Saturday 27 November 2010

Gears of War 3 - The delay, the wait and the future



So we were all looking forward to the day in April 2011 when GOW3 finally found itself nestled spinningly in our XBox machines. That won't happen till the fall now, not Cliffy's fault but a commercial decision to make GOW3 the season's big seller. 

The consolation prize is, however, a beta version of the game which we'll be able to test online. That'll do pig, that'll do. Now it's safe to say all GOW fans are still pretty peeved at the delay, but at least we have the teaser to keep us going.

The question is, however, what do we do after it's all over? I have a few suggestions and maybe you will have some too. Feel free share.

1. A prequel. Most obvious, take us back to E-day or even the Pendulum Wars. I favor the former as the Locusts are central to gameplay. I don't think I'll dig fighting/killing humans as much (that'll make it more like the Earthbound titles like COD or MOH). 

2. A Cole 'Train'/Baird series? Now I'm not sure how a story without Marcus would fly, but these two characters have enough charisma to carry a game, and with a little fleshing out and backstory we can add depth to their exploits. Of course one could build a game around Dom and family too. 

3. A fill-in-the-gaps Cole/Baird DL. Might sound weird but I wouldn't mind playing as Cole and Baird on the missions they took on while we played as Dom and Fenix in the first two instalments. Gap fillers have a lot of potential and could include games based on the gaps between each game. 

4. Retrofitting. I can foresee anniversary editions of GOWI with reconstituted visuals - suped up and with new scenes or missions. The deleted scene was a great addition to GOWII and could be a great survey of how similar supplements can be incorporated in any or all of the instalments and any time. This is cool and doesn't necessarily change the integrity or flow of the game as we now know it. 

5. Online innovation. Epic already gives us plenty of surprises online. What with Boomer only Hoard missions, Beast Mode, new map packs and multiplied experience points, and the 4-way campaign among other things, the online possibilities are endless. There's no reason why after the third and final chapter new weaponry, beasts, executions or even characters can't be added or more maps based on the novels included. 

6. The comic as a resource. Lastly for me, the comic and novels have a life of their own and have the potential to breathe more life into the game. Pretty simple.

A part of me (and I'm sure all of us) doesn't want it to end here and sorta believes it won't. At the same time we don't want what happened to The Matrix to happen to GOW. Sometimes just enough really is good enough. 

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