Campaign

Story Mode

The story is written by fantastic author Karen Traviss, who wrote the Gears of War book series
Set 18 months after Gears of War 2, and after the fourth Gears of War book.
The Coalition has disbanded or dismantled. Everyone is essentially a Stranded.
The Locust have not been seen in the time that has passed since the end of Gears 2 and the beginning of Gears 3
The location shown in the “Ashes to Ashes” trailer is a location nicknamed ‘Char’, where the remains of victims from the Hammer of Dawn strikes are heavily present.
Imulsion is infecting everything, not just the Locust. The Lambent are a ton of different nightmarish creatures.
Cliff talked about underlying themes of Gears of War 3 “So, in Gears 2 we had the themes of Dom and Maria and in Gears 3, you’ll learn more about Marcus’ relationship with his father and Dom dealing with the aftermath of what he’s done in Gears 2″
Game begins with Marcus waking up on Raven’s Nest after having nightmares
Raven’s Nest is an aircraft carrier known as Sovereign that has been converted to a floating village. The Gears have tried to create a life for themselves here, and the article seems to indicate they are just trying to live rather than save the planet when the game begins. The Raven’s nest is worn down and heavily beaten up, and is a combination of Sovereign and several other smaller ships tied together.
Coalition of Ordered Governments broke down months before beginning of Gears 3
Rod describes the Gears now as a “family unit” rather than a squad.
Chairman Prescott returns after going missing several weeks after the sinking of Jacinto. He passes Marcus a data disc that contains a recording from Adam Fenix, claiming he has a way to save the planet.
The article describes it as giving Marcus “one last chance to save his father”. It sounds like this may be a very strong story theme and personal drive for Marcus, considering this is what got him put in prison for originally.
The Queen and the Locust Horde are still surviving, though many Locust are becoming more primal in nature. Some of their weapon technology is actually going backwards, and some of the Locust have turned into savages (See the “Savage Grenadier” in the ENEMIES section for an example of this)
There are two story arcs in the game from the perspective of two squads. The first squad begins with Marcus, Dom, Jace and Anya. Cole and Baird have a separate story arc in the game and do not begin on Raven’s Nest, instead fighting in ruined wastelands. The timelines of the two squads overlap until the finale where everything comes together. Their squad is still unknown, though we are promised “multiple playable female characters” which could indicate Bernadette Mataki from the Gears of War novels will be a possible squad member for this crew.
The fort of Anvil Gate (a location in the upcoming third Gears of War novel by the same name) will be featured in the game.
Cole is described as having a deeper story to flesh him out even more in Gears of War 3.

Characters

Dom is now heavily bearded. According to Rod, this is due to his problems dealing with the loss of his wife
Anya is the female COG soldier seen in the “Ashes to Ashes” trailer. We will learn more on her transition from pencil pusher to soldier throughout the books. Cliff describes her as a VERY capable Gear
Jace Stratton from the Gears of War comic series will be a new integral squad member. He is described as a “young soldier who cares more about the people than the war”. Michael B Jordan will be voicing Jace
Ice T is voicing a new character called Griffin, the leader of a rag-tag group of stranded encountered in the game.
A new character is shown in the E3 demo who Cliff refers to as Sam, a brunette Gear. She is being voiced by Claudia Black (of Stargate SG1 fame).
Clayton Carmine is the most beefed up and badass Carmine of the family, and his fate has been decided by the votes made in the “Decide Carmine’s Fate” campaign which raised $150,000 for Child’s Play.
Bernadette Mataki (an older female Gear from the series of books) is making her first video game appearence in Gears 3.

Features

Rod confirmed 4 Player Co-Op in the Gears IRC, with 4 unique characters. Rod confirmed that co-op includes Marcus, Dom, Cole, Baird and a “variety of other characters”. Cliff confirms that at some points in the game you will play as an entirely different squad (that includes no Marcus and no Dom)
Arcade mode is a new addition for the campaign mode. After beating the game, you can return with your co-op buddies to enter in a scored competitive version of the campaign. Pop-ups will appear throughout the game to show what your friends are achieving, challenging you to better them on the fly. Mutators can also be added to increase the fun in Arcade mode, including big head mode, changed sound effects and more. These mutators will be exclusive to Arcade mode, and will not be found in multiplayer.
Casual difficulty has been made extremely easy. Rod describes it as being “borderline tourist mode” where you’ll rarely die and there is an auto-aim that will basically snap from enemy to enemy.
COG Tags and Collectibles are returning

Images