Gone Fishin’ (Gears of War 3)
The Gears of War franchise prides itself on stupid, action packed fun. There are some moments where one could reasonably think Robert Rodriguez was at the helm, and despite the series mostly playing it straight, there’s no denying they’re all kinda dumb and funny in a way that you can’t really hate. Just when you thought the franchise couldn’t get any sillier, Gears 3 kicks off with fighting a giant, glowing fish that’s eating your ship as it’s going up in flames. No seriously, this is the thing that kicks off the plot to Gears 3. It’s crazy, it’s batshit, it’s stupid, even by Gears standards. It has no real reason to exist besides wanting to give players a more action packed opening than the assault on the Locust base in Gears 2. And yet, it’s totally freaking awesome.
Okay, let’s back up. Gears of War 3 picks up a year and a half after the last game, with human survivors of the Jacinto flooding on the island of Vectes. Delta Squad is on the CNV Sovereign carrier, and after some standard tutorial stuff, the shit hits the fan. Lambent Locust storm the Sovereign, everything’s exploding; and then the Leviathan shows up. This big, glowing Lambent fish tearing the ship to shreds, and the only way to stop it is with Silverback mechs aboard the ship and using explosive Tickers on the bridge above the Sovereign. I can’t imagine how this was pitched in the design room, but I’m sure as hell glad it exists. Giant glowing fish, man.
