Gears of War 3 beta goes live April 25, comes with a bundle of unlockable goodies

Those of you who can't wait to get your hands on the newest entry in the Gears of War series only have to wait afew more weeks -thepublic betafor GoW 3 goes live on April 25, lasting through May 15 for your curb-stomping enjoyment.

Anyone who pre-ordersGears 3from GameStop will haveaccess to thebeta onApril 25. If you happen to own a copy of Bulletstorm: Epic Edition,you'll be able to participate in Team Deathmatch battles beginning April 18.

On April 25, the full beta arrives with three modes: Team Deathmatch, Capture the Leader and King of the Hill. In addition to helping test server quality, players will be able to unlock new weapons and skins, all of which will carry over to the final game when it launches on September 20. Moreover, users can also earn special medals which will likewise be saved to their Xbox Live account.

The following medals are available, as outlined by Microsoft:

Beta Tester Medal
Complete one match in the beta to unlock the Beta Tester medal, which will carry over to your gamer profile in the final game. The Beta Tester title will be featured in the Gears 3 multiplayer lobby as well.

Thrashball Cole
Complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock the Thrashball Cole character variant in the beta. Once unlocked, complete 10 matches as Thrashball Cole during the beta and the character will carry over to your gamer profile in the final game.

Gold-Plated Retro Lancer
Show your ultimate Gears of War fandom by unlocking the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer. Complete 90 matches in any game type to unlock it for the beta, and score 100 kills with it once unlocked to carry the exclusive weapon skin over to your gamer profile in the final game.

Flaming Hammerburst
Complete one match by Sunday, April 24 and unlock this weapon variant.

Flaming Lancer
Complete one match during the week of April 25 and unlock this weapon variant.

Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun
Complete one match during the week of May 2 to unlock this weapon variant.

Flaming Gnasher Shotgun
Complete one match during the week of May 9 to unlock this weapon variant.

Just last week we had a hands-on with this very beta, sohead herefor our thoughts on the maps, weapons and modes you'll be murdering/murdered in come April 25.

[Source:CVG]

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Mar 4, 2011