[Grisby]

I'm pretty surprised that people actually bought enough avatar shirts to let Carmine live. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to or not, but I think it worked well the way they showed him pick up the helmet(after teasing it with the dead COG and the floating helmet) right after Adam ate it.

I should have gotten a shirt. Some of the money went to charity i believe. Him getting up at the ending put a huge smile on my face. Great stuff.

Someone's got to keep the Carmine line going for future deaths.

[NullPointer]

I don't know if its just me, but most of my attachment to the characters comes from playing them in multiplayer all these years. For me that is much more significant than any attachment I could make during the storylines.

That's a good point, and its Horde for me. Dom isn't just Dom, but the face of your buddy who was there for you throughout your Gears 1 and 2 insane run. Dizzy isn't just some NPC that you have to save every once in a while, its your brother who won't stick with the damn team and gets downed at the other end of the map just as a fresh wave enemies spawn in - leading to crazy rescue missions, I told you so's, screams and laughs as everybody gets brutally blown to shit by a gaggle of boomers.

Its hard not to see your friends in these characters, and for all the bitching about bro-talk in these games who hasn't had Marcus bellow out a Fuck Yeah just as you were actually yelling it? Good times all around.

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

I'm pretty surprised that people actually bought enough avatar shirts to let Carmine live. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to or not, but I think it worked well the way they showed him pick up the helmet(after teasing it with the dead COG and the floating helmet) right after Adam ate it.

Mike Capps said that the vote was basically a landslide though at the time and for obvious reasons he wouldn't reveal which side won.

Anyone remember the promo art they released of Clayton Carmine where he was standing over a field of dead locusts and looked like a total bad ass? I'm kind of disappointed they didn't pursue that angle in the campaign but I guess they didn't want to take away too much from the main plot line with Marcus and Dom. Maybe in the DLC?

[zewone]

To which you've provided very few examples of, to be fair. If you're saying "Portal" series then, sure, that's some brilliant, amazing work! I'm not going to defend our story here, those who love it and get it truly adore it. You can find plot holes in nearly anything, from Lord of the Rings to Dark Knight. Story, like any art, can be somewhat subjective and is easy to pick on. The GAF crowd can be somewhat cynical. If you go to Youtube and look up many of the cutscenes deemed "silly" or "cheesy" on here the majority of the comments over there cite how the scenes moved them, made them misty eyed, or out and out made them cry. And those of you citing Cole as some bad stereotype - guys, that's just Lester being Lester. We introduced Jace as a more laid back character as a contrast Cole's enthusiasm. (which, after playing his sequence, is his way of overcompensating for not being the center of the universe and having to risk his neck for a can of beans now along with some aches and pains.) I believe we're getting better at storytelling with each effort and the critical consensus is that this is the best Gears narrative yet, and we'll keep doing better in the future. You can pick anything to shreds on the internet because you've got the time and balls afforded to you by a keyboard and monitor. ;) EDIT: And no, we're not going to answer everything. Creatives often leave certain questions unanswered so they can answer them later or let the hive mind of the internet to figure it out. The Gearspedia has already solved a lot of these questions.

Pat yourself on the back. There's plenty of people who will tell you how awesome your game is how you can do no wrong.

I loved Gears 1 and 2 and was invested in the story and the characters. I was hoping for some closure or at least to give the story and the people involved the proper respect I thought was deserved. I feel that you let me down, and other Gears fans I played with (through co-op in the other Gears games). You can tell me "tough shit" about the answers I'm looking for, but that doesn't change the fact that I was truly disappointed in Delta Squad's swan song.

And for the people saying Gears is a multiplayer game/action blockbuster and shouldn't be held to the same standards in it's story telling, than they shouldn't try to evoke emotions out of their audience. If the game is meant to be tongue in cheek or just "balls to the wall" action, they should stick to that.

[Rimfya]

I like the Gears universe and the story. Not enough to read books and comics though (I don't have time afforded to me to be reading those). But I didn't like the pacing in Gears 3.

In Gears 2 you had Dom talking about finding Maria from the very beginning, something that didn't happen until a few acts later. In Gears 3 you only have Dom pining for her moments before he dies, we peer into Cole's soul once and never again, Baird and Sam have something going, once.

I think the emotional beats would've had more payoff if they had the time to earn them. If Dom was constantly depressed and had a death wish for the whole game for example.

Lastly I can't buy your point about creatives leaving questions unanswered. Unless it's the central conceit of the narrative (what's in the suitcase?) it just feels like you ran out of time or answers.

Imagine a movie where half the plot devices are red herrings unless you spend hours on the Internet to read about them - you know, with all that time your keyboard and mouse affords.

:)

Awesome game cliff. Moment to moment gameplay is first class regardless of all my own personal nit picks.

[HitokiriNate85]

Is there any way to disable shaky-cam in single player?

I've been playing split-screen both in campaign and multiplayer, and the shaky cam is either not present on lessened to an extent that I don't even notice it. I'm trying to play multiplayer by myself, though, and the camera is making me sick. I usually don't have that problem if I'm playing a game, but shaky cam causes the same out-of-control feeling that watching someone else play a game like Portal does. I mean, even Portal 2 only bothered me a little. This is just out of hand.

[NullPointer]

I think the emotional beats would've had more payoff if they had the time to earn them. If Dom was constantly depressed and had a death wish for the whole game for example.

There was setup though, beyond those last moments, just not so overt. In fact the very first collectible pickup, in the very first room in the game is a psych report on Dom if I remember correctly.

[Rimfya]

There was setup though, beyond those last moments, just not so overt. In fact the very first collectible pickup, in the very first room in the game is a psych report on Dom if I remember correctly.

This has to stop. Game stories should not be fleshed out in collectables, audio logs, comics and books. They should be supplementary, not divided up into chunks of the main narrative.

[NullPointer]

This has to stop. Game stories should not be fleshed out in collectables, audio logs, comics and books. They should be supplementary, not divided up into chunks of the main narrative.

I understand where you're coming from, but in an action game, much less a co-op action game you don't want to slow the game down with too many cinematics. Its a balance that has to be struck in order to keep your replaybility, especially in a game with an arcade scoring mode.

The balance in Gears 3 worked for some but not others. I honestly don't know if there is a way to please everybody with this kind of thing.

[Kusagari]

The only thing I want Ciffy to explain is why he ruined the MP with the SOS.

[jackdoe]

I understand where you're coming from, but in an action game, much less a co-op action game you don't want to slow the game down with too many cinematics. Its a balance that has to be struck in order to keep your replaybility, especially in a game with an arcade scoring mode. The balance in Gears 3 worked for some but not others. I honestly don't know if there is a way to please everybody with this kind of thing.

In-game dialogue is a simple solution (or scale back the number of questions asked within the game's plot if you know you'll be unable to properly answer them).

[LiK]

The only thing I want Ciffy to explain is why he ruined the MP with the SOS.

Gears of War 3 was almost too good. Had to fuck it up with something.

[Vire]

Don't lump me in with them cynical bastards. ;)

Amen.

I quite enjoyed the Gears storyline! While I didn't cry over Dom's death, I was rather upset about it at the very least. Something much more than the previous games did for me...

No need to respond to every critic out there Cliffy, I understand it's your baby and all but there are plenty of folks around here who loved Epic's work.

Campaign DLC should be a hoot.

[SomewhatGroovy]

To which you've provided very few examples of, to be fair. If you're saying "Portal" series then, sure, that's some brilliant, amazing work! I'm not going to defend our story here, those who love it and get it truly adore it. You can find plot holes in nearly anything, from Lord of the Rings to Dark Knight. Story, like any art, can be somewhat subjective and is easy to pick on. The GAF crowd can be somewhat cynical. If you go to Youtube and look up many of the cutscenes deemed "silly" or "cheesy" on here the majority of the comments over there cite how the scenes moved them, made them misty eyed, or out and out made them cry. And those of you citing Cole as some bad stereotype - guys, that's just Lester being Lester. We introduced Jace as a more laid back character as a contrast Cole's enthusiasm. (which, after playing his sequence, is his way of overcompensating for not being the center of the universe and having to risk his neck for a can of beans now along with some aches and pains.) I believe we're getting better at storytelling with each effort and the critical consensus is that this is the best Gears narrative yet, and we'll keep doing better in the future. You can pick anything to shreds on the internet because you've got the time and balls afforded to you by a keyboard and monitor. ;) EDIT: And no, we're not going to answer everything. Creatives often leave certain questions unanswered so they can answer them later or let the hive mind of the internet to figure it out. The Gearspedia has already solved a lot of these questions.

To leave things on a positive note and to contradict all the brown nosers who want to categorize anyone with a criticism as a "hater". A couple of things:

1)If the only things people can complain about are the plot and the Sawed-Off Shotgun, you KNOW you've done a tremendous job. Seriously. I get that we tend to lose focus and put a lens on what doesn't work vs what does, but knowing the alternative is that we could all be ranting how awful the game-play is, I think it's clear that you and your team have succeeding in putting another game in our hands that we're going to lose hours in a few years from now. So congratulations.

2) For me, personally, and I'm sure a good number of others, when the first game was released, it did set a standard in gameplay, multiplayer, graphics, etc. We vested playing that game for hundreds of hours. Understand that the focus, then, was on the original pairing of Baird, Cole, Dom and Fenix. I think we were more vested in them than an expanded universe of characters. Instead, I feel that we got a number of characters that intruded on what we fell in love with to begin with and got bogged by too many questions of an expanded universe I'm not sure many people asked for. With that said, let it be known that you've put four characters on the map that people have a lot of fun with. Understand that some criticism stems from this fact. We're not criticising out of malicious intent, but because of our love for this series you created, ok?

3) Remember, the term "writer" is as vague as the term "doctor". ie. You would never go to a gynecologist for brain surgery. Karen is a novelist and I don't think her writing translates well on screen. Looking into her background, I see she has little experience with pacing out an in-game story vs one on paper.

4) To be fair, I could name MANY games with lots of really well realized story-telling. I've been gaming since '82 and you and I BOTH know that this billion dollar industry you're working in has its share of games with great story-telling. You guys are getting only better with each game but it's surprising that this is the only aspect of your games that aren't making the same leaps as other components of your game.

I've got all three games with respective DLC on my console. You guys keep working hard, we'll keep supporting you. Meant no disrespect.

[Grisby]

Ha! Thanks for the thread name change Y2kev.

[Rahxephon91]

smh @ the people complaining about the writing and not 'getting' certain parts of the game. Really? A lot of more serious games have had far, far worse writing. I certainly didn't. And my favourite character, no less :(

But the problem is Gears takes itself very serious. It is a serious game, which is a problem. I think the story in three is almost offensive. Cole is one of the worst characters I have ever encountered.

I respect Cliffy and think he's a cool guy. I don't want to sit here and nitpick your game. I'm happy have at least tried and I'm happy people liked the story.

[Vire]

But the problem is Gears takes itself very serious. It is a serious game, which is a problem. I think the story in three is almost offensive. Cole is one of the worst characters I have ever encountered. I respect Cliffy and think he's a cool guy. I don't want to sit here and nitpick your game. I'm happy have at least tried and I'm happy people liked the story.

Takes itself seriously? Did you play the first act? The whole Cole Stadium bit was one giant gag.

It knows when to be serious, and when to poke fun at itself.

[Phatcorns]

But the problem is Gears takes itself very serious. It is a serious game, which is a problem. I think the story in three is almost offensive. Cole is one of the worst characters I have ever encountered. I respect Cliffy and think he's a cool guy. I don't want to sit here and nitpick your game. I'm happy have at least tried and I'm happy people liked the story.

I don't see how anyone can look at the game as anything other than parody. The whole game is a parody of action movies and games, but the only ones who aren't in on it are the characters. I feel like in the first game they tried to actually be serious and have emotion and all that, but then were just like, let's just go all out action movie.

It's kind of like the movie Commando. The characters in the movie take everything completely seriously, but you aren't supposed to. And because of that, it can be both funny and strangely touching at the same time.

[corrosivefrost]

I wanted Carmine to die. It's tradition. Like South Park killing Kenny.

On top of that, they killed my favorite character... ugh. :(

[Volimar]

But the problem is Gears takes itself very serious.

lol wut?

Cluckshot.

Cole going down the slide.

Every other thing Baird says...

It tries to have a few heavy themes, but you really can't say it takes itself too seriously.

[SomewhatGroovy]

lol wut? Cluckshot. Cole going down the slide. Every other thing Baird says... It tries to have a few heavy themes, but you really can't say it takes itself too seriously.

The line of thinking is not on the money. Have you played any of the Metal Gear Solid games? Just because a game inserts a light moment doesn't mean the overall arc is not intended to be a mature one.

The above poster is spot on. It's almost as if this series does not know if it wants to be satirical or taken seriously. If it's the former, then why press for these "emotional" moments and an expanded universe (which takes a lot of thought and effort to put into)? It's quite the juxtaposition. I wish they would keep things simple and make go back to making these characters make light of a dire situation. That's why we loved Cole. Because in this "against all odds" situation, he can scream WHOOOO! It was brilliant.

[MCXC Pioneer]

This is the funnies thing i've read all day. Well done.

Sweet reply bro, you made a lot of good points there.

[kayos90]

Nice title change. People will probably notice the difference now. On the other hand the other people already knew how to read.

[jackdoe]

I don't see how anyone can look at the game as anything other than parody. The whole game is a parody of action movies and games, but the only ones who aren't in on it are the characters. I feel like in the first game they tried to actually be serious and have emotion and all that, but then were just like, let's just go all out action movie. It's kind of like the movie Commando. The characters in the movie take everything completely seriously, but you aren't supposed to. And because of that, it can be both funny and strangely touching at the same time.

Yeah. Because the "Mad World" scene was definitely aiming to be a parody!

[SomewhatGroovy]

.

[sixteen-bit]

New thread title is awesome

[uncledonnie]

I suppose if the next games will be prequels as everyone is speculating then it would explain why they left a lot of the origin questions unanswered.

[Kimosabae]

Just wanted to say for Cliffy's sake, that Gear 3 is amazing. I didn't expect to like this game nearly as much as I did (thus far - I've only finished the campaign). I went from considering returning to the game prior to the Locust's appearance (REALLY don't like Lambent) to gathering a true appreciation for the effort that went into this game. The final Chapters simply blew me away. The last stage in particular seemed to be very much inspired by Uncharted 2, and I LOVED it.

Hopefully, the game's momentum carries into MP for me. I've never liked the 3rd person perspective, but I think I'm going to give this game a true effort.

*edit*

Oh yeah...

The GAF crowd can be somewhat cynical. If you go to Youtube and look up many of the cutscenes deemed "silly" or "cheesy" on here the majority of the comments over there cite how the scenes moved them, made them misty eyed, or out and out made them cry. And those of you citing Cole as some bad stereotype - guys, that's just Lester being Lester. We introduced Jace as a more laid back character as a contrast Cole's enthusiasm.

Thanks for confirming that you guys are indeed sensitive to how people may view Cole ;)

Jace could have been any ethnicity, but for this contrast to work, Jace would have to be black (unless there's some relationship between the characters I missed the player should). It works and I appreciated it, even if the conscious intention wasn't to placate whiny minorities.

[CcrooK]

Fantastic title change. lol - as for what Cliffy said, why should we have to resort to a wiki for answers when we're (in theory) suppose to get those answers to a trilogy sequel. I mean c'mon...you're not going to go ahead and do Gears 4 are ya? ;) The story is fine. I just think in the end, the writers could of done something more extraordinary rather than obvious outcomes.

[amitlu]

Count me as another that likes Jace. He's just a regular soldier like everyone else and isn't playing up a stereotype. It's rare to see a minority in a video game medium playing straight man that the other characters' personalities bounce off of. Usually the every man is your generic white guy while the WACKY CRAZY minority does all the crazy shit for everyone to laugh at.

Generally though I think the Gears series has been good about not conforming to the industry standard whitewashed cast and Epic doesn't get enough credit for actually pushing some boundaries. Look at the makeup of the characters throughout the series and you'll find a racially and culturally diverse cast that isn't focused on as a point of the story. It really gives sells the setting of 'everything is fucked and we are at the brink, we don't have time to care about that petty shit anymore' that a true wartime situation would bring. Everyone is just heads down and doing their job, with people from every race and gender contributing any way they can.

And that's part of why Jace is good. He's Jace, not 'that black guy'.

[Rahxephon91]

Takes itself seriously? Did you play the first act? The whole Cole Stadium bit was one giant gag.

That was one of the most awful things ever.Is that scene supposed to be serious or parody? I don't think the game knows. It keeps going for this entire "Cole is being reflective on the star he was", hell you have Sam even make a comment to this effect. She basically tells blonde guy to let him have his reflective moment. And then it has stupid WHOO I put a bomb thing moment that is so awkward with whats going on in this scene.

"You go from the death of a jedi master to slapstick humor"

This isn't good and it's around Gears three completely. There's a difference between trying to be serious and joking and you don't smash them right up next to each other.

It knows when to be serious, and when to poke fun at itself.

No I don't but this excuse. It's just bad. Like the death scene where Adam is dying and obviously it's very serious, when you see his arm all Cole can say is "Oh shit". So is knowing to be serious then, but thinks it's ok to have a second of poking fun of it self? No this is just bad. And then after killing and chainsawing things to death we have a scene where Marcus is apparently tired of war and goes to the beach only to be comforted by Anya. This scene would have actually been fine except for the fact that is never earned. Anya is so such a shit character? Do these characters have a relationship? The only actual scene where they express something is in the ending of Gears 2 where they have a mid air hand hug or something. other then that the only reason you get a sense of relationship is because she is a girl and he is a guy.

I don't see how anyone can look at the game as anything other than parody. The whole game is a parody of action movies and games, but the only ones who aren't in on it are the characters. I feel like in the first game they tried to actually be serious and have emotion and all that, but then were just like, let's just go all out action movie.

How can this be a parody. I could have bought this before, but I don't think the game really wants to be a parody, not anymore. Not with scenes like Dom's death, which is supposed to be serious. The game doesn't treat it as parody. Not when you have Mad World playing or it treats the idea of telling everyone elses about Dom's death as some big weight. Like when Marcus asks Sam if she's ok. A conversation like that only would work in a serious story and would only be put in one. On top of that Sam is also a shitty character, we really only know she has some sort of relationship with Dom because blonde guy makes a joke about it. Other then that, her character is entirely pointless. But why else would a game put such a serious tone to the idea of Dom's death and how the characters are reacting it? It's because it whats us to treat it seriously. This isn't parody. Parody is Bulletstorm. A game that handles it's story much better then Gears 3. Where the game at the offset establishes that this is pretty much not to be taken serious.

It's kind of like the movie Commando. The characters in the movie take everything completely seriously, but you aren't supposed to. And because of that, it can be both funny and strangely touching at the same time.

There's nothing touching about the great movie Commando and this example doesn't work. In Commando, there isn't an attempt at actual serious thought into Arnold's actions or the bad guys actions. Arnold wants to save his daughter, that's his character. The bad guys are bad guys and that's it. Gears on the other hand attempts to show how hard Marcus' life is, just look at the ending. There's an attempt at serious Pathos in Gears. Why else would they have Mad World play or have the scene with Marcus taking off his stuff to symbolize how tired he is. That's being serious. You wont that find that in Commando. It's not attempting to appeal to emotions like Gears is. Gears wants you to feel for them, even though the characters are pretty terrible. Commando whats you to cheer for Arnold as he kills bad people. Totally different.

[Kimosabae]

Not to take this off topic but, you know who's my favorite black videogame character of all time?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRcKPmUuOig

I just hope to see more characters like Cyrax and Jace in the future.

[NullPointer]

Why else would they have Mad World play or have the scene with Marcus taking off his stuff to symbolize how tired he is.

I saw it more as a nod to the fans who have been with the series from it's beginning. Mad World was their first true ad for Gears 1 and it set a certain tone. To have that moment echoed back in Dom's death and the explosive sequence that followed was a nice touch.

Mad World

"No tomorrow"

[Stantron]

Dom's voice actor, Carlos Ferro, talking about Dom's fate in Gears 3... and a very lovely interviewer. :P Worth a listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-d4L...=youtu.be&hd=1
edit: shit, I had to double check this was the spoiler thread. haha

[Draft]

Cliffyb in full on damage control mode.

I don't even think Michael Bay would have the balls for a selfless sacrifice set to the instrumental of Mad World. I'm sure he would have appreciated the explosion, though.

If you go to Youtube and look up many of the cutscenes deemed "silly" or "cheesy" on here the majority of the comments over there cite how the scenes moved them, made them misty eyed, or out and out made them cry.

"Racism, misspelled words and the Gears story."



"What are 3 things people on Youtube like."

[SomewhatGroovy]

My hand to God, I'm not trying to be obnoxious here.

It just occurred to me which character Jace is. For a while I thought he was the Act IV antagonist until people pointed out he served as a foil for Cole and then it hit me. That tells me how much of an impact that character served to me. I thought he was just filler. We know absolutely nothing about the guy except he likes to engage in transitory remarks to move the plot along.

[Rimfya]

Said it before, his character profile is this...

Jace: Conduit of Exposition.

[I3rand0]

Cliffyb in full on damage control mode. I don't even think Michael Bay would have the balls for a selfless sacrifice set to the instrumental of Mad World. I'm sure he would have appreciated the explosion, though. "Racism, misspelled words and the Gears story." "What are 3 things people on Youtube like."

:lol

Great post.

[SPEA]

Just beat it. Best Gears campaign by a longgggg shot.

Pat yourself and your team on the back Cliff. You guys did a fabulous job.

[LevityNYC]

Fucking loved it all the way through. Thanks Cliffy B for 3 amazing games.

Now onto multiplayer!

[MCXC Pioneer]

My hand to God, I'm not trying to be obnoxious here. It just occurred to me which character Jace is. For a while I thought he was the Act IV antagonist until people pointed out he served as a foil for Cole and then it hit me. That tells me how much of an impact that character served to me. I thought he was just filler. We know absolutely nothing about the guy except he likes to engage in transitory remarks to move the plot along.

You have to read the comic books and novels to have a better understanding of the universe and characters. Jace's origin story has already been explained, I won't ruin it for you but do some digging and you'll see that he has his own tale that hopefully will be explored in DLC.

[SomewhatGroovy]

Said it before, his character profile is this... Jace: Conduit of Exposition.

LMAO. Exactly!

[LuchaShaq]

This has to stop. Game stories should not be fleshed out in collectables, audio logs, comics and books. They should be supplementary, not divided up into chunks of the main narrative.

This, if you can't tell the story when I play through the game I assume you didn't care about it. Even in something like Bioshock I found the audio logs to be a boring crutch.


That said I REALLY enjoyed the gears story for the most part.

Only real question for me is WTF is myrrahh. A bit annoyed about that but everything else was great for me. A notch below what I consider the best stories in games (not going to list to avoid tangential flaming on what I pick) but certainly significantly better than your average action game with a shit story like god of war or call of duty.

Not sure if I'm actually interested in any of the single player DLC, after just finishing the story, finishing beast/horde a few times, and being finally locked out of casual multiplayer it might be time for me to pass this game on to someone else. Definitely got my money's worth though.



Edit: Went back through the thread, people are complaining about single player DLC? Really? Y'all acting as if Marcus disappears for 3 days randomly like Deus Ex or no real ending like Prince of Persia 2008.

[malfcn]

what about the Sires?

[enzo_gt]

But the problem is Gears takes itself very serious. It is a serious game, which is a problem. I think the story in three is almost offensive. Cole is one of the worst characters I have ever encountered. I respect Cliffy and think he's a cool guy. I don't want to sit here and nitpick your game. I'm happy have at least tried and I'm happy people liked the story.

Gears takes itself as seriously as Halo. Take that as you will, but I think it's a good thing to actually try and convey a narrative but have additionally "fun" things placed in there for the hardcore easter egg hunters and for the shits and giggles.

[K' Dash]

what about the Sires?

Read the thread.

[pot]

Just beat it, I loved it. Now back to working on the achievments...

[El_Six]

Just beat it, I loved it. Now back to working on the achievments...

Yeah just beat it a few days, picked up limited edition yesterday local GS had a few for sale (stupid pre-order lol) I would like to see something doen with Beast mode like the 12 waves but would be awesome to go more than that. Think multiplayer got a bit better ( don't really know how to explain) basically never liked it on the first two but for some reason love it now. This was certainly a very well made trilogy story was great and gameplay was awesome.

[SomewhatGroovy]

Gears takes itself as seriously as Halo. Take that as you will, but I think it's a good thing to actually try and convey a narrative but have additionally "fun" things placed in there for the hardcore easter egg hunters and for the shits and giggles.

Wha...I...

What?!

Can you be more specific and cite examples? The two series are nothing alike in tone. Where is the over the top blood splatter in Halo? Where is the "bro" dialogue at? The back and forth sarcastic banter?

[Rez]

That's the problem. At least Halo isn't schizophrenic. On one hand you have the insanity of the Gears universe, on the other you have the guy(s) on the dev team who insist that the story is totally serious business and try and force feed a moving, impactful story on the player without really earning any of it. It's trying to have your cake and eat it too, and it just doesn't work.