TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT PST / 3AM EST, DOWNLOAD 3 NEW GOW2 MAPS! MAPS INCLUDED: - Flood - Gold Rush - Fuel Station
Gold Rush is a PC map, and I'm sure that a few sites say confirmed price of 800 ms, though hell...people like to throw around words.
are there more pictures around? i must tell reaper about this so i can play it at his house today.. cause guesss what?!!? no school at my town cause the temperatures were too low
I'm assuming since they were shown at the VGA's the maps will not be free. Just in time for Christmas! 800 MS sounds reasonable. Can't wait to get my hands on them.
I'm not going to be able to afford these =[ Shitty thing is I don't have a job anymore and I'm not getting anything for Christmas. hopefully they come out for free in a couple months.
Early this morning, Gears of War 2 owners received an early Christmas present; three new maps (Flood, Fuel Station, and Gold Rush) forming the Combustible Map Pack. However, the question is, does it really deserve the 800 MS points? Obtaining the Maps:No one expected a Map Pack to be released so soon, that and the multiplayer expansion was not announced until a day before its release.I, personally, was pleasantly surprised when I checked the market place this morning. However, I hesitated getting the maps. Gears already had 15 maps (revisited maps included), did I really need 3 more? Not to mention, shouldn't EPIC being fixing issues within the game fans had been complaining about, such as the overpowering chainsaw and underpowered shotgun? But I decided to drop some cash on them anyway in the end. First Impressions and Speculations:Going into my first match on the new maps, I had no idea what to expect. I only had 2 things to guess upon, that being the released pictures of Flood, and the speculation whether or not Fuel Station was a remake of the favorite, Fuel Depot. From the pictures of Flood, the map looked generally unappealing, while Fuel Station, on the other hand, had my hopes up that it was, indeed, a recreation of Fuel Depot. As for Gold Rush, it shared the title of a PC Map, one that I had never played. I went into this with no expectations, but with an open mind, so I can pass the fairest judgment I could. Flood:The first map on our list is Flood, a map set in the crumbling remains of a section of civilization, now drowning in Imulsion. Naturally, you get a lot of greys and blacks with the harsh contrast of the yellow Imulsion, but this was expected. What wasn't expected, is well... a lot of things. First off, EPIC continued on the path of using natural hazards in this map. If you are thinking Imulsion, then you're right on. However, you might not be expecting how it was implemented. Throughout the course of the match, Imulsion slowly creeps onto previously solid land. Within a couple minutes, sections of the map are completely enclosed in a sea of yellow, forcing you to find higher ground. This results in a changing flow in the gameplay as time progresses. But there is more. You can also walk through the Imulsion, for an unusually long time. Considering the fact that you are coming into contact with lava (for all practical purposes) you'd think you would be nothing but ash instantly. This is not the case, and you can survive in the Imuslion long enough to go from one chunk of land to another. At first, I had issues with this, but then grew to love it. It's a gamble, but it can be very rewarding. Enemies typically don't expect you to run through it, leaving their backs exposed and allowing you to sneak up from behind. In addition, should they catch glimpse of your coming, a few rounds in you will put you out of commission in no time with the added damage of the Imulsion. So in the end, it balances out. Imulsion beginning to flow over a section of land. With that said, the clear separation within the map itself (without the Imulsion) is questionable. Each Section has 2 ways of entry, front and back (with one having a 3rd, middle entrance), resulting in only 2 perspectives of the each area. Each section is separated from one another with walls, keeping skirmishes reasonably linear. There is no higher ground, or really any position to be fought over to gain the upper hand, resulting in all out fights in small areas, or the occasional 1v1. Cover also feels cramped. There isn't a lot of it in these small areas, and since most fights take place in these, teammates usually are huddled together on a single pillar, or car, making the perfect targets for smoke grenades. In the end, fights typically involve raining continuous fire upon each other, waiting for one side to slip up out of impatience. Overall, the map is decent, and I'd take it over maps like Pavilion anyday. The natural hazard felt well implemented and unique, and was quite fun to play in. It's not often you can turn yourself into a molten rock at will. However, it felt like EPIC could have linked sections together better. A simple fix for this would be to give the center section windows and ledges that overlooked the rest of the map, not a dilapidated bridge that doesn't really give you a better view at all. Fuel Station: Let me come out and say it. Those of you who were expecting this to be Fuel Depot, you will be disappointed. This is Fuel Station, and bears no resemblance to the previously loved map. Fuel Station is an urban map, taking place at a fuel (or gas) station. You are surrounded by tall buildings of a city scape, that has seen better days. First thing I chanced upon was a switch activated elevator and door. While I could find use of the elevator, the door felt pointless, but I am only playing these on Execution and Warzone. The second thing I noticed were the exploding gas pumps. Then I noticed the these giant trucks with blue barrels on the back. Shooting it, I also realized those explode as well. Now I begin to see why they called the map pack, Combustible. However, as cool as those things were, I was disappointed. First off, unless already damaged, explosions seemed to have the same effect as smoke grenades on enemies; getting knocked down and causing some damage as well. I thought an exploding truck would do more than that. Second is the fact that these hazards are easily avoidable. The trucks usually have concrete barriers nearby, resulting in little need to use the truck as cover. The gas pumps were used a little more, but again, avoidable. While the idea was cool, in the end, they had little effect on game play in that sense. Once they were destroyed, however, they just became another source of safe cover. I also noticed that starting spawns varried ont he map, which felt like a new concept to me. These significantly changed the direction gameplay was being played towards, spanning the length of the map, or the width. I felt this was a nice touch, and benefitted the map overall. In additon, although the focus of combat was in the center, the higher platue and fuel station surrounding it, made it work well. This results in a fight to control higher ground, while holding down the middle field. Overall, this map was pretty good, and better than Flood. Sadly, my largest complaint is that the explodable objects could have been implimented much better, resulting in a better aesthetic than gameplay mechanic. Gold Rush:Unlike Fuel Station, assumptions that it would be the Gold Rush known to PC Gears players were correct. It is pretty much the exact same thing, just brighter. Gold Rush is a mining platorm, mining... you guessed it, Imulsion. Also, I found this the most visually pleasing map of the pack, with the same dirt and grime in typical Gears fashion, but not an overdone amount. Gold Rush was advertised as a map of vertical fire and confrontation, where one team is up high, the other down low. However, I found this was not the case. While sure, it occasionaly evolved into such circumstances for periods of time, teams would mostly split up, some going upstairs while others downstairs, in a race to clear a path to the backsides of the enemy. This worked very well, and felt quite balanced. Cover was also spread out nicely, and offered ample cover, without feeling cluttered. Really, there isn't much to say about this map, besides that it is my favorite of the pack. Everything worked well, and the game play flowed on it. Aesthetics were beautiful as well, and felt clean, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief amongst all other truly grimy environments. That's not saying that the map is as spotless as Mirror's Edge, but it's grime doesn't feel overdone. What I liked even more about this map, is the fact that it fit the new size of 10 players nicely, with no detriment to how it played. The Verdict: I haven't spent much time on the maps yet to fully provide good insight, so most of my opinions are based on impression. Issues I found with the maps might not be present the more I play them, at this time I cannot tell. However, I feel sound with the judgment I passed on them. In the end, Flood and Fuel Depot had good ideas, but the execution wasn't quite there. Not saying this made them bad, the maps were quite enjoyable, and none can argue the benefits in new content. But the fact of the matter remains, that these maps are not perfect (with the exception of Gold Rush, but I don't think I can quite call it perfect). So it all goes back to, do they deserve your 800 MS points? Simply, if you are a regular player of Gears of War 2, you'll be pleased with these maps, and it is well worth your investment. However, if you do not play Gears all too often, or much prefer the first Gears, I would hold off on these until the price drops.
Sold it for me right there. I'm a sniper and Feul Depot was without question the best map for me. I was outraged when I found out it wasn't going to be included in the 5 old maps it came with. I'm so happy. Edit-Ah, I didn't read the thread. I just got so damn excited. I'm not buying them, none of those interest me, and that first map looks epic fail. I hate open maps in this game, it's one of the reasons I already gave it up. I'm back to Halo just because of how nooby they made Gears. With the increased strength of lancers, open maps, weakened snipers, and chainsaws that are not down by shotguns; the game just dissapointed me. It's still good, still a 5/5, but not as good.
In my opinion I was hoping for something a bit more cool. Like the belly of teh beast sort of map with teeth. Tons and tons of teeth and acid. (Worm level) But I love how you can jump into the imulsion in flood. And fuel station is gonna be awesome for horde. I cant wait actually to play it now. I got a boner too!