Gears of War 3 is a 2011 military science fiction third-person shooter video game developed

by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. Originally due for release

on April 5, 2011, the game was delayed and eventually released on September 20, 2011.[2]

Gears of War 3 made over one million pre-orders.[3] It is the third installment[4] of the Gears of

War series. The story was written by science fiction author Karen Traviss.[5]

Like its predecessors, Gears of War 3 is a third-person shooter that emphasizes the use of cover

and squad tactics in order to survive combat situations. The player's character can carry four

weapons: one pistol, one set of grenades, and two primary weapons. Firearms can be swapped

with other weapons dropped by fallen foes or at stockpiles throughout the game, along with

ammunition. When the player reloads a weapons ammunition, they have an opportunity for an

"active reload", shown by a small cursor moving over a line with a marked section on the

player's heads-up display(HUD). If the player hits a control button when the cursor is in the

marked section, they will reload faster with the resulting reload being slightly more powerful than

normal bullets, causing more damage to opponents. If they press the button outside this section,

this temporarily jams the weapon, leaving the player vulnerable and taking longer to reload.

Alternatively, the player can opt to not try to for the active reload, reloading the weapon at normal

speed, but with no added damage. Active reload makes bullets more damaging to enemy

players.

When in combat, the player can take some damage from enemy fire, filling a blood-colored

"crimson omen" on the HUD as a measure of the player's health, unlike the traditional health bar

in other shooters. By staying out of the line of fire, this will dissipate, but by taking too much

damage, the player will become downed or killed, and must be brought to their feet by an ally

within a short "bleed-out" period, or else the player will die, unless playing the game on Insane

difficultly level in which case a player will die immediately after taking too much damage without

the bleed-out. The player can also be killed during the bleed-out by the use of the game's

signature execution moves by the enemy. Some types of damage, such as explosives or head

shots, can kill the player immediately without the bleed-out period. Similarly, the player can also

cause enemies to fall into bleed-out in the same manner. The player and their allies and enemies

can use nearly any structure as cover, firing blind from behind it or leaning out to take aimed

shots while usually exposing their head more. Players can quickly switch between nearby

covering walls or jump over lower cover to rush forward. Within Gears of War 3, some cover can

be destroyed after taking some amount of damage, which can be used to a tactical advantage to

draw out enemies from cover.

New to Gears of War 3 is the ability to tag enemy opponents; computer-controller allies will then

concentrate fire on these marked enemies, while human allies will be alerted to their location on

their HUD. Players can now also swap weapons and ammunition (and money during Horde

Mode) with other allies in the course of battle.

The player maintains an experience level that persists across all game modes. The player earns

experience through kills, performing special types of kills and executions, reviving and aiding

teammates, and through general process of the campaign or competitive modes. Players can call

gain experience points by winning medals and ribbons, which are awarded for defeating enemies

with certain weapons or winning several matches. Earning levels unlocks the use of special

character skins and weapons within the game's multiplayer mode.

Fate of Carmine voting campaign[edit]

Clayton Carmine, brother of Anthony and Benjamin, of the previous two games, appears

in Gears of War 3. Carmine is more competent, witty, and muscular in the third game, with

tattoos of his brothers and the reasons they died on his arms (Keep your head down! and

Practice reloading!). He was shown wielding a Mulcher machine gun in several released pictures

from the game. A vote was held between July 29, 2010 and September 6, 2010 to determine

whether Carmine would live or die based on sales of Xbox avatar T-shirts available for purchase

on Xbox Live; Epic had developed endings reflecting either choice prior to the conclusion of the

vote.[24] Additionally, actual T-shirts were available from San Diego Comic-Con with all purchases.[25] The voting campaign raised over $150,000, which was all donated to Child's Play.[26]