This week’s Gears of War Wednesday was an education for me and not only because I was continually beat down by superior Gears skills. Again.

No, I learned a lot about the multiplayer component of Gears of War 3 this past Wednesday because I was exposed to all of the competitive game modes for extended periods of time, but in quick succession.

Let me explain.

When I stumbled onto Xbox LIVE there were already two full game lobbies getting stuck into King of the Hill and Team Deathmatch, so I decided to poke around and join up with someone else, setting Big Ash CT ZA in my sights.

The game was mostly filled with bots but (fortunately or unfortunately for Big Ash) I invited a few people and before long BEANIBILITY and his crew of monstrous Gears players were causing devastation in Team Deathmatch - here’s who I managed to count in-between having my gibs splashed all over the arenas:

• Big Ash CT ZA
• BEANIBILITY
• IshSpecialist
• Poorie
• MashBoxG2E
• SauRON ZA
• Sil3nt ecko
• BogusHenry

For some reason, my connection to that lobby got cut so I once again went in search of a game and happened upon a King of the Hill match with regulars like jGLZA, Bro October and GaaTY.

“This is a safe bet,” I thought, so at the end of the match I zipped off to grab a cup of coffee, but by the time I got back I’d been kicked for inactivity! Dang. Here’s who I saw (for two seconds) in that lobby:

• jGLZA
• Bro October
• FoFoZA
• M0mitha
• BravoBullets3
• GaaTY
• SeparatedGnome1
• FOXTR0T137
• THEMekMaster
• Blackwiddow01
• Zeeman360
• DevilSlayer786
• VegetaZA
• Numphie

That’s when the Execution rounds started up…

Somehow, I found myself in a nearly empty Execution lobby, and if my memory serves me correctly (which it refuses to do, regularly), I had joined up with BogusHenry and someone by the name of Stuffedicus. Once again, I tried to invite a bunch of players as we careened over the bots, and eventually these fellows showed up:

• Black Axe ZA
• Stuffedicus
• NinjasCreed22
• Griffin ZA
• z00bear
• Kalventer
• Corvus R3x

Execution is incredibly fast-paced and with expert players (like the above, and others still) in the match, rounds could last under 20 seconds or go on for as long as a minute. With only five wins needed to win the match, Execution games go very quickly, which I quite enjoyed.

Again, for some or other reason my brain refuses to relay to me, I found myself looking for a game again and floated over to a King of the Hill lobby where I would spend the remaining hour or so of game time in Gears of War 3. Here are the p33ps I managed to ‘collect:’

• V3loCiti
• TookieMonstza
• GuyVR
• Stif01
• P3ach28
• Cage735
• Evolution ZA

So why was this past Gears of War Wednesday such an ‘education’ for me? Not only did I learn a few new tricks and methods for victory, but I was also able to compare the blistering pace of ‘Execution’ with the ebb and flow gameplay of ‘King of the Hill’ to the staggered, deliberate set-piece action of ‘Team Deathmatch.’

On the night, Execution was my favourite but there have been times when the excitement of King of the Hill is untouchable - it just depends on who you’re playing with at the time.

Thanks to everybody who joined in this Wednesday and if I’ve missed your name (MacDeath…) or spelled your nick incorrectly, be sure to let me know in the comments (my list of ‘recently met’ players on Xbox LIVE has unfortunately spilled over so some of your names are going to be very wonky as I can’t check the correct spelling).

We hope to see you all again next week, same time (20:00 South African), same place (Xbox LIVE), same game (Gears of War 3!).