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Friday, September 23, 2011

In the wee hours of this morning, I finished GEARS OF WAR 3

It's taken me twelve hours to mull things over about it.

So here's what I'm gonna say about it...

Darn you Cliff Bleszinski!! Because of you and your team at Epic Games, you made this grown dude cry harder than I have because of any work of art in... maybe ever.

That... was effective. The entire whole heapin' thing. I mean the complete Gears Of War experience: from Dom breaking Marcus out of prison in the very first scene of the first game, through to that touching final shot at the end of Gears Of War 3. Along with everything in between.

Not everything was answered. In fact, I can think of quite a lot of outstanding questions that remain. But you know what? After finishing this final chapter of the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad, it doesn't bother me at all that those mysteries haven't been adequately addressed (yet).

Because in the final analysis, this is a story about true brotherhood. It's a story about family, and what we find ourselves doing for that family. Making this game focused on answering lingering questions would have taken us out of that sense of family. Gears Of War is a saga about very realistic characters, with all of the strengths and weaknesses that any of us have.

And I can't think of any other video game series that has compelled us to experience the human condition in all it's fulness. Or elicited this sense of catharsis.

A solid and wildly satisfying end to a genuinely epic tale. Easily the single best experience that I've ever had playing a video game.

Nothing else to say, except... bring on Gears Of War 4!

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