There are some games that will live forever; their names won’t be forgotten for a long time. Gears of War 3 is destined to be one of those games. Released on September 12, 2011, this game became an instant hit. It really is a truly amazing end to one of the greatest trilogies ever. It features no less than stunning sound, brilliant graphics, realistic characters, and gunfire – lots of gunfire. The price isn’t unusual for games of this caliber , a typical $60, but it’s definitely worth it – you won’t ever want to put the controller down.

Gears of War 3, unlike many other shooters, is played from a third person view, allowing the player to see the whole body of the character you’re controlling (whereas in first person you can only see an arm with a weapon). This is much better for the player when compared to first person because it enables you to see where your character exactly is, how far away he/she is from one point, and most importantly, allows the player to see some of what’s behind your character.

The objective of the game is a bit complicated, stemming off the two previous releases in the trilogy. It all starts with the Locust, an insect-like species threatening the survival of humans. Marcus Fenix, the main character, and his team are on a mission to stop the Locust. His dad, a scientist, eventually comes up with the idea to sink Jacinta, the city where the Locust are mainly found. Now the Lambent arrives – a new breed of aliens, caused by too much exposure to a substance known as imulsion. The Locust are mutated to an even deadlier enemy and it’s up to Marcus and what’s left of his team to stop it.

The controls for this game may be a bit confusing at first, but they become natural after about 10 to 15 minutes. If at first puzzled, you can stop the game to look at the controls in a start menu. If you don’t want to do that, there’s always the option to keep the manual that comes with the game beside you, as it provides a complete view of the controls. The standard playing features are included – a vibrating controller, a start menu, and my personal favorite, auto-save, saving you the stress of worrying about it whenever you’re done playing.

There are three modes in Gears of War 3 – Beast Mode, Horde Mode, and Campaign. Both Beast and Horde modes can be played either with other people next to you or with others from around the world. Campaign can be played either by yourself (Standard) or with others (Arcade). Campaign mode is basically story mode, playing the storyline of the game. Beast Mode is a type of game play where you are the enemy (the Lambent in this case) and have one objective – kill all the humans. There is one point in Horde Mode – survive. In this mode, you can buy barriers, decoys, turrets, everything you’d normally find in Campaign. There is one thing people can’t be to play this game, and that’s squeamish. With so much blood, shooting, and cursing (the game wouldn’t be the same without it). you have to be mature enough to take what Gears of War 3 is throwing at you (it’s rated “M” for “Mature” – ages 17+).

The graphics are purely amazing in this game. Supporting HD television qualities of 720p, 1080p, and 1080i (the number of pixels on the screen), the quality of the screen is nothing less than awesome. Another amazing aspect of the game is the fact that it also supports 3D TV’s. This game has absolutely no lag. Everything functions smoothly – simply put, it’s gamer heaven. The sound in this game greatly exceeds what I expected. Everything can be heard from the tiniest cries to the leaves crunching under your feet to the bullets smashing through objects. Everything has its own sound, so it’s all a jumble, but it works well.

Ultimately, this game is nearly perfect and an absolute must for any gamer. There are no flaws, except for the challenge of finishing Campaign on Insane difficulty. Gears of War 3 is rock-solid in every way, and I definitely suggest that you try it.