Apparently Epic and MS are finally spilling the beans on Gears 3. There's words like "dedicated servers" and "release dates" being bandied about by various Epic reps on random websites. Here's some part of the "official" Epic press release.
Gears of War 3 9/20/2011
The fate of Planet Serra will finally be decided.
Gears 3 has been announced today to release on September 20, 2011 much to the delight of Gears fans everywhere (first, gamers don't use the word "delight" to describe their enthusiasm toward a particular game; Second, if this press release is just coming out, they have no idea whether or not the fans are actually "delighted;" maybe the fans are annoyed that it's taking so long to finally get the game out).
The cliffhanger ending of Gears 2 (Okay, cliffhanger? I wouldn't exactly call that a cliffhanger; everyone was on the choppers fleeing the town they just flooded, right? That's more "shitty end to our city than 'cliffhanger'; a cliffhanger would've been, say, Dom about to get smushed by one of those giant stomping monster things), left millions of fans looking to the 3rd installment of the Gears franchise to know the final outcome and the wait is finally over. The campaign will pick up 18 months after the fall of Jacinto with Delta squad still thick in the fight. The Gears 3 campaign will offer four-player co-op, a new feature to the series.
Gears Multiplayer will host 5 v 5 game types. New maps to the Gears franchise have been named as Trenches, Overpass, Mercy, Checkout and Thrashball. New weapons will include The Bayonet Charge, The Retro Lancer, The Sawed-off Shotgun, The OneShot - a heavy sniper rifle that shoots through shields or cover for a surprise one shot kill, The Incendiary Grenade, The Digger Launcher, but also look for some tweaks to the Hammerburst and The Classic Lancer.
Gears 3 is also offering a Springtime multiplayer beta. Players will get their first taste of Gears 3 and give Epic much needed data to help make this the best possible multiplayer experience. Having a copy of the game Bulletstorm - Epic Edition will grant you early access. There are rumors of an official date for the beta being announced this week but I could not find anything to confirm this.
Anyway, check here for more information.
