Still in two minds about what DLC to get this month? Virulent Aesthetics NeverIsLupus reviews the new DLC from Epic's Gears of War 2. Maybe this will swing your mind.
On November 6th, 2008 around 10:30pm a bud and I headed down to the local Gamestop just off the university campus. Midnight launch for Gears of War 2 was approaching. We had anticipated the night for a few months. Unfortunately, the excitement was short lived. After completing the campaign, we came to realize that the Gears of War 2 multiplayer was horribly broken. A few of my friends and I put the game down and vowed to never touch it again due to various frustrating moments and a few broken controllers due to being thrown in rage.
Several DLC map packs were released by Epic, but I took little interest in such trivialities. Gears multiplayer seemed broken to us so we took little notice. I had heard news of the Dark Corners expansion, but the news of an added single player level wasn?t enough to bring me back to the game.
A few days before the newest Gears expansion was released I caught wind that all previous DLC content and the Dark Corners map pack were being packaged together in the All Fronts Map Pack for a mere 1600 Microsoft Points. With the Dark Corners DLC alone costing 1200 points, the All Fronts DLC proved to be irresistible. All Fronts may very well be the best deal on the marketplace, containing 19 multiplayer maps and a single player level, which didn?t make the cut during production of the campaign.
Needless to say, the latest addition to GoW2 was enough to bring me back to the game I vowed never to touch again. In the short time I spent immersed in the Gears community, the content proved to be worth every dollar. Between the time my game disc spent collecting dust in the corner and now, apparently many of the bugs that caused me to cast the game aside have been fixed. Additionally, 750 points worth of achievements have been added to the game. I would say the latest DLC is a must buy if own Gears of War 2.
For me the main draw of the new DLC was the added campaign level, ?Road to Ruin.? The deleted level takes place after Dom discovers that Maria has died. Marcus and Dom must now make their way to Nexus. The players are presented with the choice of gearing up in Theron Guard armor in order to sneak past Locust patrols or going in guns a blazing in the standard GoW style. Unfortunately, the sneak mechanic is slightly broken which makes it difficult to complete in co-op without the assistance of a CPU controlled Dom to hold your hand throughout the level. The added mission is an enjoyable experience and if played on guns a blazing in co-op, may be one of the best levels seen on GoW2.
The first map found in Dark Corners may be quite familiar to many Gears fans. War Machine from the first Gears of War is added to the roster in the latest DLC expansion. Personally, I was never a fan of War Machine or how it played on the first game. The map is pretty much unaltered with the exception of a mulcher located where the turret use to be found. If you liked War Machine on the first game, you will like it now too. If not, get the horde achievement and be on your way.
The next addition to multiplayer is Highway. Highway is a symmetrical Locust themed map. The map has a good layout; unfortunately, the weapons placed on the map seem to ruin the experience. I enjoyed playing Highway on horde, but when it came to gearing up for some online matches, it didn?t play as well as I originally hoped. I would say the map is fairly average though. It isn?t one of the worst maps Gears has seen, nor is it one of the best.
Sometimes a map is created that is just sheer artistic brilliance. Sanctuary is one of those maps found in Dark Corners that fits this description. Out of the seven maps in the expansion, Sanctuary is my favorite map. The map is symmetrically laid out. When the game begins players have the choice of going along either side. One side has the grenade spawn, while the staircase side has a mulcher or boomshot. Alternatively, players can venture straight up the middle of the map directly into enemy territory. The gameplay on Sanctuary seems fluid and flawless. It performs well in both multiplayer and horde. My only complaint is the poorly named horde achievement for the map, ?No, But His Face Rings a Bell.?
The fourth map added in the Dark Corners expansion is Way Station. Honestly, I do not know where to begin with this map. From some of the previews I had seen of the map, it looked fairly innovative. Players spawn on opposing sides of a chasm and must move forward to cross the ravine towards the top of the map while avoiding fire from the opposing side. Regrettably, Way Station performs horribly in multiplayer, and I would go as far to say it is the worst map in the DLC pack. Essentially whoever controls the top of the map wins the game, which then turns into a shotgun festival on the staircases.
All Father?s Garden is the bane of my existence. Many players I have talked to seem to love the map. Personally I detest it, but nonetheless it seems to be a popular map amongst the Gears community. The map is fairly open with a few waist high ways strewn about for cover. It is basically a sniper?s paradise since most of the map can be seen from various lookout points. Additionally, there are various flank points to turn those pesky shotgun campers into a flying meat cloud. As far as weapons go the map features grenades in the center, a pair of snipers, and a torque bow/ boomshot at the center of the map across from grenades. From what I observed All Father?s Garden is either a map you love or hate.
Memorial is another one of those maps that is close to perfect. The map is fairly open, but also features a tunnel system to avoid hammer of dawn blasts. Teams can either control the lower outside portion near the spawns, which features a hammer of dawn or mortar. The top portion of the map features either a sniper or torque bow, while the tunnel system features a pair of pistols and either a boomshot or flamethrower. As far as I have seen, most players enjoy the map. There are various positions to post up in, depending on which weapons your team controls. Memorial is easily one of the better maps found in Dark Corners.
The final map added is the desert themed, Nowhere, which feels like something out of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Nowhere is another great addition to the multiplayer experience. The map features rolling sandstorms that make gameplay feel like you are playing in a smokescreen. It isn?t a bad map, and is probably one of the better maps seen on Gears of War 2. While the sandstorms may seem like a gimmick, the experience of attempting to seek out your opponents through clouds of thick sand is definitely a unique and enjoyable experience.
Overall, the latest expansion to Gears of War 2 proved to be a worthwhile purchase. If you downloaded all the previous Gears DLC packs, I am not sure if you would want to spend 1200 MSP on the Dark Corners map pack, but if you skipped at least one of the previous DLC packs, I would recommend purchasing the All Fronts map pack which includes Dark Corners and all previous DLC.
All Corners DLC
NeverIsLupus
Virulent Aesthetics [http://virulentaesthetics.com]
On November 6th, 2008 around 10:30pm a bud and I headed down to the local Gamestop just off the university campus. Midnight launch for Gears of War 2 was approaching. We had anticipated the night for a few months. Unfortunately, the excitement was short lived. After completing the campaign, we came to realize that the Gears of War 2 multiplayer was horribly broken. A few of my friends and I put the game down and vowed to never touch it again due to various frustrating moments and a few broken controllers due to being thrown in rage.
Several DLC map packs were released by Epic, but I took little interest in such trivialities. Gears multiplayer seemed broken to us so we took little notice. I had heard news of the Dark Corners expansion, but the news of an added single player level wasn?t enough to bring me back to the game.
A few days before the newest Gears expansion was released I caught wind that all previous DLC content and the Dark Corners map pack were being packaged together in the All Fronts Map Pack for a mere 1600 Microsoft Points. With the Dark Corners DLC alone costing 1200 points, the All Fronts DLC proved to be irresistible. All Fronts may very well be the best deal on the marketplace, containing 19 multiplayer maps and a single player level, which didn?t make the cut during production of the campaign.
Needless to say, the latest addition to GoW2 was enough to bring me back to the game I vowed never to touch again. In the short time I spent immersed in the Gears community, the content proved to be worth every dollar. Between the time my game disc spent collecting dust in the corner and now, apparently many of the bugs that caused me to cast the game aside have been fixed. Additionally, 750 points worth of achievements have been added to the game. I would say the latest DLC is a must buy if own Gears of War 2.
For me the main draw of the new DLC was the added campaign level, ?Road to Ruin.? The deleted level takes place after Dom discovers that Maria has died. Marcus and Dom must now make their way to Nexus. The players are presented with the choice of gearing up in Theron Guard armor in order to sneak past Locust patrols or going in guns a blazing in the standard GoW style. Unfortunately, the sneak mechanic is slightly broken which makes it difficult to complete in co-op without the assistance of a CPU controlled Dom to hold your hand throughout the level. The added mission is an enjoyable experience and if played on guns a blazing in co-op, may be one of the best levels seen on GoW2.
The first map found in Dark Corners may be quite familiar to many Gears fans. War Machine from the first Gears of War is added to the roster in the latest DLC expansion. Personally, I was never a fan of War Machine or how it played on the first game. The map is pretty much unaltered with the exception of a mulcher located where the turret use to be found. If you liked War Machine on the first game, you will like it now too. If not, get the horde achievement and be on your way.
The next addition to multiplayer is Highway. Highway is a symmetrical Locust themed map. The map has a good layout; unfortunately, the weapons placed on the map seem to ruin the experience. I enjoyed playing Highway on horde, but when it came to gearing up for some online matches, it didn?t play as well as I originally hoped. I would say the map is fairly average though. It isn?t one of the worst maps Gears has seen, nor is it one of the best.
Sometimes a map is created that is just sheer artistic brilliance. Sanctuary is one of those maps found in Dark Corners that fits this description. Out of the seven maps in the expansion, Sanctuary is my favorite map. The map is symmetrically laid out. When the game begins players have the choice of going along either side. One side has the grenade spawn, while the staircase side has a mulcher or boomshot. Alternatively, players can venture straight up the middle of the map directly into enemy territory. The gameplay on Sanctuary seems fluid and flawless. It performs well in both multiplayer and horde. My only complaint is the poorly named horde achievement for the map, ?No, But His Face Rings a Bell.?
The fourth map added in the Dark Corners expansion is Way Station. Honestly, I do not know where to begin with this map. From some of the previews I had seen of the map, it looked fairly innovative. Players spawn on opposing sides of a chasm and must move forward to cross the ravine towards the top of the map while avoiding fire from the opposing side. Regrettably, Way Station performs horribly in multiplayer, and I would go as far to say it is the worst map in the DLC pack. Essentially whoever controls the top of the map wins the game, which then turns into a shotgun festival on the staircases.
All Father?s Garden is the bane of my existence. Many players I have talked to seem to love the map. Personally I detest it, but nonetheless it seems to be a popular map amongst the Gears community. The map is fairly open with a few waist high ways strewn about for cover. It is basically a sniper?s paradise since most of the map can be seen from various lookout points. Additionally, there are various flank points to turn those pesky shotgun campers into a flying meat cloud. As far as weapons go the map features grenades in the center, a pair of snipers, and a torque bow/ boomshot at the center of the map across from grenades. From what I observed All Father?s Garden is either a map you love or hate.
Memorial is another one of those maps that is close to perfect. The map is fairly open, but also features a tunnel system to avoid hammer of dawn blasts. Teams can either control the lower outside portion near the spawns, which features a hammer of dawn or mortar. The top portion of the map features either a sniper or torque bow, while the tunnel system features a pair of pistols and either a boomshot or flamethrower. As far as I have seen, most players enjoy the map. There are various positions to post up in, depending on which weapons your team controls. Memorial is easily one of the better maps found in Dark Corners.
The final map added is the desert themed, Nowhere, which feels like something out of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Nowhere is another great addition to the multiplayer experience. The map features rolling sandstorms that make gameplay feel like you are playing in a smokescreen. It isn?t a bad map, and is probably one of the better maps seen on Gears of War 2. While the sandstorms may seem like a gimmick, the experience of attempting to seek out your opponents through clouds of thick sand is definitely a unique and enjoyable experience.
Overall, the latest expansion to Gears of War 2 proved to be a worthwhile purchase. If you downloaded all the previous Gears DLC packs, I am not sure if you would want to spend 1200 MSP on the Dark Corners map pack, but if you skipped at least one of the previous DLC packs, I would recommend purchasing the All Fronts map pack which includes Dark Corners and all previous DLC.
All Corners DLC
NeverIsLupus
Virulent Aesthetics [http://virulentaesthetics.com]
