Task 5: Genre Conventions

Gears of War 3 is a military science fiction third-person shooter video game, it could also fall into the action category. Some of the conventions that come under this genre are:•First and third person shooters •Violence and gore (action)•Hero persona •Linear narrative •Good vs Evil •Collectables Gears of War 3 is a third person shooter, this means that the camera is always trailing behind the protagonist that you are playing as, unlike first person shooter games which are usually associated with action games.

Violence and gore is present almost constantly throughout Gears of War 3, like many other games which feature these genre conventions the violence and gore is presented in a very graphic and over the top way. Tones of blood poor out of the victims when they are shot, stabbed or decapitated and covers the floor which surrounds the character; the blood is very bright red and gushes out of the victims which is one of the reasons it is rated 18.

The way the person playing as the main character kills the enemy is also very violent and malicious; this can be from throwing the enemy on the floor and beating it to death, sticking bombs onto the enemy so it explodes on them or cutting them in half with a chainsaw.

A large amount of weapons are also used throughout which is a basic convention of an action game. This can be from a basic machine gun with a chainsaw attached to the end to a weapon that shoots mortars at the enemy.

Violence and Gore

Hero persona Another common convention of many third person shooter and action games is the hero persona. This is usually the character you are playing as in the game and the character who succeeds in there mission at the end of the game. A character who is the hero usually has an even mix of mental and physical strength which is what over powers the enemy of the game as there strength is usually only physical. An example of this from Gears of War 3 would be Marcus Fenix, he is the protagonist of the game and has an even mix of wisdom and strength. Whereas the two enemies in the game are called the Locust and the Lambent and both of these enemies rely on physical strength and therefore easily get out smarted.

Unlike other characters in games the character with the hero persona never fears their enemy and always has a determination to succeed in their mission. This is often due to a family member or a friend being killed earlier on in the game which sets the character with the hero persona off seeking revenge. An example of this from Gears of War 3 would be when the character Marcus Fenix witnesses his friend Dom sacrifice himself to save his squad and this sets his off to seek revenge for Dom’s death.

Linear narrative Linear narrative is often the type of narrative that is used in first person and third person shooter games. This means that they follow a specific order with a beginning middle and end present in the game. Usually it will start with some kind of battle, progress into some kind of journey and then come to a conclusion which the characters have been preparing for throughout the whole game. For Example in Gears of War 3 the story starts on a large war ship that gets invaded by the enemy. They then leave the ship and go on a journey to rescue Marcus’s father and win the war; around half way through the narrative is when Dom sacrifices himself to save his friends. Then this sets Marcus and the rest of his squad on a mission for revenge and justice which eventually leads to the end of the game where the war is won and the enemy has been defeated.

Good vs Evil One of the most obvious conventions of a typical first person or third person action shooter game is the theme of good vs evil. The character that the player will control is almost always the good character or team and the characters that you are fighting against is usually the evil character or team. The good characters in these games are often seen in lighter more pleasant looking colours and the evil characters are often seen wearing darker and more aggressive looking colours. Also the good characters can sometimes have more appealing character traits, for example they may be charming or more friendly than the evil characters.

In Gears of War 3 the good are the Cog army, specifically the main characters you play as which consists of Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, Augustus Cole (Cole Train) and Damon Baird. These all have traits that appeal to the players, for example some of them are humorous, strong or smart. The evil are the Locust and the Lambent who are fighting to take over the earth. There are many of these characters but many of them look the same which stops the player taking much notice of them as individuals.