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Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski stopped by the IGN office to discuss his history at Epic Games and shared with us why his favorite entry in Microsoft's beloved cover-based shooter series is Gears of War 3

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In the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered , the Boss Key Productions co-founder said that while many still believe Gears 1 is the series' best installment, the third entry tops his list because "that's where we really honed things and had dedicated servers and everything. We had multiple game types, different characters, women in the battle.... It was cool."For Bleszinski, Gears of War 3 was "kind of the culmination of everything," with the game's conclusion serving as a metaphor for his experience relaxing on the Carolina coast, and the character Anya Stroud (and her relationship with Marcus Fenix) drawing inspiration from his wife Lauren.He also spoke to the challenges in making Gears of War 2, which fell victim to "classic innovator's syndrome." Coming off the first game, the studio was put in a position "where if you change too much you've ruined the game and if you don't change anything they say it's just Gears 1.5. So you're damned if you do, damned if you don't."Which entry in the Gears of War franchise is your favorite? Let us know in the comments, and for more on Bleszinski's history at Epic Games—including the story behind how multiplayer was almost cut from the first Gears of War—be sure to check out our full interview with the accomplished game designer on IGN Unfiltered, airing tomorrow.

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter