Obviously you were going to buy Gears of War 3 right? Because its Gears of War, the third (and final, but we'll come to that) chapter in one of the best exclusive game titles on the Xbox 360. But perhaps you need more motivation. The latest copy of Australian Game Informer  provides that motivation with their chunky expose on next years number one blockbuster. If you've recently given up on game magazines I suggest you pick up a copy of Australian Game Informer. It's only $5 and has some terrific content, including an article this issue discussing the problems with game pricing in Australia which is some of the most insightful info I've read on the subject ever.

If you're a Gears fan definitely pick up the magazine, the above image is the sweet wrap around cover. I've picked the five features unveiled that have me steaming for the game after the break but there was plenty more info to be had.

Just a warning, there are some spoilers in the content ahead and as General Hawk says, knowing is half the battle, so now you know.

Here's my top 5 reasons next years release of Gears of War 3 is going to kick all kinds of ass:

1. We (as in human beings) are screwed.

In the opening moments of Gears of War 3 you learn that following the destruction of Jacinto the government, military and just about all form of structured humanity fell to pieces. Marcus and crew have commandeered an aircraft carrier and transformed it into a floating refugee camp complete with market garden farms all over the deck to try and feed the last remnants of humanity. If you want the full details you actually need to go out and read both the Gears of War novels by Karen Traviss and pick up the Gears of War comic series from Wildstorm as plenty of plot points and even some playable characters reference this material. I'm a big fan of the kick them hard, and then keep kicking them when they're down method of story telling, evil sadist that I am, so this all sounds wonderful. Things aren't looking good, humanity seems to ticking out the clock until extinction and then it gets worse...

2. A third faction joins the war.

So the Locust have been kinda quiet of late. Kinda too quiet. The remaining Gears smugly assumed the destruction of the Locust hive city have hit them where they hurt, but the truth is the Locust have had a bigger problem to deal with. Remember the Lambent members of the Locust army and the civil war that seemed to be raging at the end of Gears of War 2. Turns out the Lambent Locust where suffering from more than a St Elmo's Fire skin affliction, they were infected with an Imulsion based virus, a sentient virus (and yes before you mention it this sounds a lot like the Flood from Halo). The virus eventually turns infected Locust drones into swollen Imulsion zombies that charge the player before bursting into showers of the acidic fuel source. And that's just one form of the infection. You'll see a lot of the Lambent threat in Gears 3, this faction is intent on destroying both the Locust and the humans, and its not too fussy about the order. Thankfully you've got a few friends to get by with...

The Lambent present a new challenge in Gears 3... and they are totally unlike the Flood, in a way I'm not sure of yet

3. Four player coop baby!

Gears 3 will feature four player coop. Before you think of the familiar foursome of Marcus, Dom, Baird and Cole (The Beatles of shooter games... does that make Master Chief Chuck Berry?) stop right there. Baird and Cole apparently spend a lot of the game following their own playable campaign off on a separate mission from Marcus and Dom, instead the original hairy pair have two new playmates to growl at. The corn rowed Jace Stratton is a carry over character from the comic series who takes on the role of the young idealistic soldier (although the developers stress Jace is not just cannon fodder like the Carmine family), and that mysterious female soldier? Its actually Anya Stroud, your radio operator for the last two games is now in the trenches. Okay maybe you guessed that, but I was pretty surprised. So, new heroes, new action, new problems and of course new play options with four player coop. Of course it wouldn't be a Gears game without...

Looking less like the buttoned down radio operator and more like Tank Girl's younger meaner sister Anya Stroud is no shrinking violet

4. New Gear

There's a whole host of new weapons available, including mounted gun turrets that you can place several weapons in to fire simultaneously. All these weapons, even the turret's, will be available in both single player and online games. The piece of Gear that got my mechanised heart beating the fastest was the one pictured, a suit of Gears powered armour known as the Silverback that can be used to curb stomp enemies, damn I hope I get to go hand to hand against a boomer while I'm driving one of these, that would be cool. And the final reason to get Gears 3...

Just imagine the curb stomp from one of these sons of bitches! It'll turn Locusts into jam (and Lambent into marmalade?) Oh please be in multiplayer

5. Dynamic multiplayer maps.

What does this mean? It means that during the game the multiplayer arenas will alter dramatically. We're familiar with some of these features in past online games. Opening a hanger door, lowering a bridge, that kind of thing, well Gears 3 promises something different, entire levels will flood, the earth will crack open sending playfields tumbling downwards. That's just the large scale stuff as well, on the small scale you've got destructible cover adding a layer of difficulty to the game and a new dynamic lighting system. As for the actual arenas, I won't spoil all the surprises but you'll see some fan service and not just cut and pasted sections from the single player. Expect to fall in love with Gears multiplayer all over again.

Lastly I should mention that Epic has been pretty clear this is the swan song of Gears of War, this is the last Gears title and all the plot points, all those elements that never got wrapped up in the previous games, will get tied up in this one. So there's a bonus reason to pick up Gears of War 3, you get some closure man, closure.

To get the full scoop you can head over to the Gameinformer website and check out their Gears of War 3 hub that has a lot of the content from the magazine (but, really, you know, buy the magazine, it's very good). Click here to be magically transported there.

Just lastly I should mention if you do buy the magazine, our fellow Australian site OXGCN is running a trivia comp based on this issue of Game Informer that could win you a subscription to the mag. Click here to check that out.