‘sup. This guide details the locations of every collectible item and COG tag in Gears of War 3.
In addition to a written description of each item’s location, Act, Chapter and so on, I’m currently producing video guides for each act as well. They’ll appear below once they’re finished.
Contents
About Collectibles
Collectibles are hidden items that you can pick up or investigate throughout Gears of War 3. Doing so earns the following achievements:
Collector – Recover 5 Campaign Collectibles (any difficulty, Standard or Arcade) – 5 gamerscore
Pack Rat – Recover 20 Campaign Collectibles (any difficulty, Standard or Arcade) – 10 gamerscore
Hoarder – Recover all 42 Campaign Collectibles (any difficulty, Standard or Arcade) – 15 gamerscore
Remember the Fallen – Recover all 15 COG Tags during the Campaign (any difficulty, Standard or Arcade) – 15 gamerscore
Collectibles can be obtained on any difficulty level. It doesn’t matter if you miss some during a single play through the game, you can load whatever chapter you want, in any difficulty level, and any missed collectibles will always be there until you find them.
There are a total of 57 collectibles in Gears of War 3. 42 of those are assorted items that provide information about certain elements of the Gears of War universe, and 15 are COG tags from fallen Gears. This guide should help you find all of them, and obtain the four achievements listed above.
Collectible Locations
Act 1
Prologue: Troubled Past
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#1)
Collectible 01: COG tag #1
At the very beginning of the game, step out of Marcus’ cell and turn right. You should see the Crimson Omen symbol just to the left of the corridor. As with Gears of War 1, the Crimson Omens are your signal that a COG tag is nearby. Kick down the door to the cell next to yours, and you’ll find the COG tag inside.
Chapter 1: Anchored
Collectibles in this chapter: 4 (#2, #3, #4 and #5)
Collectible 02: Twenty Dollar Bill
After Marcus wakes up in his bedroom aboard the Raven’s Nest, check the table before you leave for this collectible.
Collectible 03: Dom’s Psych Report
After leaving Marcus’ bedroom, turn to your right. A woman will ask “Hey Fenix. You lookin’ for Santiago?”. Turn left into the door she’s standing beside (the room before Dom’s). You’ll find the psych report inside on a table.
Collectible 04: Requisition Form
In the room immediately after Dom’s, on the left of the corridor, you’ll find Jack in pieces on the table, along with the collectible. Collect that shit, yo.
Collectible 05: COG tag #2
After the cutscene where Chairman Prescott lands in his Raven, you’ll face another set of lambent drones and drudges. Moving forwards, you should notice a shipping container with a large Crimson Omen on the side of it. You know what that means, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t spot this COG tag right away. Head past the container to the other side of it, and look at the walkway above you. You should see a COG soldier’s corpse hanging off of part of it. The tag is around his neck, and you’ll have to shoot it down to collect it.
Chapter 2: Abandon Ship
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#6)
Collectible 06: Silverback Manual
If you somehow manage to miss this one, I will lose all respect for you and punch you. It’s in the room with the two Silverbacks.
Chapter 3: Homecoming
Collectibles in this chapter: 4 (#7, #8, #9 and #10)
Collectible 07: Journal
Shortly after the chapter begins, after Sam and Baird have a discussion about a future together and suicide pills, you’ll be on a fairly open street. To the left is a sign beside a gate that says “Home of the best breakfast in town”. Bust down the gate and you’ll find the journal near a dead body. This is before the Stranded turns the spotlight on you. If you get that cutscene, you’ve gone too far.
Collectible 08: Child’s Diary
In the playground, behind the slide.
Collectible 09: Grocery List
Inside the store, after seeing the polyps running across the roof, a stalk will pop up in the aisles. Head to the far right hand side of this room and near the checkout counters you should see a Boomshot on the floor. The collectible is nearby, on one of the counters.
Collectible 10: COG tag #3
After using the loader to kick down the locker, dismount the loader and run into the side room where there’s a corpse and a Boomshot on the floor. The COG tag is on the desk at the back of the room, and the Crimson Omen is on the wall above the corpse.
Chapter 4: Helping Hand
Collectibles in this chapter: 2 (#11 and #12)
Collectible 11: Clipping, Times-Tribune
While strolling through the stranded camp, being led to the supplies, the camp leader will say “Almost there”, and you’ll enter a large room with a lot of shipping containers in it, some of which are open and being used as makeshift rooms. Turn right, and head to the very back of the room. You should see an container near the wall. Head inside and you should find a Boomshot and the collectible.
Collectible 12: COG tag #4
After you pass the huge stock of ammo the camp leader led you to, a stranded will open a red gate for you. Exit the gate and turn to your left. you’ll see the Crimson Omen on the wall near a short wooden pier, with a corpse at the end. The tag is nearby.
Chapter 5: MVP
Collectibles in this chapter: 3 (#13, #14 and #15)
Collectible 13: Cougars Season Program
Inside the stadium, when you split up (one pair taking the upstairs route, the other pair staying downstairs), this can be found in the upstairs area (but you can get it regardless of which route you take, so don’t worry). It’s behind the counter in the concessions area, at the top of the escalators.
Collectible 14: Cougars Player Handbook
This can be found relatively close to the previous collectible, again shortly after you split up. This one, however, is in the downstairs area. After defeating the Gunker, continue through the area it came from and you should see a blue vending machine in the corner. The collectible is on the floor in front of it.
Collectible 15: Cole’s Championship Ring
On the playing field, after Cole’s Thrashball fantasy/flashback scene, this can be found near where Cole picked up the bomb.
Chapter 6: Hanging by a Thread
Collectibles in this chapter: 4 (#16, #17, #18 and #19
Collectible 16: Toll Booth Tokens
When you first encounter the savage locusts, you can find this collectible near the stairs leading up to one of the retro lancer turrets.
Collectible 17: Bayonet
Shortly after clearing that first batch of locust, Boomers will emerge from behind the barricade. After killing the Boomers, move through the barricade and further along the bridge you’ll see a couple of shipping containers. On the right hand side of the bridge, one of the containers has a large wooden box inside. Smash the box down to find the collectible inside.
Collectible 18: COG tag #5
A little further along the bridge (just after finding the bayonet), you’ll enter another covered area with a turret and some locusts. You can climb down a ladder to the left, or a different ladder (to the right, behind the turret) and make use of the catwalks underneath the main bridge. Simply follow the path around here and you’ll find the tag on the floor behind one of the low walls.
Collectible 19: Sightseeing Book
A little while after using the mortars to destroy the gas barge, you’ll climb a set of ladders. Head outside, and then turn right. It’s a dead end (because the stairs are broken), but this collectible is nearby.
Act 2
Chapter 1: Shipwreck
Collectibles in this chapter: 4 (#20, #21, #22 and #23)
Collectible 20: Tomatoes: A Beginner’s Guide
As soon as you encounter your first Wild Tickers, kick the gate on the shipping container nearby to access this collectible.
Collectible 21: Octus Medal Diploma
Shortly after the beginning of the chapter, after clearing the first batch of locust, you’ll climb up a ledge and round a corner into a new clearing where a savage locust jumps out of the ground and lands on top of a shipping container. After clearing the area of locusts, you’ll find this collectible in the wreckage of a crashed Raven helicopter nearby. This is before you find Marcus and Dom.
Collectible 22: Captain’s Log
This one is definitely not easy to spot unless you’re incredibly thorough in your search for collectibles. After killing the first brumak using the siege beast, look around the area above you, to your right on the side of the cliffs. You should see a wooden crate, and a fire burning behind it. Shoot the crate to make this collectible drop out. It’ll land around the corner, amongst a few locust behind some sandbags, near a Longshot pickup.
Collectible 23: COG tag #6
In the area where you fight the second Brumak, this tag can be found on the opposite side of the container which has the Crimson Omen on it, near the shoreline.
Chapter 2: House of Sand
Collectibles in this chapter: None
Chapter 3: Forced Entry
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#24)
Collectible 24: COG tag #7
You can ONLY obtain this tag if you manage to enter through the side gate without alerting the locust. DO NOT let the locust sound any of the horns, or you can’t get this one. If you successfully eliminate all the guards before they can use the horns, the side gate will open and you can go inside it. Hit the switch inside and head down the ramp. You’ll see a trough filled with bones and skulls in the middle of the room, with some baskets next to it. Kick the baskets aside and you’ll see the tag between them on the floor. The Crimson Omen is also nearby, painted on the side of a crate.
Chapter 4: Trench Run
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#25)
Collectible 25: Locust Hammer
Once the barge gives up its assault, turn around before leaving through the gate and you’ll find this collectible on the floor behind some boxes.
Chapter 5: Hijack
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#26)
Collectible 26: Queen’s Symbol
After the Queen’s Guards first drop down from the barge near the start of this chapter (NOT the part when you board the barge, but earlier, when three guards drop down) you’ll head through a gate and enter an area with a Boomer carrying a Digger launcher, and a retro lancer turret up the hill ahead of you. Turn to the right as you enter this area and you’ll see a gate you can kick down, leading to some ammo, grenades, a boomshot and this collectible.
Chapter 6: Airborne
Collectibles in this chapter: 2 (#27 and #28)
Collectible 27: Manifest
After Dizzy leads you to his stash of weapons and ammo, a bunch of reavers will start to land on the road nearby. Head out the gate onto the road, and turn left. Head all the way to the dead end and you’ll find the manifest near the cab of a truck.
Collectible 28: COG Tag #8
Once the reavers and palace guards have been dealt with, climb up the stairs to where the guards were shooting at you from. Proceed to the far end of this upstairs area and you’ll see an entrance to a small shack with a slanted wooden roof. Just outside the shack you’ll see a small Crimson Omen on the wall to the left of the door, and you can find the COG tag inside the shack on the left.
Chapter 7: Touchdown
Collectibles in this chapter: None
Act 3
Chapter 1: Unbreakable
Collectibles in this chapter: 3 (#29, #30 and #31)
Collectible 29: Anvil Gate Plaque
As soon as the chapter starts, turn around to find this plaque on the wall beside a weapon locker.
Collectible 30: Watercolor Painting
After grabbing collectible #28, follow your objective, but use the right hand stair case. Keep to the right as you make your way towards the front gate, and you’ll come across a living quarters sort of area with a table, some beds and so on. The painting is on the wall. It’s hard to miss, because it’s pretty big.
Collectible 31: Sam’s Father’s Medals
Again, stick to this right hand path. Once you pass the living area with the watercolor painting, you’ll cross over a raised catwalk. At the end of the catwalk you should see a small makeshift bedroom with a few ammo boxes inside, and a barrel with a fire burning inside it. You can find the medals near the barrel.
Chapter 2: Rescue
Collectibles in this chapter: 2 (#32 and #33)
Collectible 32: Journal
During the fight with the lambent berserker (after she jumps inside the fort), turn around from your starting point and you should see a large, round structure in the middle of the area. On the opposite side of it from where you start, you should find this collectible near an ammo crate.
Collectible 33: COG tag #9
Also found during the fight with the lambent berserker. From the starting point (facing the gate), turn right and you should find the tag amongst some barrels which you can push out of the way. The Crimson Omen is above, on a wall. If you have trouble finding this one, head to the gate and face the center of the courtyard and you’ll notice the Omen on the left, high up on a wall. The tag is pretty much directly under it.
Chapter 3: Breakneck Run
Collectibles in this chapter: None
Chapter 4: Ghost Town
Collectibles in this chapter: 3 (#34, #35 and #36)
Collectible 34: Panicked Note
After disarming the charges and meeting the old man, walk down the stairs inside the building and Marcus will talk to Dom about a city he sees out the window. On the floor near here is a Scorcher, and next to it is the collectible.
Collectible 35: COG tag #10
After leaving the building where you found the previous collectible, you should see a Deli up the stairs ahead of you. It’s hard to miss because there’s a huge sign that says “DELI”. Inside you’ll notice the Crimson Omen on the wall. Head out back behind the deli into the alley. You’ll see some sandbags to the left and a pool of blood, where this tag is sitting. If you enter the sewers, you’ve gone to far.
Collectible 36: Message
After reaching the town center and holding off the attack along with the stranded, ladders will be lowered for you to climb up onto the balcony. Once you’re up, go all the way to the left and you should see the message at the far end of the corridor, in the corner.
Chapter 5: Brothers to the End
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#37)
Collectible 37: Air Raid Shelter Sign
After clearing the church and smashing through the boards, Dom will mention the smell of the immulsion fumes. Turn left and you should find this collectible on the wall. If you go down the wooden elevator, you’ve gone too far.
Act 4
Chapter 1: Ashes to Ashes
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#38)
Collectible 38: COG tag #11
After Ash Man pushes the box of polyps over, don’t open the big door just yet. Proceed past the box of polyps and to the left, behind it. Look high up on one of the ruined buildings here and you should see a Crimson Omen. Head inside that building to find the corpse of a COG in an upturned container, along with this tag and his lancer.
Chapter 2: Crater
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#39)
Collectible 39: Journal
As soon as the chapter begins and you make your way outside, everyone starts talking about Griffin’s other tower and how the city was destroyed. There should be a tiny shack to the right just at the bottom of the slope. Kick the door down to find this collectible inside. It’s an easy one to miss because you can be distracted when the game directs your attention to the tower ahead.
Chapter 3: Hang ’em High
Collectibles in this chapter: 2 (#40 and #41)
Collectible 40: Fuel Order
After reaching the roof and first attempting to ride the cable car only to realize it won’t move yet, you’ll have to go through some razor wire to proceed around the roof. Go as far as you can around the roof until you reach the dead end, and you’ll see the body of a Stranded, along with a retro lancer and this collectible.
Collectible 41: Old Magazine
After returning to the tower, on your way to regroup with Dizzy and Griffin, you’ll pass through what’s left of Griffin’s office. This collectible can be found on the floor in the middle of the room. You might have to melee/chainsaw some stuff out of the way to find it. (If you need further clarification of where this is, it’s the first room you enter after Marcus tells Dizzy they’ve reached the roof now. Three Palace Guards storm the room from the opposite side as you enter, and there are two couches and a desk in there, and everything is on fire.)
Chapter 4: Batten Down the Hatches
Collectibles in this chapter: 1 (#42)
Collectible 42: Tabloid
After taking out the serapedes, check to the right of the area and you should see a large blue shipping container with the COG logo on it. You can get behind it by going around the left hand side of it. You’ll find this collectible in the corner.
Chapter 5: Bon Voyage
Collectibles in this chapter: 3 (#43, #44 and #45)
Collectible 43: Bulletin
After entering the maintenance bay and heading down the stairs, you’ll encounter a mauler and a couple of guards, as well as a Kantus up high on a platform. Head down the stairs to where the mauler is, and turn left. You should see an entrance. Head in there and look on the floor to your left for this one.
Collectible 44: COG tag #12
When getting the fuel, you’ll soon come to a room full of locusts, mostly guards and a kantus. There’s an old boat in the center of the room. Cross over the boat, and turn right. Go around the boat as far as you can and yo’ll see the Crimson Omen on a yellow shippin container. The tag is on the floor behind it.
Collectible 45: Contractor Report
When escorting the submarine through the three large hangar doors, you should come across a sort of office room upstairs just before the third door. Head inside to find this on the left, just inside the door. This room also has a vulcan cannon in it, and a COG poster on the back wall. If you fight the armored kantus, you’ve gone too far.
Chapter 6: Watery Grave
Collectibles in this chapter: None
Act 5
Chapter 1: Home Away from Home
Collectibles in this chapter: 2 (#46 and #47)
Collectible 46: Pamphlet
Head all the way to the top of the stairs, and you’ll be at a railway line. Don’t kill the enemies yet, because when you kill everything a cutscene will be triggered and you’ll miss the collectible. Just head as far up as you can, and when you climb the last set of stairs onto the platform, turn left and you should see this collectible on the floor at the end of the corridor.
Collectible 47: Assault Plans
You need the silverback for this one, so make sure not to let it get destroyed. Outside in the storm, you’ll have to deal with quite a few locusts and then a reaver drops down too. After killing the reaver, start walking slowly up the hill, and notice the cave entrance ahead of you and to the left. That’s where you need to take the silverback, but you need it in one piece. Walk slowly (so you don’t overheat the silverback), and as soon as the mortars fire, sprint into the cave. Deal with the few locusts in here, and hug the left wall until you see a large metal gate. Kick it down with the silverback and you’ll find this collectible at the back of the room in the corner. Make sure you keep the silverback intact though because you’ll need it for the next collectible, too.
Chapter 2: Blackout
Collectibles in this chapter: 2 (#48 and #49)
Collectible 48: COG tag #13
You’ll need a silverback again here. After the part where you have to dodge the approaching train you’ll have a skirmish with a couple of boomers and some therons in a room with a ton of boxes. This is right as the chapter begins. Amongst the boxes just up the slope from the elevator door you should find a green button against the wall. Press it to open up the wall and find a fresh silverback, then take it into the elevator with you when you go to the storage area with the numbered corridors on all sides. Get in the elevator, then hop out of the silverback to hit the elevator button. Once the elevator stops, head down the corridor with the number 3 painted on all the walls, and enter the third door on the left (the one without the bars on it) and you’ll see the Crimson Omen on the wall. Kick down the big door in front of you and you’ll find this tag on the floor.
Collectible 49: Schematics
Act 5 got ALL the best collectibles. After you go through the outdoor area and fight off a couple of reavers and a bunch of guards, you’ll round a corner and have to fight a few shriekers as well as an armored kantus. After everything’s dead, proceed inside and you’ll be in a lobby with a ton of suspicious-looking paintings. You all know damn well that paintings invariably hide wallsafes behind them. So, go to the desk in the middle of the room and hit that little red button. That pops open the safe to your right (when you’re facing the button), which contains this collectible. Seriously, a safe behind a painting? That’s gotta be another one of Cliffy’s. I love you man.
Chapter 3: Shattered Paradise
Collectibles in this chapter: 3 (#50, #51 and #52)
Collectible 50: Money Stack
Man they’re getting serious with hiding these things. This shit ain’t easy any more, huh? This one can be found once you enter the hotel after using the siege beast to take out the three gas barges. Proceed down the hallway until it turns to the right (towards the room with the research staff hanging from the tree). Stop at the turn, and instead of following the corridor to the room with the tree, look left and you’ll see a discolored, loose floor tile. You can hit X to smash it and find this collectible.
Collectible 51: Diary
After using the second siege beast to destroy the dam, you’ll enter a circular room (similar to the one with the tree you saw earlier). Head up to the central area where the couches and statue are, and you’ll find this collectible on a desk between the couches.
Collectible 52: COG Tag #14
As soon as you exit the circular room, you’ll be in a train station with bags littered all over the floor and such. This collectible is on the opposite side from where you entered. Essentially you can just run straight forward to the other end of the room to find it. The Crimson Omen is on the wall to the left.
Chapter 4: Threshold
Collectibles in this chapter: 2 (#52 and #53)
Collectible 53: Memorial Announcement
After pushing the final siege beast into the ocean, you’ll appear in another room with bags all over the floor. The corridor turns left, and faces a room with a large statue in it. Head to that statue, and the path turns right, into a much larger room. Run straight forward from the statue into this large room and you’ll see a bust in the distance on a pedestal with a large COG symbol behind it. That bust is your collectible.
Collectible 54: Announcement
After you ride the elevator, turn around and press the elevator button again to summon the other elevator. Inside it is a poster on the back wall. Step over the Onyx Guard corpses and grab that.
Chapter 5: Ascension
Collectibles in this chapter: 3 (#55, #55 and #57)
Collectible 55: Brochure
After your wild elevator ride, this collectible can be found on the floor below you, where Baird and Cole exited the elevator. Just head around the room and down the stairs that Cole and Baird came up, and then circle the outside of the room until you find this one on the floor behind one of the columns.
Collectible 56: COG tag #15
After you exit the lift, turn right and you should notice the Crimson Omen on the wall. Walk up to it, chainsaw or melee the crates out of your way, and grab the COG tag.
Collectible 57: Fenix Research
After turning off the two security consoles to shut down the red laser beam gate, you’ll enter the office and see a cutscene. After the cutscene, don’t leave the office just yet. Check in the middle of the room, near the telescope, and you’ll find the final collectible.
And that’s every collectible in Gears of War 3. Thanks for reading. I hope the guide helped! If you have any problems, click my name at the top of the guide to find my email address.
The fuckin’ copyright shit or whatever
Look. Just don’t be an asshole. Here’s the lowdown: I put hours of work into finding these collectibles the hard way, and writing it all down and laying it all out and producing the videos that go along with it. Alright? This took time and effort. If you want to host it on your site, I’d be flattered. However, just ASK FIRST. Don’t just steal it without asking like Officer Ballbeg did with my Gears 2 guide. That’s all I ask. I am totally fine with you hosting it, or copy/pasting chunks of it, as long as you ASK me first, and LINK TO THIS PAGE (http://scathingaccuracy.com/guides/gears-of-war-3-collectibles-guide).
Is that so much to ask?