Need a refresher course on Gears of War history on the eve of the release of the third installment? Epic Games has posted a handy timeline that takes you from the Pendulum Wars to when you slip that puppy in your Xbox 360 next week.

It's been awhile since the original Gears of War came out, and I only played the second game in the series for about 15 minutes. While I appreciate the quality, I'm not a big fan of the series, but when I see review scores like these coming in, I'm going to have to check out number 3. Luckily there's the Gears of War Timeline, a place where I can bone up on the game's history without having to hide behind rocks and shoot aliens for hours on end.

Check it out for yourself!

Gears of War Time Line [Epic Games]