Playing the Gears of War 3 beta for the past day or so has reminded me of one thing: I am terrible at Gears of War. The other human players in the beta seem to be uncommonly good, and that's likely due to the fact that we're in an invitation-only period of the game. When the servers are flooded with everyone else next week I should have a chance at gaining more kills.

Even though a boot is going through my head more often than not, I'm having a great time. The changes to the game are interesting, and may chafe long-term fans of the series, but the brutal action remains. Let's take a look at a few of the changes to the game.

I can see everything

One of the largest changes is the ability to hold down the left bumper on the controller and go into a kind of live tactical view. While the button is pressed down, you can see the locations of every weapon on the map—no more guessing about where to go to get the best gun—and you can likewise see everyone on your team. If you place your crosshair over an enemy and click down on the left thumb stick you'll be able to tag that enemy so that everyone on your team can see them, much like you could in Bad Company 2.

While you can't see the enemy unless it's tagged, being able to know the location of your teammates and see if they're under cover or firing their weapon gives you a ton of intel about what's happening in different areas of the map. You'll quickly find yourself adjusting your play as you watch your teammates. This is what may annoy some fans of the game, as this view takes much of the guesswork out of what's going on during each round.

Another fun addition? If you're hunkered down across from an enemy with a piece of cover between you, by hitting the "A" button you can jump across and kick your opponent away, giving you a momentary advantage. No longer do you have to continually pop up to try to get the better of the firefight, the game now gives you a more aggressive way to solve these stalemates.

Wonderful toys

There is a new sniper rifle called the Oneshot. It takes a long time to reload, it emits a high-pitched whine that can be heard throughout the level, and it gives away your location due to its yellow targeting laser, but when you hit someone with it and they disappear into a fine mist, you'll begin to see the charm. Ditto the sawed-off shotgun, which requires you to get way too close to an opponent to be useful in most situations, but the payoff is... wet.

The Hammerburst has been given a first-person iron sights mode that makes your shots more precise, although you'll lose most of your peripheral vision so you'll also be more vulnerable. The Digger Launcher shoots a living animal underground, where it tunnels in a straight line before exploding. You'll have to see this thing in action; it's a violent, scary weapon as the "bullet" burrows and kicks dirt in every direction.

The maps, the modes

The game features four maps: a broken-down sports arena, a destroyed shopping center, an old-timey village complete with chickens and fruit carts, and a dusty mining area. Each level is beautiful and filled with detail—and, in some cases, environments that can be blown apart, tipped over, and interacted with in other ways. For instance, that jumbotron up there? I would stay away from that.

Team Deathmatch is where I've been spending most of my time, and that mode gives each team a set amount of respawns. The worse you play, the faster you'll tear through your team's lives until it's a matter of last man standing to finish the round. Capture the Leader tasks you with finding the other team's leader and using them as a meat shield. King of the Hill has both teams fighting to control sections of the map shown with colored rings.

I'm hoping to dig into the game more extensively in the coming days, and those who bought the Bulletstorm Epic Edition will have access to the beta starting April 19. Everyone else will have to wait until April 25.

Just to leave you with another tidbit: you can now pick up an enemy to use as a meatshield, attach a grenade, and kick them towards a group of enemies for a beautiful explosion.

You'll also be earning medals and ribbons for killing people with certain weapons, getting a set amount of executions—everything you do in the course of a match earns you points that are used to gain new ways to customize your character. It adds a nice sense of progression, and I felt myself using this or that weapon to go after the unlocks associated with it.

This is a slightly faster, nastier game than the second Gears, and all the additions add up to create an experience that feels very different from the past titles, but in a good way. There may be some controversial decisions here, and I probably missed a few details, so feel free to ask questions in the comments. However, after putting a good amount of hours into the game I'm very happy with how multiplayer is shaping up.