For thousands of Gears of War fans worldwide, today and tomorrow may be “sick days” from work. Microsoft today launched the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta on Xbox Live, meaning that fans who preordered Gears of War 3 from GameStop can jump into the action immediately and help refine the multiplayer aspects of the finale to Epic Games’ chainsaw-redefining trilogy.
Over the next three weeks, players will have the opportunity to get an early taste of three brand new competitive modes on four maps. In addition, fans can look forward to special events and surprises throughout the beta, and unlock exclusive medals, weapon skins and character variants that will carry over to their retail copy of Gears of War 3 when it launches Sept. 20.
For example, players can complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock Thrashball Cole during the beta. Completing 10 matches as the Thrashball athlete during the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta will permanently unlock the character variant for the retail version of Gears of War 3.
The multiplayer maps and gameplay modes will unfold at different times throughout the Gears of War 3 beta. From today through May 1, the new Team Deathmatch and King of the Hill modes will be available on three different battlegrounds: Thrashball, Checkout and Trenches. From May 2 through May 8, Capture the Leader mode will be added to the mix, as will a map called Old Town, which was a fan-picked map from a Facebook voting contest. And the last week of the beta, May 9 through May 15, will add Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Capture the Leader modes, all of which will be playable on all four maps.
DailyGame has been in the multiplayer beta for the past week, but we wanted to hold off on the preview until more people got into the mix. With today’s launch, that milestone will have been achieved, so stay tuned for a full preview in the week ahead.