story a whole lot more interesting. looking forward to finding out the connection between humans and the locusts. things that happened in GOW2 suggested to me that the locust are a mutated version of humans...

  • evaluna #46 2 years ago

    Have to agree with those that love the Gears games - some of the best gaming fun I've ever had.

  • miiiguel #47 2 years ago

    You completed the whole thing 3 times

    Not that it matters, but I didn't. Btw, are you from the video-gaming police ? :)
    But... I have no problem in "completing" it again (and again) if the right friend asks me to.
    Edited by 2 at 09/04/10 @ 13:11

  • muscleblade #48 2 years ago

    @miiiguel

    Oh. You are taking it the wrong way. I meant it in a positive regard. I loved playing through Gear 2 twice. I would have done it again if i had the time but there are so many games coming all the time. Piece. Were on the same side.

  • Doctor_What #49 2 years ago

    At Farty & Muscleblade: fair cop on the sarcastic reply, I was only joking with you anyway (hence the wink-smiley at the end). No offence meant or taken.

    Regarding the Metacritic scores though, Gears 2 has a 93% review average but only a 75% user rating, 10% lower than Gears 1. 75% is a much better reflection of the game to me. Sure, I've played worse games, but to me the whole thing felt very lifeless. I liked the sub-plot about Dom's wife, but that was the emotional core of the story (the rest of it was pretty drab) and then they got to that critical turning point, building nicely to a big showdown... And then seemed to forget about it. Dom and Marcus lumbered on, killing the same old things, then shooting a mostly obscured blobby thing with ineffectual lasers.

    All I can remember from Gears 2 is:

    riding on a big vehicle thing for ages
    finding Dom's wife
    an annoying bit with rain that hurt you
    thinking 'Marcus's Dad? Am I supposed to remember him from the first game?'
    and the rather lame final 'fight', which just seemed like a sequenece that was playing itself while I held a button.

    I love a good story in my game, that's usually what pulls me through an experience, but I just don't care about Dom, Marcus, or the world that they inhabit. At least the thing with Dom's wife looked like it would give him some character progression, but Marcus is exactly the same guy from the beginning of the story to the end of it. Where's the change? Where's the learning? What is his motivation? What does he really want? How does he learn more about the nature of that desire through the story? Does that desire change? A writer really should be asking these things.

    Then again, I remember that you love the Halo series too Farty. That's got a decent enough universe in the first game, at least, but the lead character especially is incredibly bland. (I'm basing this on the games, not on the novels, comics, tea towels, or other spin offs.)

    I'm very glad you enjoy them as much as you do. I asked in my first post whether the online was better than the campaign, and perhaps that's the difference. I played the campaigns in single player and co-op modes, and if I'm really honest I had a lot more actual fun with the big dumb Army Of Two than I did with the serious grunting tanks in the Gears games.

  • muscleblade #50 2 years ago

    "Regarding the Metacritic scores though, Gears 2 has a 93% review average but only a 75% user rating, 10% lower than Gears 1. 75% is a much better reflection of the game to me. "

    Its widely known that 360 exclusives post PS3 launch get rated down by imature PS3 fanboys on metacritic and therefore cant be taken seriously. Come on.

  • sfp_noodle #51 2 years ago

    @ muscleblade

    u serious? coz i can swear on all the unicorns in the world tht 360 fanboys do the exact same thing for ps3 exclusives. dnt be a fool

  • espibara #52 2 years ago

    I really enjoyed the destroyed city guerilla warfare type levels. I hated it when gears goes to underground caverns and caves etc. For example that big worm level was a joke ansd I didn't like the dark n gloomy underground locust stronghold levels.

  • Shikasama #53 2 years ago

    This comments section is an amazing indication of why the karma system is crap.