Right from the start, the FPS Freek EPICs fit easily on the analog sticks of the controller and are also very easy to take off.  These add-ons make the analog sticks taller and based on my knowledge of physics, this provides better precision when aiming at your enemies.  They do feel a little uncomfortable at first and take some getting used to.  The pads feel quite nice and feel good on my thumbs.  On the pads themselves is what looks to be the trademark Gear of War cog and a skull inside of it.  Overall, the FPS Freek EPIC feels great and looks good too.

They may look good and feel good but did the FPS Freek EPIC change my performance at all?  I’m pretty bad at shooters in general so I really couldn’t tell.  The controller itself felt a lot more comfortable with the add-ons than without.  I felt like I did have more precision when aiming and running around.  I played a few matches in Gears of War 2 and according to my statistics, I did slightly better with the FPS Freek EPICs than without them.

For fun, I also tried out a first person shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops with the accessory. I think when KontrolFreek said these were designed specifically for third person shooters, they actually were right.  I didn’t feel any improvements when playing a first person shooter.  Probably one of the most important features of the FPS Freek EPIC is that it is tournament legal so even when your competing in MLG or in any competition, these controller add-ons can act as great performance enhancers.

Conclusion: Overall, the FPS Freek EPIC controller add-ons only slightly boosted my performance.  They feel really good and you are guaranteed that your thumbs will not skip off the controller.  The design of it looks great and the add-ons are easy to slip on and off.  The fact that they are tournament legal makes them extremely appealing to competitive gamers.  For $13.99, I’d say it’s probably a little overpriced but for those looking for an easy way to get better precision out of their Xbox 360 controller for third person shooters, look no further than the FPS Freek EPIC.

Special thanks to KontrolFreek for providing us with the KontrolFreek EPIC accessory for review.

In the final trailer for the upcoming hit Gears of War 3 manages to tell the tale of the first two Gears of War games, albeit in a little over two minutes.

If you take the time to watch over the trailer you’ll notice quite a few things from the first two games.

Gears of War 3 releases September 2oth exclusively on Xbox 360.

Gears of War 3 is shipping in about 3 months from now, and the games Horde mode that everyone loves is back and better than ever. Today, Microsoft and Epic games presents a tutorial video of what to expect from the Horde mode in Gears of War 3. So what can we expect from the new Horde mode? There seems to be plenty of additions.

Fortifications is looking to be one of the big new features. Broken down on 5 fortification types which include: Barriers, Sentries, Decoy’s, Turret’s and a mech called The Silverback. The more you build the more their effectiveness increases. In order to build you’ll need money. Getting cash is as easy as killing the enemy. Cash can be used for a variety of things: building or repairing fortifications, getting extra ammo, getting more powerful weapons, and even buying yourself back into the fight if you die.

Team work is also a part of the gears series, and now you can share and exchange weapons, and even cash. Completing certain objectives will also get you more weapons and cash for you and your squad. One other nice addition, every 10th wave is a boss wave.

Gears of War 3 ships September 20th for the Xbox 360.

Hot on the heels of the success of the Gears of War 3 beta, we now have an amazing trailer to tide us over until the release of the game!  After the Champion’s League final, the trailer was launched and here it is for you to feast your eyes upon!

Prepare for the epic Gears of War 3 final on September 20th , 2011!

Limited Edition ($79.99 US) – The must-have for fans who want to celebrate the culmination of the trilogy, the Limited Edition includes:

• An Octus Award Box with Octus Service Medal – A 1:1 match in size and weight, this zinc-alloy cog-shaped medal replicates the award given to Adam Fenix in recognition of his work on the Hammer of Dawn.
• Dimensions: 77 mm (3 in.) x 10 mm (0.4 in.)
• Exclusive Unlockable Adam Fenix Multiplayer Character – Each Octus Service Medal replica is engraved with a unique Xbox LIVE code that is the only way to unlock Adam Fenix in multiplayer.
• A fabric COG Flag – Proud colors that once flew above the House of Sovereigns.
• The personal effects of Adam Fenix, including his “Last Will and Testament,” the initial Hammer of Dawn schematic, and other Fenix family mementos.

Epic Edition ($149.99 US) – The ultimate collection for hardcore fans who can’t get enough “Gears of War 3,” the Epic Edition includes:

• A Limited Edition Marcus Fenix Statue – Designed by Epic Games Art Director Chris Perna and expertly crafted by the artisans at Triforce, this fine PVC statue collectible makes the ultimate living room centerpiece for any true “Gears” fan.
• Dimensions: height 285 mm (11.2 in.), diameter 225 mm (8.9 in.).
• Weight: 1.7 kg (3.7 lb.)
• The Art and Design of Gears of War by Tom Bissell – Through unprecedented access to the Epic Games team, acclaimed author Tom Bissell (Extra Lives) gives readers an incisive behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the most celebrated sagas in video game history with 96 pages of interviews, photos, concept artwork and more.
• Infected Omen Weapon Pack — Custom multiplayer skins for the game’s five starting weapons; Lancer, Retro Lancer, Hammerburst, Sawed-off Shotgun, and Gnasher Shotgun.
• All the contents of the “Gears of War 3” Limited Edition.

The “Gears of War 3” Limited Edition and Epic Edition are the only ways to obtain these high-end collectibles and downloadable content.  With production values worthy of the most discerning fans, the “Gears of War 3” Epic Edition is available in very limited quantities and only while supplies last.

Players curious about enlisting as COG soldiers to fight against the ferocious Locust onslaught are going to be in for a treat. Epic Games is definitely working hard on the best title in the Gears of War Trilogy, Gears of War 3. The team’s dedication is really showing in their newly released Multiplayer Beta. I was lucky enough to get an early hands on look at the title and, in all honesty, it’s been taking up a lot of my time.

Epic Games has done a superb job with Gears of War 3’s multiplayer. They have found a perfect medium between the original Gears of War and Gears of War 2, making it the most entertaining and polished title of the series. Little tweaks such as increasing the games speed give the experience more fluidity, while keeping the same Gears of War feel.

So what makes the new Gears of War multiplayer so good? Let’s start with weapons.

There are surprisingly a lot of weapons at your disposal. Some old favorites are there, but they feel brand new and more visceral, while the new additions to the deadly Gears’ arsenal fit in perfectly and pack a lot of punch. Returning from previous installments are the Lancer, Scorcher (flame thrower), Pistol, Gnasher (shotgun), Boomshot, Mulcher (Large Machine Gun), Torque Bow, Longshot (sniper rifle),  Mortor, Boltok revolver, Gorgon SMG and the Hammer burst (semi automatic rifle)—some of these classics remain fundamentally the same, while others have changed a bit.

The Longshot, for example, has the zoom substantially increased.

The Gorgon SMG used to shoot in bursts, but is now a fully fledged automatic hand gun.

The new and improved Hammer Burst is now becoming one of my favorite weapons. Not only is it really strong, but it now comes with an iron sight view that’s initiated when aiming down your sights, which makes the gun even more accurate than it already is.

Picking up either of these weapons will instantly give your team a bit of a boost in power. The classic guns of the franchise remain intact and enhanced in some cases, but these new weapons simply cannot be overlooked.

The coolest of the new weapons is a subterranean mine launcher called the “Digger Launcher.” Once shot, the ground will literally be torn and thrown up from the sheer force of the propelled explosive device. If you’ve seen the movie “Tremors,” then you’ll know what to do when you see this coming for you. Just run out of the way until it’s gone. Naturally, you’d want to hide behind cover. That’s not such a bright idea actually. Hiding behind cover is useless because it travels underground. The mine explodes when the opposing payers are within proximity, and it’s quite a big blast too. Just stay clear of this powerful weapon.

If you’re a fan of sniping, then this power weapon will be an instantaneous favorite. This new weapon is called the “One Shot”, and it does exactly what it implies—takes down enemies in one shot. The larger than life sniper rifle only comes with a limited amount of ammunition, but will bring immediate fear to the other players. Your presence with this gun will definitely be known due to its wandering laser sight. If you’re caught standing still, have fun respawning. If you and your friends are standing in a line for some odd reason, you will all be enjoying the respawn time together. The gun shreds through several players with ease. It’s definitely an incredible sight to see. However, the One Shot is extremely heavy, so if you chase the deadly sniper down, that player won’t be going very far at all.

The last two new weapons are variations of some of our favorite killing machines. Along with the Lancer and Gnasher, we also have the Retro Lancer and Sawed off Shotgun. The Retro Lancer is similar to the standard Lancer, but has a really gruesome modification. The original Lancer comes with a chainsaw; this lancer comes equipped with a vicious bayonet. If you hold down the “B” button, then your character will run at ramming speed towards the enemy of your choice. If you hit them, then that player will be impaled on your gun, causing instant death. The Retro Lancer is even stronger than the standard Lancer, but is lacking in the accuracy department, so you want to be at close range when using it.

The sawed-off shotgun is an extremely deadly weapon, but only at an excessively close range. It can easily kill two players with a nicely placed shot, but if you miss, prepare to feel the wrath of the reload time. It is unbearably long, but it’s definitely a powerful weapon to have in your back pocket—just be sure that your bullets will be making contact.

The game is already looking very impressive in the weapons department, and I didn’t even mention the grenades at your disposal yet. Smoke, fragmentation and ink grenades are all back and even stronger. The ink grenade is especially useful this time around. It leaves a massive black cloud of death and will force players to take another route.

There’s also a new grenade to add to your arsenal, the incendiary grenade. This hot newcomer will demolish entire teams in a blaze of glory. Plant one of these on the ground near an objective and the players won’t expect a thing until it’s too late. Alternatively you can grab a meat shield, stick a grenade on them, and toss the character back into his or her buddies.

There is one small issue with the grenades and it’s similar to that of the torque bow. When a grenade is thrown near you, you don’t really hear it drop. You hear and feel the explosion, but not the warning signs of an impending grenade. If you’re hit with an arrow from the Torque Bow, you won’t know until you’ve blown up. There’s no vibration upon the arrows impact. So there are times when you’ll get hit with an arrow and all of a sudden half your team is in pieces because they were standing close together and no one knew you were a walking time bomb. Hopefully it will be fixed before the game ships.

One last thing that Epic has added to their new and improved gun collection is improved weapon specific executions. Become proficient enough with a specific gun and you will unlock it. These are violent, graphic and hilarious all at the same time. For example, if you have the execution for the Scorcher unlocked, then your character will spear the opponent with the weapon and then fire the flamethrower. This will result in fire spewing out of all the limbs. Or if you have the Retro Lancer execution available, this will show the player stabbing the characters in the ribs followed up by a swift slice to the neck. It’s a great way to get players to use a variety of weapons.

For you purist out there, don’t worry, the curb stomp is still there .

Of course, what’s a game without any levels to play on? The beta starts off with four fast paced and diverse maps.  All are fun to play on and it’s really hard to choose a favorite. Remember the deadly One Shot rifle I discussed? Well, that gun is only available on the dirty, brown and bloody level known as Trenches. This map is definitely on the smaller side of the four available. Cover is essential here due to the ruined passageways that are broken up by some tight corners. Unless your team can hold down a side of the map securely, you definitely want to keep your head on a swivel. Otherwise, you will get cornered quickly. If you happen to master the Digger Launcher on this map, you will have no problem getting kills. There is a great environmental event that occurs during each match. Loud horns will start to blow and the next thing you know, you’re hit with a sandstorm. This obscures any long range vision for about 15 to 20 seconds. It’s the perfect time to get by unsuspecting enemies.

With Trenches being the dirtiest map, you now have Thrashball, which is considerably cleaner. Taking place in a Thrashball field, the level has players start off in what would be locker rooms and both teams will make a dash for the power weapon at the center of the map. There’s a very narrow passage way on one side that will be the victim of many fire fights. On the opposing side, there’s an elevated concession stand which gives view to the entire map and would be a great vantage point if players were to take control of it. Hovering ominously over the center of the rubble and decrepit grass is a scoreboard. Players should pay attention to this because it can be shot down and will obliterate anyone that happened to be underneath it. Anyone who falls victim to that will be ashamed.

Next up is Checkout. What use to be a lovely, flourishing supermarket in a multi-leveled mall has now been reduced to a high octane battlefield of violence and gore. Bookshelves and racks have been overturned to create essential pieces of cover in this deadly battlefield. This circular map will have you constantly firing at someone from all angles. You will constantly be getting flankedl and some of the cover you have available will break if it takes too much fire.

The final map in the beta is Old Town. This is the largest map available and the most lush and vibrant. Cobblestone walkways, beach entries and sunlight are the perfect scenario for a shoot out don’t you think? This map has several places to hide behind and catch entire teams off guard. There’s a farmers market in the center of the map, but most of the action occurs near the sniper rifle spawn. There’s a narrow pathway that both teams will rush for at the start of the game. The matches quickly become intense and it doesn’t ease up at all. If that doesn’t do it for you, then there are chickens running around on the map that you can kick like in Fable.

Even though there are only four maps available, Epic may add more maps to the beta. In the latest issue of Game Informer, they played on two other maps—Overpass and Mercy. There’s no word on whether we’ll get to play on the mentioned maps, but it’d be great to get an even bigger taste of Gears of War 3’s addictive multiplayer. It’s great that they’ve even brought back some of the game’s modes from previous installments and have even modified them slightly.

The beta has three game-types available: Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Capture the Leader.  You’ll never get bored playing these game-types. King of the Hill (formerly known as Annex) and Capture the Leader are similar to the franchise’s previous installments. Don’t fix what isn’t broken and that’s alright with me.

The biggest change occurred with Team Deathmatch. Team Deathmatch in previous titles was much harder for people to have fun with. If you died, then that was it. You’d have to wait to respawn, which in turn, made it difficult to get good at. It also wasn’t very fun. Dying at the start of the match was horrible, and it really killed your enjoyment for the game.

Epic has changed that style of play for the better, but they still did not reduce the mode to the traditional type of play style. Rather than build up to a set score, the team has a certain amount of deaths they can lose before the game is over. Team deathmatch is frantic in Gears of War 3 and games go by quickly. Don’t expect the Call of Duty or Halo style of play with games that slow down at 49 to 49. The momentum never stops and it’s a welcome change to the norm.

It’s great to see that Gears of War only got better with time. Along with the core gameplay, there are badges that players can show off, an events section that will display announcements for the game and they finally incorporated women into the fight as well. This is just the beta, and it already feels like a complete experience. Get ready to be blown away with Gears of War 3 this fall when the game is released. Those who are in the beta early are already enjoying it. When more people join the fight, that fun will only be multiplied.

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We will be giving away the immediate access code on 4/16/11 and the general access code on 4/18/11. If you want to win, you may enter once each day of the contest (via any and all methods), but multiple entries per day only count as one, and winners will be selected at random. If you comment on this post (or Facebook), be sure to include your Twitter and/or Facebook usernames where applicable.

UPDATE: Our winners are Hans Rojas and Ghaffar Gbenro. Thanks to everyone who entered!

The official UK Xbox magazine website has put together some stunning screenshots of the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta.  These screenshots give Gears of War fans a taste of what’s to come in Team Deathmatch on the Oldtown, Checkout and Thrashball maps.

For those of you lucky enough to have a beta invite the wait is nearly over!  Head on over to the OXM UK site to take a look.  As for the full game, Gears of War 3  is set to release on September 20, 2011.

Today, we at Xbox360Digest are proud to announce that we have been given beta codes from our friends at Epic Games for Early Access to the Gears of War 3 beta! This means that the lucky few who get these codes will be given access to Gears of War 3′s beta on April 17th along with the Bulletstorm Epic Edition Owners!

Be sure to follow us on our Twitter and look out for codes being posted throughout the day!

DQJ3M-64WRF-94KRR-3QY6K-M9F78

QHBX8-VM9V4-TB4FW-3B26H-QVKKJ

PWQVT-JD83T-Y2WP2-X8QT4-JX8TQ

Follow us on  Twitter and keep a watch on the site for more! Be sure to Tweet us @Xbox360Digest or comment this post to win!

UPDATE: We gotcha! It seems some of you were expecting Gears of War 3 beta codes, but forgot to look at today’s date!

But us being the great crew that we are, we didn’t leave you hanging: We gave away codes for Xbox Live subscriptions, Arcade games, and some *interesting* Indie games.

Microsoft announced a variety of news at Xbox Showcase in San Francisco earlier today, and one of those announcements was that of a public Gears of War 3 demo.

The public multiplayer beta will arrive in mid-April and include three new Versus Multiplayer modes over four new maps. In addition, you can even help shape the levels included in the demo (voting ends Feb. 28).

Look for Gears of War 3 at retail on September 20th.