[size=25]NEW UPDATE!
Release Date:
BulletStorm Epic Edition Early Access begins: 4/18/2011
Preordering Gears 3 access will begin: 4/25/2011[/size]
[size=35]I have updated the thread to make a little more organised and have more information.
Also I give full credit to the gears forums.
[/size]
How to unlock Items from previous GOW titles and Beta:
Open Me
Gears of War - Unlocked by having finished the campaign.
Gears of War 2 - One unlocked by having finished the campaign. Also a unlockable for having earned Lv100 (Legit) Which Means the game checks if you earned the Lv50 and Lv100 achievements on the same day or if you earned Lv100 when not signed into xbox live.
Gears of War (PC) - Unlocked by having ANY Achievement on this game.
Also Joe confirmed that gears 3 will check for these once a day so you will be able to earn them even after the game comes out.
Unlockables in the beta…
- If you use Bulletstorm Epic Edition as your way into the Gears 3 Beta you get a exclusive Flaming Animated skin for you lancer!.
- Play 90 Matches in the beta and unlock the gold retro lancer, if you get 100 kills with the weapon you get to keep in in the retail game. (You must get 100 kills with it for it to go over to your full game).
- Unlock Thrash Ball Cole by playing 70 matches, then us him in 13 games to unlock him in the full game.
- Also been said that you may unlock something for getting max rank in the beta.
Ranking and Progression System:
Open Me
-Gears of War 3 will have an XP based ranking system similar to Gears 2, but with unlocks including weapon customisation and multiple skins for characters.
-In a match, you can earn “Ribbons” for things like kill streaks, saving someone’s life, killing your nemesis and such. These will earn you extra XP towards your level.
-Your in game accomplishments also count towards “Medals”, which are longer term versions of Ribbons that you build towards match over match, such as a medal related to weapon usage. Once a medal is levelled to a certain point, it unlocks a “Title” for use in multiplayer.
-Some Executions will only be avaliable at a certain level. Once earned, you can earn the ability to continue an execution beyond the normal length of time by earning medals with the weapon related to that execution.
-Executions earn you higher XP than a standard kill. Using extended executions earns you more XP for as long as you stand over them, which obviously leaves you extremely vulnerable.
-Epic will store your entire profile data on their own servers to ensure no profile corruptions / rank losses that happened for some Gears 2 players.
You can level offline, but it is noticeably slower.
New Weapons:[size=20]
Open Me
The Retro Lancer (aka. the Pendulum Lancer)
Quote:
Described as the midpoint between rifle play and shotgun play, the Retro Lancer is a high stopping power, high recoil weapon. It is most effective at ranges just outside the Gnasher’s effective range usage. Holding the B button allows you to use the bayonet on the front in a roadie run style charge, which lands you a kill if you can connect with your opponent. However, this charge must build up momentum first with at least 4 or 5 steps otherwise landing the charge will just count as a normal melee attack.
Sawed Off Shotgun
Quote:
The Sawed Off is a one shot, extremely long reload, extremely high powered shotgun with a wide spread. The Sawed Off has the ability to gib multiple people at once at close range, but it’s effective range is very very small (described as almost point blank). The reload is also much longer than expected, and with one shot, it’s a make it count kind of weapon.
The Digger Launcher
Quote:
A new locust weapon that fires a locust “Piranha-like” creature into the ground, which then emerges and explodes. When fired, dirt is kicked up as it moves along it’s trajectory to give an indication of it’s attack destination. If you are killed by it, your head explodes.
The One Shot
Quote:
A recoilless rifle that can take down almost any enemy in the game with, as the name says, one shot. It’s a heavy weapon that needs to be “deployed” to be fired according to recent previews - it also projects a laser where it’s going to shoot because it’s satellite guided, so your enemy will know when it’s aimed directly at them. The One Shot also has a very low ammo count.
Incendary Grenade
Quote:
A new grenade from the COG that acts like a molotov ****tail with no warning - it explodes on impact. Throw it on the ceiling to rain fire in front of a doorway, or throw it directly on someone to set them alight.
The Multi-Turret
Quote:
A new fixed weapon that can have its four weapon slots traded for almost any weapon you currently hold. By standard, it holds four Pendulum Lancers.
Double barrel sawed-off shotgun: It’s a very effective beast up close. Don’t bother wasting shells at long range. The reload takes a damn long time.
One Shot: It’s a monster of a sniper rifle – so big that it has to be hip-slung. Once equipped, the rifle scans the battlefield with a target laser and it will kill an enemy in one shot, turning them into a fine pink mist.
Retro Lancer: This is a gun that was used before the Locust war. It’s like the regular Lancer, but with a bayonet instead of a chainsaw. Players can do a charge attack and with enough momentum, will pierce an enemy and raise them over their head.
The Digger: Shot that burrows underground to reach its target. A direct hit on a player will cause the weapon to burst out of their chest.
Incendiary grenade: Exactly what it sounds like. Bursts on impact and is a useful defensive weapon when you need to keep enemies back. Grenades can now be stuck to the head of a meat shield. Once stuck, the meat shield will be kicked away and will take out anyone close enough.
Returning weapons:
Open Me
Lancer Assault Rifle
Confirmed to be returning. The chainsaw has now been buffed, and you no longer stumble when revving the saw. Chainsaw kills can now only be stopped in the first few moments of the revving animation, as it now takes time to rev it up to full speed
Hammerburst Assault Rifle
The Hammerburst remains an accurate semi automatic rifle, but now has the addition of iron sights. This added level of zoom takes you into a first person view for precision shooting - articles have also confirmed that the last shot required to down someone will give you a headshot kill if the last hit lands on the head.
Gnasher Shotgun
Confirmed to be returning. Lee Perry expands on it’s usage:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Perry
I’ve definitely never said the gnasher was less powerful, that’s your words The Gnasher is very likely still the weapon of choice for most good shotty players; not being at the far end of the “specific range role” spectrum, it’s a much more general purpose weapon.
Boltok Pistol
Confirmed to be returning.
Gorgon Pistol
Returns under the new name “Gorgon SMG”, having changed from a burst fire pistol to a fully automatic pistol.
Grenades
All three types have been confirmed to be returning. The Ink grenade now gives off no warning beeps to make it a little more useful.
It doesn’t say what gets unlocked exactly, just things you can do to unlock stuff in gears 3 before it comes out. I hope this helps some people who want some goodies in gears 3 
[/size]
