The only thing more eagerly anticipated then the return to service of the Playstation Network is the Gears of War 3 Beta becoming available as of tomorrow (25/04/11)

Unless you where lucky enough to get a Friends and Family code or gained access through the limited edition copy of Bulletstorm, this will be when the majority of the community get involved. The Beta will become available to all those with a pre-order code given to all those who commit to the purchase of GOW3 for when it drops (20/09/11)

I was lucky enough to play this last weekend on a closed LAN party at the Gadget show live whilst it was being held at the Birmingham NEC. The closed LAN included maps and weapons (Mercy, Overpass, Retro lancer turret and Hammer of Dawn) that as yet are not scheduled to drop during the Beta period (25/4-15/5) but judging by the inclusion of Easter Bunny heads today and the fact that Epic are.....well Epic,I would not be surprised to see them included at a later date. I have also been very fortunate in that I have been playing this all week and will now pass on my experience in order to make you last a little longer on battle ground when the seasoned players all get up early to bathe in N00B blood tomorrow morning.

As this is only a Beta I don’t think it’s fair to pass judgement in the form of a review as the whole point of a Beta is to find what’s wrong with the game and to improve on it for the retail release. The other reason is that any problem I have could be obsolete by the time this publishes due to the fact that Epic are listening to the community and fixing major problems in the game as the Beta progresses.

First thing first, if you haven’t played GOW before then why not? You should but it’s not imperative in order to play this Beta(unless you want a Skin and Medal). GOW Multiplayer take the form of a 3rd person shooter in which you are split into 2 teams (COGS & Locust) and is played out in the form of TDM, King of the hill and capture the Flag. Only TDM has been available as of Monday this week so don’t worry too much about getting owned in the other 2 game types (CTF/KOTH) as they where only available for a short period prior.

The 2 maps that have been open this past week are Thrash ball and Checkout with Trenches being made available on Thursday. Old town will be made available as of tomorrow as will the others but for some reason to do with the dedicated servers and play lists I was lucky enough to play Old Town for the majority of Friday so I know my way round that bad boy.

Load outs are basically Main Weapon, Shotgun, Pistol and Grenade with the option to pick up heavy Weapons, upgraded pistols, upgraded grenades, launchers, flame throwers and sniper rifles throughout the map. Don’t worry too much about that right now because I will be giving advice on what to roll with and pros and cons of each weapon latter.

Unlike other games this does not have a specific crouch or jump button, it has a cover system and an action button that will become more apparent as you play it, you also have the roady run and roll button, get used to this it will save your bacon in a gun fight or when passing planted grenades. Returning GOW player will be no stranger to the Active reload system but for first time players learning how to reload is imperative.

So onto the weapons:
Main weapons are the Classic Lancer, Retro-Lancer and Hammer burst.

Classic lancer;If you have played GOW before then this will be what you know best, its COG standard issue and offers a large magazine and is good for blind firing over cover and pining enemies down whilst your opo flanks round and greases the enemy.

PROS> Has the best melee weapon as just holding down B for less than a second will unleash the chainsaw attack but be aware you may come up against another person on the other team trying to cut you in half so be prepared to hammer the B button.

CONS>Not very powerful so expect to have to put a lot of rounds into someone.

Classic Lancer; this is a new inclusion to the franchise and is a tricky weapon to master but when you learn how to it’s a beast. It comes fitted with a Bayonet which is used to dispatch the enemy through a melee attack but be aware it take a while to charge but when it is used correctly its amazing.

PROS> powerful weapon for use in CQC and has the most stopping power of the 3 main weapons, you will need to learn how to deal with kick back on this and learn at what distance you can begin to engage people for the most effectiveness.

CONS> lack of range and a melee that requires a long charge with huge kick back when firing can make this an unpopular weapon.

Hammer Burst; this is the standard issue for the locust grunts and looks a lot like a SMG. The great inclusion for this game is the ability to click in the right stick to ADS for improved accuracy. Great range and good stopping power make this a great all rounder.

PROS> greatest range of all 3 weapons and has great accuracy so good for all maps and with its deliberate rate of fire it’s probably the most popular main weapon.

CONS> small mag’s mean lots of reloading and the melee on this is a straight beat down leaving you open to being shot gunned on a regular basis.

Shotguns are the Sawed-off(Sawn-off?)and the returning Gnasher:

Gnasher; everyone knows how to use this and was the biggest cause of bitching on GOW2 “He must be the host his shotgun is better than mine oh I’m butt hurt”

PROS> TBH 90% of all the people I have played against so far seem to use this as their default weapon, it carries more ammo then the sawn off and is devastating up close and offers damage from range.

CONS> be prepared to be enraged when you shoot someone twice only to be shot once by them from further away and get a one shot kill on you.

Sawed-off; making its debut on the beta this weapon is death via 2 smoking barrels. I love this gun! I honestly don’t mind when I get killed by this with one shot because that’s its purpose.

PROS> its sheer power at very close range make this enjoyable to use and its large kill box means you can take out multiple targets. It’s even capable of stopping a charging Retro Lancer melee attack.

CONS> only carries one shot and takes an age to reload, also if you’re not close enough it won’t give you a one shot kill and leaves you open to be attacked. TBH with the amount of 1 shot kills you get from the Gnasher I hardly use this at all.

Maps and recommended classes:

Thrash Ball; Retro Lancer and Gnasher or Sawn-off (but only if you’re good with it)

Thrash ball sees you spawn at either end of a thrash ball field, the middle of the map is open with lots of cover and contains a power weapon (Digger/Torque bow) until the score board is dropped. On the left hand side of the map is a long tunnel with grenades in. On the right is a raised area with a viewing platform containing a heavy weapon (Mulcher/Mortars).

If you spawn on the blue side the raised area is to the left and tunnels to the right, Remember this by RED-RIGHT-Raised area. Most people rush the middle so I advise sitting back and picking them off or throwing smoke and rushing the power weapon with your shotgun equipped. Another good tactic is to rush the nades and then spam the power weapon with them. If you choose to head for the heavy weapon be sure to stick your smoke to the wall on your way to the viewing platform to offer an audio warning of incoming enemy. You leave yourself open up here and can be attacked through the rubble at the either side of you. Nice Easter egg up the back of the viewing platform is a cardboard cut out of Cole Train viewable through the gates.

Checkout; Hammer Burst and Gnasher.
Same again you spawn either side of the map but this time an out of order escalator blocks off the middle of the map. To the left is an Electronics store the hides a (Digger/Long-shot) infront of this is a raised platform with upgraded nades and is perfect to engae people at range. To the right is another store with a till area with a Mulcher behind the counter. No real advice here just don’t get over keen on getting to the Mulcher because people don’t last long on it! There are fire alarms on this map then when pressed open a back room with more smoke nades.

Trenches; Classic Lancer and Sawn-off

I will leave this as a nice surprise for you: D let’s just say its kills galore on this map and it’s my favourite of the 4. Can’t give away my tips because I’m looking forward to getting some kills here lol.

This map includes the new heavy weapon the One-Shot, a Sniper rifle that contains 3 rounds that does exactly as it says on the tin! Takes a second to charge up but will be an insta kill if landed anywhere on the enemy.

Stevies Top Tips:
1 Mark people! This game gives you the option to mark people by pressing the left stick in earning you points and telling your team where the Enemy is.

2 Learn the Maps! You are given the option to have a bird’s eye view of the map prior to the game starting; this shows weapon locations and spawn points.

3 Master the art of the active reload! You reload by pressing RB when and need to land the cursor in the shaded area; you also get extra power in your weapon if you land on the sweet spot but for starters just learn the basic reload. You will suffer if you miss the reload and you will die very quickly!

4 Chose your Character wisely! When they become available I advise using the characters ANYA(COG) DRONE(LOCUST) the reason behind this is they appear smaller behind cover and are less visible then others when crouched down.

5 Run in pairs! It’s better to double team then be double teamed! Unless that’s your thing lol

6 Don’t rage! As soon as you lose your cool you stop concentrating and die more! Just accept your going to die a lot to start off with and deal with it! WHAT EVER YOU DO DONT RAGE QUIT!!! You will receive a -4500 XP penalty.