Gears of War 3 Pre-Order Gains Would-Be Owners Access to Multiplayer Beta

We all know Gears of War 3 is going to be a popular game, which means plenty of folks are going to pre-order Gears of War 3 from Amazon. However, before you curb-stomp that Amazon pre-order button, you may want to mosey over to GameStop instead, where Microsoft has an exclusive deal whereby anyone who pre-orders Gears of War 3 online or in-store will gain access to three weeks of the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta on Xbox Live beginning April 25.

During the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta, three new competitive multiplayer modes and four exclusive maps will be rolled out, all running on dedicated servers to help fans’ play styles shape the Xbox 360 blockbuster. Two of the four multiplayer maps, Trenches and Old Town, were selected by fans through a Facebook poll.

The Gears of War 3 public multiplayer beta kicks off April 25 and runs through May 15.

For what it’s worth, the Bulletstorm: Epic Edition version also provides early access to the Gears 3 beta beginning April 18. That access is available via the Bulletstorm disc.

Not only will fans who participate in the beta have the opportunity to get an early taste of the final title in the Gears of War trilogy, but they’ll also have the opportunity to unlock exclusive unlockable content that will carry over to their retail copy of Gears of War 3 when it launches on Sept. 20:

• Beta Tester Medal: Complete one match in the beta to unlock the Beta Tester medal, which will carry over to your gamer profile in the final game. The Beta Tester title will be featured in the Gears 3 multiplayer lobby as well
• Thrashball Cole: Complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock the Thrashball Cole character variant in the beta. Once unlocked, complete 10 matches as Thrashball Cole during the beta and the character will carry over to your gamer profile in the final game
• Gold-Plated Retro Lancer: Show your ultimate Gears of War fandom by unlocking the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer. Complete 90 matches in any game type to unlock it for the beta, and score 100 kills with it once unlocked to carry the exclusive weapon skin over to your gamer profile in the final game
• Flaming Hammerburst: Complete one match by Sunday, April 24 and unlock this weapon variant
• Flaming Lancer: Complete one match during the week of April 25 and unlock this weapon variant
• Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun: Complete one match during the week of May 2 to unlock this weapon variant
• Flaming Gnasher Shotgun: Complete one match during the week of May 9 to unlock this weapon variant