Detailed Analysis - Collectibles, Environment & Context
Collectibles - COG Tags
A staple collectible of the series the COG tags represent the fallen soldiers of the COG who have laid down their lives to stop the Locust at every turn of the already 17 years of war. First introduced in Gears of War they were the only collectibles that could be found throughout the whole game. In Gears of War 2, they made a triumphant return, along with many other collectibles but the COG tags came back new and improved. Attached to every one of them was a message detailing the thoughts of the soldiers that wore them.
It was interesting to see how much more thought the devs decided to give to the tags as instead of making them empty collectibles for achievements, they had attached messages that helped to characterize the Gears that were fighting. Initially, we only ever had to concern ourselves with the safety of Marcus and the rest of Delta as they were the ones we got to know. Being able to understand a bit more about the hopes and fears of the other Gears who are fighting helps to understand more about the Locust war and what it has already cost.
In Gears of War 3, the tags make a return but sadly they have taken a step back as this time with all the tags we find, we don’t get any other information from them. Being able to learn about the other Gears that have fallen in this war made us want to find them even more but in Gears of War 3 they decided not to do this. It’s an odd move considering the notes attached to them, which made the COG tags all the more appealing. In my opinion, it was a bad design choice as it didn’t give much urgency to find the tags other than needing achievements, and it’s even worse because we can see that an excellent Narrative can be told through the tags.
Collectibles - Documents and Lore
An excellent innovation in Gears of War 2 was the addition of additional collectibles. Finding the COG tags was even better when we found a personal message attached to each COG tag and then we were able to find different pieces of documents like journals and reports from individuals. In Gears of War 2, there was a narrative told through some of the different collectibles about a Gear named Jonathan Harper who took part in Operation: Hollow Storm and was eventually captured by the Locust. Thankfully he was able to escape and made it back to Jacinto, just in time to assist in the evacuation. He died valiantly, protecting a family as they escaped on a helicopter.
Sadly this trend would not continue in Gears of War 3, as each collectible acted as a self-contained story prop that didn’t follow a Narrative paradigm. Much like the environments and the character arcs, the collectibles are designed to signify the past so that we can move on and close the chapter. While exploring the town of Hanover Cole comes across many memorabilia about his time as a Thrashball player but also a newspaper clipping was written about when he joined the COG. It feels like so long ago and despite the game series only existing since 2006, we can feel the wear and tear on these characters as if we’ve been with them at the start of the war.
When the Locust returned, it was a blow for our heroes as they hoped they wouldn’t have to deal with them again but just like last time, the Locust have emerged again, although they're not actually in the greatest of positions. From Baird’s observations, they have grown more savage and after finding several collectibles in a new Locust stronghold indicating the state of the Locust horde. Since the drowning of their Nexus, the Locust have fallen on hard times, so hard in fact that they are limiting rations and if any of them take more than what they need or not pulling their weight then they will be killed. We’ve always known the Locust were ruthless but we’ve never found evidence that there have ever been any in-fighting but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The rest of the collectibles look to fill in context from other environments the team and in addition, the players learn a bit more about the world that is happening around them. When they first discover Lambent Humans in Mercy they begin to find accounts of people saying how the people started going crazy after they had rustlung. Rustlung is an Imulsion related sickness that affects people who have been exposed to it for prolonged amounts of time. Rustlung is not new and has been a staple of Sera for some time but now it seems to have a lot more dire consequences as it was always the precursor to people turning Lambent which adds immense agency to the hero's task.
While it would have been good to find a narrative in the collectibles, it is good to see that there wasn’t any less storytelling and informative value for every collectible, even if some of them come across as redundant. Nevertheless, it did seem like the developers could have done something bigger for the collectibles seeing as this is the end of the Locust war and presents itself as potentially the last Gears of War game and every chapter of the game’s story screams this and it seems the only thing that lets it down is certain character failings and the collectibles.
Environment - Ruins of Sera
On our Heroes final journey to eliminate the Locust and the Lambent they have to traverse through the many different landscapes of Sera. In Gears of War 2, we got to explore many different aspects of the landscape of Sera but there was never any significance for the characters themselves. While each location held their own narrative values, Gears of War takes the next step and makes each location visited a reflection of the characters psyche.
First is the COG ship Sovereign where the heroes have called home for some time now. The rusty and barely held together ship is a poor home, but in a world that has mostly burned, you have to try and find whatever refuge you can. The ship is an excellent representation of Marcus and Dom as they are only a shadow of their former selves, Marcus is only hanging on because it’s all he knows how to do and after losing Maria, Dom is only barely holding on, doing things he would never do like growing tomatoes just to have something to do. Despite their obvious wear & tear the ship along with Marcus and Dom are both reliable and strong and ready to move at a moments notice.
When Cole takes Alpha to scavenge for supplies, they visit the town of Hanover, a special place for Cole as it is his hometown and because he was a major “Thrashball” star, Cole was loved and was an icon of the town. Cole hasn’t been home since he joined the war effort and seeing his home in ruins thanks to the Lambent brings up a lot of mixed feelings in Cole especially when he encounters memorabilia from his days of fame. Cole may still have the skills and love of Thrashball but it’s clear that he’s moved on from that after everything he’s been through, but he’ll always be The Cole Train, an iconic and beloved icon for the series.
On their journey to get to Azura and find Marcus’ father they need transportation to get to Azura but for that they need fuel. The only places they could find fuel on their route are the cities of Mercy and Char.
Mercy holds special significance to Dom as it was Maria’s hometown and he wasn’t able to bury her or their children there. What was meant to be a bustling fuel town is empty upon arrival and when they try to fill up their fuel tanker, they can’t as the pump has been shut up. To turn it back on they have to find the pump and turn it back on.
The slow walk through the town is paved with unease and the knowledge that there is most likely a trap waiting for them. The only thing that can make a busy town clear out is if they were attacked by the Locust or the Lambent. The curious thing is, we can’t find any sign of an attack, all we can find is a bunch of homes, boarded up with red x’s marked on them, even more, disconcerting is that a few of them have some bloody hand prints.
Thankfully, Delta find the pipeline, only to find that it’s been booby-trapped, explosives laid on the whole pipe. If it blew up, then the entire town would go up in smoke, clearly an act of sabotage. Delta finds a crazy old man who is responsible for this, rambling about people being sick and going crazy. Temporarily eluding Delta, they find him dead, mere moments later. Whatever killed him did this in seconds and got away just as quickly.
Delving deeper into the tunnels of the city, Delta makes a horrifying discovery, people have now turned Lambent and the entire town is infested. Now that we know Imulsion can turn people Lambent, it makes the urgency to find Adam’s solution so much more important. If Imulsion is in everyone, then it can make everyone into Lambent, thankfully the heroes haven’t turned yet but they don’t know how much time they have left. Mercy holds significance because it allows Dom to come to terms with how he lost his family and adds urgency to the mission of our heroes.
After the fiasco in Mercy, which leaves Dom dead and the team devastated, they have no choice but to get to the city of Char to find fuel. Char is a city that took the brunt of the original Hammer of Dawn strikes, which left 90% of the world on fire and killed many civilians for the sake of preventing the Locust from taking the cities. Trapsing through the ruined areas of the city they find a horrifying sight, the remains of the people who were still escaping the cities.
The ashen remains of the people who ran to try and escape the Locust and the Hammer strikes are a heart-wrenching display of everything the COG has done. Not only that but as a refinery town, we also find signs that the people there have begun turning Lambent, showing how the humans turning Lambent weren’t just confined to Mercy and could be even more widespread across the whole of Sera. Besides finding out that people in Char are becoming Lambent the heroes have a reflection on what the war has taken and the toll it’s taken, even when not visually clear.
Anya who has consistently stayed in a tactical role for the past Gears of War games, is now in the field and although only being active for the past 2 years her hardships are no less small than the rest of the team. On the day that the COG decided to use the Hammer of Dawn to scorch 90% of the planet, Anya was in the room that entire time and even though she didn’t push the button, because she was there, she takes the blame on herself. The Hammer strikes destabilised control of the planet but now they have a chance to get it back, and hopefully, they can rebuild properly and move on, especially Anya.
When they finally reach Azure, it isn’t initially what they expect to find. Fully working train systems, beautiful pieces of art and luxurious buildings. If it wasn’t for the military installations on the island, you could forget that a war was going on outside of the mainland and that is exactly what Chairman Prescott wanted. As he bought scientists and officials from COG territories to escape the onslaught of the Locust he wanted them to be able to work in safety and also try to save their culture.
While it is despicable that Prescott had this retreat made to shelter away the scientists of the COG while the brave Gears were giving their lives to fight the Locust, it is somewhat lessened by the fact that he did want to preserve Sera’s history. Not only that but while the scientists were safe, Prescott stayed with the COG for the duration of the war, only rarely making visits to Azura. Even after the sinking of Jacinto, he remained with the survivors before eventually departing for Azura full-time.
Using the environments to act as a reflection of the characters and tell their own subtle narratives is a fun little innovation that helps to make sure the environments aren’t just simple levels. It’s not just a fun narrative tool but it’s also an excellent use to show that this is the end of the Locust War. Creating an environment for a few of the characters we have known for a long time as a way of bringing up memories and feelings for them, helps them to confront some things about themselves and the things this war has done to them.