Nearly 50 pages larger than any previous Art of the Game installment, Ballistic Publishing’s heaviest and beefiest video game art tome pulls gamers deep behind the scenes for an in-depth look at the creative development of Xbox 360 exclusive, Gears of War 3.

Gears of War’s iconic “destroyed beauty” motif explodes across 320 glorious pages of concept art and production renders in The Art of Gears of War 3, key members of the Epic Games art team, most notably Art Director Chris Perna, offering insightful commentary alongside concept art and production renders for the many characters, enemies, weapons, vehicles and places of the planet Sera, as depicted in the series’ third chapter.

Gears of War, while always graphically impressive from a technical perspective, has never been a series that I have considered a showpiece for video game artistry, but Gears 3 did a lot to switch that around by expanding the somewhat monotonous palette of grays and browns and heavy metallic colors of its predecessors with brighter tones, even bolder and livelier set pieces, and greater variety of environments and enemy types. Despite the bulky characters, terrifying creatures and the harsh sci-fi setting, there is a distinct, nuanced beauty to the world of Gears that this book forces you to appreciate.

This art book highlights the broader artistic diversity Epic’s creative team successfully wove into the Gears universe without disrupting the gritty, brutal, chunky style the series is famous for. At the same time, while flipping through the pages readers will get a sense of the iterative process that goes into bringing a video game of this magnitude to life, how environments are altered to fit the progression of the game and how character outfits and hairstyles adapt from what looks cool in a still piece of conceptual artwork versus what technology will actually allow for during gameplay.

For example, late in development the Pendulum Fort, originally a refugee camp supposed to be set during the morning, was scaled back to a standard military encampment and the time of day was changed because the developers thought the game needed another nighttime scenario. It’s also interesting to learn about different design tricks developers have to pull out to make certain characters animate properly, such as how Bernadette Mataki’s dreadlocked hair was tied into bundles to help overcome the technical challenges presented by rendering the physics of her floppy locks. Hair alone made her one of the game’s toughest characters to model and animate.

These design insights are great, but as always my favorite part about these books is seeing and reading about abandoned concepts that, for one reason or another, didn’t make it into final production. Studied fans probably already know this, but the most surprising thing I learned is how Gears of War was originally intended to be a vehicle-oriented, Battlefield-esque multiplayer game called Unreal Warfare. The design switch isn’t as drastic as Halo going from a PC/Mac strategy game to a third-person action game before ultimately becoming an Xbox launch title and arguably the world’s most famous first-person shooter, but the original concept still is radically different from the Gears gamers know and love today.

The book is chock full of interesting tidbits like this. For instance, did you know Epic played around with the idea of jetpacks? Not the glitch, I’m talking about actual jetpacks. That certainly would made for an interesting shift in dynamics from the usual cover-based warfare. Epic’s design for a weapon prototype called the Buzzsaw also caught my eye. This crossbow-like weapon was intended to spice up combat by firing rotary saw blades capable of ricocheting off of objects and bouncing around corners, but complications with programming the physics of such a device led to its demise.

Between the gorgeous full-color artwork, the non-production prototypes, and the valuable behind-the-scenes commentary, this book is a must-have for every Gears collector as well as anyone with an interest in game/art design or an appreciation for video games as an art form. The Art of Gears of War 3 is Ballistic’s most impressive book to date, in more ways than one.

The Art of Gears of War 3 is available to order now in three flavors: Soft Cover ($65), Special Leather Edition ($129), and Limited Folio Edition ($300). The first 100 customers will also receive a poster print of Clayton Carmine as a bonus.

Review disclosure: A copy of The Art of Gears of War 3‘s Soft Cover edition was provided to VGBlogger.com by Ballistic Publishing.

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Gears of War 3 doesn’t roadie run onto retail shelves until September 20th, but already there are four DLC add-ons planned for release over the course of the next year, beginning in November. These packs are said to contain “hours of campaign and multiplayer mayhem” beyond what’s offered in the main game.

If you’d like to lock up all four packs early and save some cash in the process, Epic Games will be releasing a Season Pass on the Xbox Live Marketplace on Gears of War 3 launch day. The pre-purchase ticket will cost a meaty 2400 Microsoft points (that’s $30), which is actually a 33% discount on the total price it will cost to buy all the DLC individually. The Season Pass will also come with a Liquid Metal Weapon Set as an extra, exclusive bonus.

If the content in the planned expansions amounts to what the All Fronts Collection brought to Gears of War 2, the extra $30 should be worth it for true Gears fans.

Microsoft has unveiled a wicked limited edition Xbox 360 console bundle themed after Gears of War 3, timed for release with the game on September 20th.

The bundle will come with a custom-painted red and black 320GB Xbox 360 console specially outfitted with themed sound effects when the power and eject buttons are pressed, a pair of matching wireless controllers (the type with the fancy rotating D-pad!), a wired headset, a standard edition copy of Gears of War 3 and a DLC token to download the Infected Omen Weapon Pack and Adam Fenix as a playable multiplayer character.

All that good stuff will only set you back $399.99. Or if you just want one of those cool controllers, you’ll be able to grab those separately for $59.99 apiece.

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-Octus Award Display Box and Octus Service Medal—Replicas of the honors bestowed on Adam Fenix, Marcus’s father, for his work on the Hammer of Dawn.

-Unlockable Adam Fenix Multiplayer Character—Each Octus Service Medal replica is engraved with a unique Xbox LIVE code that unlocks Adam Fenix in multiplayer.

-Fabric COG Flag—Proud colors that once flew above the House of Sovereigns.

-Personal Effects of Adam Fenix—Includes his “Last Will and Testament,” the initial Hammer of Dawn schematic, and other Fenix family mementos.

-Collectible Marcus Fenix Statue—The collaborative work of Chris Perna and the artisans at Triforce, this fine PVC collectible makes an evocative living room conversation piece for any true Gears fan.

-The Art and Design of Gears of War by Tom Bissell—Through unprecedented access to the Epic Games team, acclaimed author Tom Bissell (Extra Lives) gives readers an incisive behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the most celebrated sagas in video game history with 96 pages of interviews, photos, concept artwork, and more.

-The Gears of War 3 Limited Edition—Nuf said!

A new ‘Making Gears of War 3’ ViDoc has also been released today, taking you behind the scenes at Epic’s Wicked Workshop art studio. Watch for a peek at the collectible statue as well.

Hankering for a late night gaming snack? Then feast your eyes on these tasty new Gears of War 3 pics, including real in-game screenshots and mounds of concept art.

Scope out the complete 50-image gallery on the jump.