Top 10 Wants for Gears of War 3
Gears of War 2 is an awesome game. Don’t let fanboy haters tell you anything less. Awesome, but not perfect- the story was grand but a little shallow, the characters and their relationships were underdeveloped and the lack of dedicated servers fostered an online experience ruined by host advantage and lag switchers. Cliffy B: don’t let us down, make Gears of War 3 all it can be! While I don’t claim to speak for the community, this is what I want:
10. Detail the Relationship between Anya and Marcus… but not too much
While it’s been apparent there’s at least an interest with a hint of a history, Anya’s role as a playable character demands this. At the same time it would be bad to bog the story down with drama and forced emotions; hopefully the writers can pull this off well.
9. More Cole Train
With quotes like, “Rookie, this ain’t the big game yet! Save yo’ ass for the playoffs!” and “Can’t stop the Train, baby,” he may be #83 on the Thrashball field but he’s #1 in our hearts. Voiced by the office linebacker Lester Speight, Cole is everything other supporting game characters- like Rico from Killzone- wish they could be. His introduction in Gears of War 2 is nothing short of spectacular and his commandeering of the Locust PA system, while a little overdone, was hilarious. Bottom line is, we love the Cole Train and we look forward to the bald badass version we’ve seen in the trailers.
8. Bring Back Dizzy
We know he’s not dead… we didn’t see him die. That’s one of the rules in video games. Heck, even when characters die in video games they’re often not dead. When last we saw our favorite tobacco chewing, cowboy hat wearing, southern drawl talking, assault derrick operating redneck, he was co-chainsaw dueling Skorge with Tai. Now we know Tai survived (although not with the best results), we can assume our good ole’ boy did too. I like Dizzy, bring him back.
7. Untangle some of this Lambent Locust BS
Truthfully, the Lambent locust don’t excite me much. In the first game I remember wretches filled with emulsion which explode when shot. In the 2nd game there’s a faction of emulsion filled locust called the Lambent. In the 3rd game Lambent is an infection (not unlike the flood in Halo) and creatures infected are plant like and can morph as you fight them. I’d rather fight mutated humanoids than plants any day. Not sure I like this direction- prove me wrong.
6. Marcus, Emo Dominic and Character Development
It’s good to see the characters fleshed out. The beaten-up, depressed Dominic being saved by a disgusted Marcus clip shown in the trailer looked promising. Dom has reason to be down with the end of the world scenario coupled with the resolution of the Maria storyline. Perhaps we’ll learn more about the Carmine family or Baird. This is definitely a move in the right direction but should not be done at expense of the trademark one-liners and Epic bromance between Dom and Marcus.
5. Viva Carmine!One true Gears of War tradition is to introduce a Carmine Brother and subsequently have him die. In Gears 1, Anthony Carmine died from a headshot while his weapon jammed. Gears 2′s Benjamin Carmine died with his guts eaten by Rift Worm intestinal parasites. In Gears 3 we will be introduced to Clayton Carmine. Who, unlike his younger brothers, is on the COG HGH workout program. This brother looks like he can take care of himself. I’m looking for revenge and redemption. Clayton Carmine should live, but if he has to die, have it be a heroic act that saves humanity.
4. Resolution to the Adam Fenix sub plot.
Not sure what it would be but it’s along the lines of the end of the world, human and locusts living together. Marcus’s daddy seems to know the answers to everything. Perhaps, locusts are genetically altered humans…or something. What’s his relationship with the Locust Queen? (Nothing wrong with that, wouldn’t kick her out of my bed.)
3. Give the Locusts and Gear Multiplayer parties different attributes.
Wouldn’t it be cool if the Gears and Locust had different attributes in multiplayer? Perhaps the locusts have stronger melee or become stronger when in close proximity, and the humans are faster or have better weapons- the Resistance games have successfully accomplished this to fanfare. Perhaps the Locust team gets a Kantus who can boost teammates with it’s scream? There are definitely interesting possiblities.
2. Multiplayer Chainsaw
You knew this had to be mentioned. We love it in single player and it’s been touted the new lightsaber but it’s a little overpowered- many in the Gears of War Community call it the “noob saw”. Players have been known to walk though a hail of bullets, with chainsaw revving, to saw their opponent in half. It’s powerful, dreaded, and can be done with the push of one button. Either make the new chainsaw harder to use or have any shots landed stop its revving.
1. Fix the Online Multiplayer with Dedicated Servers
The absence of dedicated servers are the root of all Gears of War 2 multiplayer evil. The host often has such a significant advantage; In Gears 2 this is called the “host shotty”. Now if the host happens to have a bad connection or deliberately downgrades his connection it becomes down right unplayble. With Gears of War 2, lag switchers and Host bridgers are a big part of the game- dedicated servers can and hopefully will solve this problem.
The Gears of War Franchise is easily one of the strongest and most popular in the industry. If this wish list is fulfilled, Gears of War 3 will easily be a candidate for game of the year 2011. Keep us happy Epic!
