Handsome man caught playing Gears of War 3 Beast mode
Gears of War 3 - Beast Mode
First on the plate was some hands on time with Gears of War 3’s new Beast mode, a deviation on co-op friendly Horde mode. However, unlike this mode, where you play as the honorable COGs defending against the Locust, in Beast mode you are the Locust attacking the COGs. I was able to get a couple of single player sessions on a timed preview build that gave a taste of how the mode plays. The Locust type on offer was limited to a Ticker, Retch(er) and a Butcher. Once spawned, you make your way across the map to the enemy base and try to eliminate as many AI controlled COGs as you can before dying. Unlike Horde mode, once you are dead, you are not out, as you can spend points on respawning. Points are earned by killing COG members; can you kill enough of them to earn another life? The secret to this game mode will be balancing the number of spawn points that you and your team share; the more powerful characters cost more spawn points. I found using the Butcher to kill off the bulk of COG defenders was a good tactic, and then a Ticker to finish off the dregs.
From what I played, this game mode already looks pretty solid, although the human AI were perhaps a little dim for my liking. Getting to play as the various breeds of Locust was great fun, and gave the game a certain Left 4 Dead feel. My anticipation for the 5-month-away title was already as high as when I hear the first ice cream van of summer, and getting some hands on time with the game only added to this.
However, at the time of playing, I was oblivious to the fact that Co-Optimus readers were learning that the game was being pushed back to a fall 2011 release. This chaffed me more than plummeting down a ‘death slide’ with no pants on, however, with a full 12 months to further polish the mode (and the game!), there is no reason to believe it will not match the intensity levels of Horde. Perhaps they will have time to introduce the various types of Locust into the core multiplayer versus, or create a rolling beastly battle of hordes not unlike Left 4 Dead’s Team Versus mode?
Here is some footage of the game caught at the expo: