Gears of War 3 may have been strategically delayed into the fall of 2011, but the disappointing delay ultimately brought some good news to Gears fans. Not only are they going to experience a dedicated beta, but Microsoft has just announced the Gears of War Triple Pack, which will help gamers catch up on any or all of the Gears they might have missed.

As most would figure, the Triple Pack comes with both Gears of War and Gears of War 2. While the storyline of the games leaves a lot to be desired, it still follows an interesting progression. Being the final game in a trilogy, Gears of War 3 might leave a few gamers scratching their heads if they haven’t experienced the story of Marcus Fenix and his crew. Furthermore, the investment in the Carmine family will also be lost on gamers unfamiliar with the story, especially the Gears 3 campaign to decide whether or not the latest Carmine brother will be the first to survive, or will be brutally killed like many of his siblings before him.

Not only does the Triple Pack come with both retail titles, it also packs in the downloadable Road to Ruin DLC campaign . While Road to Ruin did offer a stark departure from the traditional Gears gameplay by placing Marcus and Dom in a series of stealth missions, its run-and-gun option felt like more of the same. Having not included anything like riding on the back of a reaver or manning the guns of a helicopter, Road to Ruin ended up feeling like a retread rather than a continuation.

Along with delivering some visceral action and appealing to the machismo in all of us, Gears of War has been, at its core, about providing a unique multiplayer experience. From the beginning, developer Epic Games has delivered multiplayer of the highest caliber, and Gears of War is no different.

The Triple Pack comes with the various maps that were included as part of the two retail games, in addition to many of the DLC map packs that were subsequently released. Bundled together with 19 new maps, the Triple Pack is for the Gears of War multiplayer fan. Even for those gamers who have played through the single player campaigns of both titles, a collection of 35+ maps for $29.99 is one heck of a deal.

Though it does nothing to dull the sting of having to wait until the end of the year for Gears of War 3, the Triple Pack does provide enough content for both newcomers and veterans alike. Delivering not only every piece of storyline needed to get players up to speed, but also more multiplayer maps than you can shake a stick at, there really is no excuse for Gears of War fans not to pick this up.

What do you think of the Gears of War Triple Pack? Are there any Gears fans looking to get back into the multiplayer with some new maps?

Gears of War Triple Pack releases February 15, 2011, for the Xbox 360.

Source: Destructoid