Gears of War is an undeniable success for the Xbox 360. It’s macho in your face blood soaked action makes for the perfect game to occupy gamers for months on end and that’s not even including the online portion of the game. With Gears of War 3 looking set to blow gamers away once more, Console Monster brings you the third article in the 5 day ‘Gears of War Monster Week’. Today we’re looking at Console Monsters most memorable Gears of War moments since the franchise began.

Brumak DOWN
Starting big and let’s be honest you don’t get much bigger than what seems to be a mutated locust with a very big set of weapons strapped to his back. First seen in Gears of War it was then simply a case of “run” and hope to god that the beast didn’t get a shot off at you. With the release of Gears of War 2 gamers found themselves being able to face off against one of these creatures.

It wasn’t just the initial face off either; the awe-inspiring animation as you mulched the Brumaks face off would have had any Gears of War fan grinning from ear to ear. Although I did always wonder after basically removing it’s thirty or so eyes it still had the strength and vision to fire off a few rockets and crush even more Ravens. Even so watching your first Brumak crumple into a heap and the hit the floor was just as satisfying as it sounds.

Damn Locusts Can’t Half Build Shit
Walk underneath the earth’s mantle you would be forgiven to think that you’d be greeted with a serene atmosphere, and find yourself looking at Locusts sleeping in their own filth. In fact the Locust city looks pretty amazing in design. The architecture looks like it’s been done by Michelangelo himself and the intricacy of the various locations underground make you wonder just who or what made these buildings if not a blood hungry Locust.

Looking around would make it seem that the Locust are just as literate as the humans in Gears of War, heck I’m pretty sure I even saw a strip joint on my travels. Of course the best is reserved for the Queen who, when you finally meet her, your greeted in a hall fit for a King or Queen. Despite its structural integrity being well and truly tested after your battle with Skorge, you still have to step back and bask in what these supposedly primitive creatures created.

Where’s the indicators on this damn thing
At some point in the game you’ll find yourself looking down on the last Brumak you killed wishing you could drive one yourself and give the Locusts a taste of their own medicine. Well Epic must have been in a very generous mood when they came to the end of Gears of War 2 as you do indeed find yourself stepping on board a massive Brumak, turning it around and basically destroying anything with a heart (or multiple) beat. Even buildings are not safe from your frenzied attack and there is no reason to hold back. You’ve just been fighting this pond life for hour after hour no doubt found yourself on the wrong side of death and at least you get some rest bite, some retribution and you quite happily take it all in.

Locusts look like nothing more than little ants ready to be obliterated by any number of weapons at your beckon call be it rockets, rounds or something as simple as the Brumaks foot. Even when an enemy Brumak stands in your path it is no match for your pet beast and the pent up aggression that has been brewing inside you since the game began. A truly amazing way to end the game and we only hope that there’s another chance to ride one in Gears of War 3, maybe even have a Brumak rodeo.

You haven’t seen real blood until now.
Gears of War became an instant success for one reason; they stuck a frickin chainsaw on the front of your gun. You’ll never forget holding your first lancer wondering what those little teeth did; a quick touch of the B button and all of a sudden Marcus would raise his rifle high, as if you wielded Excalibur itself. Exhaust fumes would start pouring out of your weapon and when you got close enough, what appeared to be an opposing player ended up being a large pool of blood with maybe an ear here, a finger there and a few teeth everywhere.

Lest you forget the sticky grenades, by no means a new idea to shooting games it still felt unique in Gears of War. Maybe it was the metallic clunk as you sunk a frags teeth into an enemies back, maybe it was that heart pumping feeling as you ran away waiting for the multiple beeps to sound or maybe it was just the joy of watching a foe basically disappear in a cloud of blood. Gears of War threw blood in your face and how we loved Epic for it.

We saved the world, oh shit all we did was kill everyone
One of the main reasons so many gamers simply want more Gears of War is for the immersive story that Epic has created for the franchise. Granted it’s not going to win any Oscars and at times the plot does lead you down roads that would be best served being closed off to the public. Despite this on the whole the games storyline is one of the most interesting to play through.

There’s the sad story of the Carmine brothers Anthony and Benjamin both have fallen victim to the Locust hordes and now Clayton steps into the fold seeking his own form of revenge for the death of his two younger brothers. Dom’s sad and twisted descent into madness as he hunts for his lost wife Maria. Although at first it seemed like he had found Maria in tact, healthy alive before to long Epic removed the shroud covering her and showed Dom the fragile truth, Maria never stood a chance.

Marcus isn’t far from controversy, forgetting the storyline involving his father and the Locust Queen for a second, he was there in Gears of War when they released the lightmass bomb, pumping his fists in the air in celebration thinking that he may finally have some rest bite. Yet come Gears of War 2 he sees’s the real damage caused by the Lightmass bomb. Yes it may have killed off a few thousand Kryll but it also gave thousands of humans ‘Rust Lung’ and maybe ending the lives of many who are needed to stop the Locusts onslaught.

Even the Locust army aren’t safe from Epics writing as they create the new ‘Lambent’ army. Yellow eyed demons (excuse the Supernatural pun) that will just as happily devour Humans and fellow Locusts alike. You realise that even the all mighty Locust Queen has human emotions in the form of fear when presented with the notion of the Lambent destroying the army she has so tirelessly worked at to create. The great thing is with Epic having so many ways to go with the main story and the subsequent sub-storys Gears of War 3 will take gamers on a roller coaster journey. There will no doubt be tears; love will probably blossom if not between Marcus and the Locust Queen then probably Anna (more on that with our Anya Stroud/Nan McNamara interview). You never know Delta Squad could be housing a defector. All we know is that if Epic manages to release Gears 3 with a plot half as good as that seen in Gears 1 and 2 then gamers will be left perfectly satisfied when they complete the newest game in the franchise. 

If you want to find out more details regarding the new Gears of War 3 storyline or maybe even want to take a look at the new weapons released with the latest Gears of War then Console Monster has got just what you need. If you have an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch you can download the new ‘Guide for Gears of War 3’ from the App Store HERE and give yourself a head start come the games full release on September 20^th.