Gears 3 beta begins April 18

Microsoft’s confirmed the Gears of War 3 beta will begin on April 18, for those who’ve picked up the Epic Edition of Bulletstorm. For the rest of the crowd, the beta kicks off April 25. It’ll officially shut shop less than a month later on May 15.

The beta will see the testing of three new multiplayer modes and four exclusive maps, “all running on dedicated servers.” The beta will commence with Team Deathmatch playable on the Checkout, Old Town, Thrashball, and Trenches maps, then later add the Capture the Leader and King of the Hill multiplayer modes.

Playing the beta will unlock several exclusive equipment accessible in the retail copy of the game, which launches in September. They include:

• Flaming Hammerburst – Complete one match by Sunday, April 24 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Lancer – Complete one match during the week of April 25 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun – Complete one match during the week of May 2 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Gnasher Shotgun – Complete one match during the week of May 9 to permanently unlock.
• Beta Tester Medal — Wear it proudly, Gear. – Complete one match in the Beta to permanently unlock.
• Thrashball Cole — Unlock Thrashball Cole to play as Augustus Cole as he was before Emergence Day—a legendary Thrashball athlete known for his ferocious, flamboyant style. – Complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period. To permanently unlock, complete 10 matches as Thrashball Cole during the Beta period.
• Gold-Plated Retro Lancer Before the chainsaw bayonet was deployed at the beginning of the Locust-Human War, the original Lancer assault rifle had a large fixed blade. – Complete 90 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period. To permanently unlock, score 100 kills with the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer during the Beta period.

As for how to play the beta if you don’t own a copy of Bulletstorm, the press release mentions you can “get into the beta by pre-ordering Gears of War 3 through select retailers.” Although it doesn’t say specifically, we already know GameStop is definitely one of them. So be sure to get your pre-orders in.