Back in 2006, designer Cliff Bleszinski and then-small studio Epic Games released the original Gears of War as an Xbox 360 exclusive. The game became an instant bestseller, and the franchise propelled sales of the console alongside other highly lauded exclusives such as Halo. Four years and two sequels later, Gears of War 3 ends the trilogy, concluding an epic story in which humanity's fate is uncertain.

Players once again take on the role of Marcus Fenix as he attempts to eliminate the Locust, a race of subterranean monsters set on destroying the earth-like world of Sera and its human inhabitants, while also taking on the Lambent, a wave of infected, zombie-like Locust with seemingly similar ambitions. Of course, Marcus isn't alone, as the rest of his team—Delta Squad—rejoins him on this epic mission.

Gears of War 3 isn't just a culmination of Delta Squad's story: It's a tribute to everything that made the series such a success. Epic Games has invested a lot of time and effort into the development of this game and it shows. The game features some of the most intuitive-feeling gameplay mechanics I've encountered. While the series has always played well, some animations in previous iterations felt a bit stiff and mechanical. However, Epic Games has worked hard on this, and the gameplay of Gears of War 3 simply feels great. The graphics are also incredibly polished. While the character models look more or less the same, as they have throughout the series, the environments have become significantly more detailed, and Epic Games has made the wise decision of employing the entire color palette this time around, moving away from the dreary dark-brown and black that characterized the previous games. Gears of War 3 was designed to be a blockbuster holiday hit, and it looks and plays like one. The game also boasts much better pacing and even more massive set-piece encounters.

While Gears of War 3 has never been known for its great plot, and in fact has even been criticized for its shallow storyline, the game does a good job tying up loose ends. Although most gamers won't care, the game seems to answer most fans' questions and wrap up the story in a satisfying way. The dialogue is chock-full of incredibly cheesy action movie quips as the members of Delta Squad seem to be competing for the most macho attitude. At the same time, this has always been a part of the Gears experience, and had Epic tried to do something else, it just wouldn't have felt like a Gears game. The game is over the top, without a doubt, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, and the characters' exchanges are almost always good for a laugh.

Gears of War 3 also boasts a fantastic online component. Most of the online modes are carried over from the previous games in the series, but with tightened gameplay and new maps, Gears fans should be satisfied for quite a while. Gears of War 3 also boasts the all-new "Beast" mode, which puts players in the shoes of Locust enemies as they attempt to defeat a small band of human soldiers. Players earn money based on their success in battle, allowing them to buy more powerful monsters to use, all of which feature different controls and attributes. The new mode makes an excellent addition to an already robust online offering.

Gears of War 3 doesn't take many risks or make many bold moves; it's a solid, if fairly predictable, finale to one of the better series on the Xbox 360. Those who haven't had a chance to play a previous Gears game will find a lot to like here, and fans of the previous games won't be disappointed. It would have been nice to see Epic push the boundaries a little bit more, but when you're dealing with such a well-liked franchise, a decision to stay the course can still lead to great results. In this case, it did. I give Gears of War 3 an 8.5/10.