The downloadable beta for Epic Games’ Gears of War 3 will apparently be available to Xbox 360 owners next month. Exactly when gamers will be able to play it depends on which method they utilized to gain access to the beta. Those who purchased Epic’s recent Bulletstorm Epic Edition will be granted advanced admission on April 18th. Everyone else (meaning those who preorder Gears at GameStop) will gain entrance starting a week later on April 25th. Beta testers will be able to chainsaw each other online until the demo concludes on May 15th.
Game variants will include the ever popular Team Deathmatch from day one. Playlists for objective based modes (King of the Hill and Capture the Leader) will open up later in the beta. Epic is also promising some sort of special surprise weekend event to be revealed later. The playable maps will be Thrashball, Checkout, Trenches and Old Town. While most betas strip all unlocks and reset stats to zero upon conclusion, the Gears of War 3 beta is going to allow participants to gain permanent access to specific upgrades when the full version launches on September 20th. All of the details are listed below.
Flaming Hammerburst
Complete one match by Sunday, April 24 to permanently unlock.
Flaming Lancer
Complete one match during the week of April 25 to permanently unlock.
Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun
Complete one match during the week of May 2 to permanently unlock.
Flaming Gnasher Shotgun
Complete one match during the week of May 9 to permanently unlock.
Beta Tester Medal — Wear it proudly, Gear.
Complete one match in the Beta to permanently unlock.
Thrashball Cole — Unlock Thrashball Cole to play as Augustus Cole as he was before Emergence Day — a legendary Thrashball athlete known for his ferocious, flamboyant style.
Complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period.
To permanently unlock, complete 10 matches as Thrashball Cole during the Beta period.
Gold-Plated Retro Lancer — Before the chainsaw bayonet was deployed at the beginning of the Locust-Human War, the original Lancer assault rifle had a large fixed blade.
Complete 90 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period.
To permanently unlock, score 100 kills with the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer during the Beta period.
Image courtesy of Epic Games.
