“Shoot it in the face!”

Lightly iterating on the polished combat mechanics that made Gears of War and Gears of War 2 such immersive experiences, the trilogy-culminating Gears of War 3 exemplifies the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Heavy on grotesque beasts, war-torn environments, and visceral carnage, the third game picks up two years after the climactic events of the second one and delivers another macho B movie romp across the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Sera, this time with a bit more focused and emotional storytelling.

There are a few new additions to the mix, such as a weapon that burrows underground and explodes upon contact with an enemy and destructible cover, but this is mostly a gussied up rehash. Which means, of course, that it’s an extremely solid cover-based shooter with a wonderfully unified aesthetic, awesome set pieces, good enemy variety, diverse weaponry, fluid controls, satisfying gunplay, and high production value that easily outstrips the legions of copycats that began popping up after the first game’s massive success. I do feel that the artistic vision far surpasses the writing, but I’ll take what I can get.

Like its predecessors, Gears of War 3 boasts a co-op friendly campaign design, ensuring that it is perfectly suited for a weekend of couch potato action with a buddy. Over the past few years an old college roommate and I have slowly blasted and chainsawed our way through the trilogy as we once did way back when. At some point we plan to move onto the prequel Gears of War: Judgment, and maybe eventually the next-gen titles as well.