Over the course of its 25 years of publication, Famitsu has only awarded 15 games their top score of 40 (earned when all four of the game's reviewers give it a 10 each). According to a report from 1UP.com, Gears of War 3 didn't manage to make it into that esteemed group, but came extremely close, with one critic's score of 9 keeping the game from attaining perfection.

Earning a cumulative score of 39, Gears of War 3 will have to settle for trying with Dead or Alive 4 as the highest-scoring Xbox-exclusive of all time. Gears 3 also earns a well-deserved tie as the highest-rated western-developed game, joining L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto IV, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops as non-Japanese games that came a hair away from earning Famitsu's top score.

You can read more of what Famitsu's reviewers thought of Gears by checking out 1UP's story. To see other games that earned 40s and 39s from Famitsu, check out the Wikipedia section here.