The first two Gears of War games served as Microsoft's tentpole holiday releases, both coming out in early November. However, that pattern was changed up this year when Microsoft announced that Gears of War 3 would be released on April 5, 2011.

"Well, everyone, it looks like we get another five months of R&R before the slaughter starts."

Now, things have been changed back.

In a statement this morning, Microsoft Game Studios announced that Gears of War 3 is being pushed back into fall 2011 to serve as one of the publishing label's Q4 anchor titles. Indeed, Microsoft is already predicting it will be the "biggest entertainment launch of 2011."



"The teams at Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games have done great work thus far readying the title for release in the spring of 2011," the company said in a statement. "However, we've elected to move the launch of Gears of War 3 until fall 2011 to make it the marquee title for the holiday season."

As shown in the trailer below, Gears of War 3 will offer an apocalyptic finale to the series, which has sold 12 million copies to date. According to Microsoft, the last human city has been obliterated, with Marcus Fenix trying to protect the remaining humans from the Locust horde and newer, deadlier foes, the mutating Lambeth.

Like Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 will be Xbox 360 exclusive, with Epic Games design director Bleszinski having said in 2008 that there will be no more installments of the series on the PC. In a franchise first, it will also allow players to play through its campaign in four-person co-op mode.



Following Konami's dropping of Six Days in Fallujah, games set during modern-day conflicts have come under extra scrutiny. One game in particular has been put under the microscope--Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor reboot, which is set during the early days of the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

Following protestations of families who have lost members during the Afghan Conflict, EA has now decided to no longer let players assume the role of the Taliban in the game's multiplayer mode. Instead, the forces opposing US soldiers in the mode will sport the far more generic moniker of "Opposing Force."

"Because the heartbeat of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and Allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team in Medal of Honor multiplayer from Taliban to Opposing Force," said executive producer Greg Goodrich in a statement on the game's official Web site.

Goodrich also said that the multiplayer aspect of the game, designed by Battlefield: Bad Company 2 developer EA DICE, would otherwise remain unchanged. Players will also still fight the Taliban in the single-player campaign.

In development at EALA's Danger Close studio, Medal of Honor is due out on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 12. It will initially be offered only in a Limited Edition format, one that carries a standard-edition price tag of $60 across all three platforms.

Belying its price tag, the Medal of Honor Limited Edition includes many of the customary premium perks, including early access to EA DICE's Battlefield 3 multiplayer beta, two in-game shotguns, and an exclusive weapon. PS3 gamers will also find a free copy of the PS2 classic Medal of Honor: Frontline packed into the Limited Edition.


The first installment in the series not to be set during World War II, Medal of Honor will follow a group of elite commandos called Tier 1 Operators during operations behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. It will be set during the early stages of the war, when the US-backed Northern Alliance was pushing toward victory over the now-resurgent Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies.



Though the Xbox 360 and PS3 multiplayer betas have come and gone, PC gamers still have a chance to participate in an open testing period beginning October 4. The online multiplayer beta download client will be available through Medal of Honor's official Web site beginning today, and the testing phase will close on October 7 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.


The Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Edition cat has been out of the bag since a GameStop product page was spotted nearly two months ago, but Electronic Arts today finally made it official. The PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 compilation will arrive October 26 and will include the base game along with all of the game's downloadable content packs at a $60 price point.



The Ultimate Edition of Dragon Age will pack in all of the game's DLC for $60.

With the extra content packed in, Ultimate Edition will take players from their recruitment into the elite Grey Wardens and the Darkspawn invasion in the original game, through the exploration of Amaranthine in the full Awakening expansion. In addition to those two main campaigns, players will get access to all nine of the smaller add-ons, from the Stone Prisoner add-on given away with all new purchases of Dragon Age, to Witch Hunt, which was released earlier this month. The Ultimate Edition even includes the Feastday Gifts and Feastday Pranks packs to let players show appreciation or disdain for their party members.

Players who crave even more Dragon Age won't have to wait too long for another helping. Dragon Age II is set for release March 8 and will see players take Blight-survivor Hawke from a lowly refugee to a heralded champion. BioWare has promised new combat mechanics for the game's classes, as well as "an entirely new cinematic experience."