I have to say that the maps shown here look pretty fun; I sort of want to go play some Gears now. The pack is available now, and for $10, you’ll get five new maps to obnoxiously act out your thrashball dreams on. Below are more detailed fly-through videos for three of those new maps.

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Will it be as cool as that alternate ending to Carmine’s epic saga? Probably not. But $10 will net you “five new maps, four character skins and ‘Re-up,’ the Gears version of Call of Duty‘s ‘Prestige.’ Here, it allows players to rank through level 100 multiple times for ‘exclusive emblems and weapon skins.’” Good times, no?

Gears of War 3 adds ‘Fenix Rising’ map pack on Jan. 17 [Joystiq]

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It’s like Epic has a little man hidden inside my mind, listening for all my awesome ideas like A GUN THAT SHOOTS KRYLL. But it’s less of a gun and more of a summon creature spell that RAAM casts with his magics. Locusts have those, right? Well they must, because the only explanation for kryll in daylight is a powerful protection spell.

As fiction-bending as the mechanic seems to be, I have to say that “RAAM’s Shadow” looks pretty cool. It does seem as though you’ll be restricted to one kind of environment for the entire mission, but at least that environment is completely new. And anything that fills in the back-story of Emergence Day is A-okay in my book…my book of magical Gears lore!

Look for Gears 3‘s latest DLC expansion on December 13th for $15, or $0 if you’ve already invested in the DLC Season Pass.

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Folks tell me that the kids like this Infinity Blade series for their iPads and iPhones and other such radical iGizmos. I always thought the point of portable gaming was to kill five or ten minutes when you’ve got nothing else to do, but Epic is betting on a big demographic of iOS gamers starving for a good story. And thus, Infinity Blade II was born.

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Okay, that stuff looks pretty cool. But still, sort of looks like content that should have shipped with the game, right? Well, you can choose to buy the Horde Command Pack for $10 as of right now, or you can wait ’til November 24th and get it for free…well, most of it, anyways.

The 24th will see the release of the Versus Booster Map Pack, a collection of the three maps from the Horde Command Pack (Azura, Rustlung, and Blood Drive) plus Gears 1 favorites Swamp and Clocktower. The content that gets cut includes the new Horde fortification upgrades, the new playable characters and weapon skins, and the 250 Achievement points. I really couldn’t care less about skins, but those fortification upgrades should have shipped with the game, so I can’t say I’m too happy about Epic charging for them. But hey, five multiplayer maps for free ain’t exactly a bad deal.

And if multiplayer’s not your scene, you can slink into RAAM’s Shadow on December 13th for $15. Here’s what that’s all about. Not so sure it’s worth $15, but it’ll probably be fun if you’ve got nothing better to spend your money on.

RAAM’s Shadow priced and dated; Horde Command Pack maps go free on Nov 24

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If you’re like me, and you feel like General RAAM was the best boss fight in the Gears of War series, then you’ll be glad to hear that he’s coming back in December 13th’s “RAAM’s Shadow” DLC pack.

Now you may be thinking that this will feature some kind of ridiculous resurrection and consequent zombification through fungus plot (you Gears 3 vets know what I’m talking about), but I’m happy to say that we’re just traveling back in time–traveling all they way back to Emergence Day, in fact.

You’ll be stepping into the over-sized boots of Michael Barrick from the Gears of War comics, and by your side will be Gears 2‘s Tai Kaliso, Gear’s 1‘s totally alive and well Lt. Kim, and an original character named Alicia Valera. Zeta Squad’s efforts to evacuate Illima City in the wake of Emergence Day should run roughly three hours.

At $15, that run-time seems a little lean, but you’ll also get six more multiplayer characters, the “chocolate” weapon set, and 250 points worth of Achievements. But wait, there’s more! “In addition to fighting as a new squad of Gears, players will step into the boots of RAAM himself, and for the first time storm the human stronghold from the perspective of one of the series’ most legendary bosses.” I’m unclear on whether this means you’ll take control of RAAM at some point in the mission itself or if it just means you’ll get his skin for multiplayer modes, but the wording seems to suggest the former. That could definitely be cool.

It’s still unconfirmed whether this pack will support campaign co-op, but I’d bet that it does. So if RAAM just didn’t punish you enough the first time around, Epic’s got you covered come December.

Gears of War 3 ventures into ‘RAAM’s Shadow’ DLC this December [Joystiq]

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In 2001, Microsoft launched the game franchise that would go on to define the Xbox with Halo. 2006 saw the company using Gears of War in much the same way for the Xbox 360. Both games set the standard for their respective genres and fostered die-hard multiplayer communities. And that’s why, despite the radically different play styles of the two series, there are a lot of comparisons to be made. For all intents and purposes, Gears of War 3 is to the Gears franchise what Halo 3, or perhaps a more recent example in Halo: Reach, are to the Halo franchise. It’s a game with incredibly refined and varied multiplayer experiences that have evolved from a multiplayer experience that was already AAA. It’s bigger, better, and more bad ass. But behind all of the many additions, the core gameplay hasn’t changed at all. Pretty much, it’s exactly what most Gears fans want.

Gears of War 3 picks up shortly after the events of its predecessor, meaning that humanity has sacrificed its last strong-hold on Sera to defeat the Locusts and rebuild. The problem is, the mutated Lambent Locusts have grown even stronger and are terrorizing the weakened and disorganized humans who now scrape out their livings on flotillas of aircraft carriers or, worse yet, in fortified pockets of civilization on the mainland. In steps Chairman Prescott, who disappeared months before without a word. He happens to have some very interesting information on Marcus Fenix’s father, who was presumed to be dead but, as it turns out, has been working on a biological weapon to destroy the Lambent in a secret lab. One giant fish-monster attack later, and the tattered remnants of the COG are launched into an epic adventure to find Marcus’ father and save the world from the Lambent, the rebuilding Locusts and their queen, and most importantly, fungus (no, really!). If it all sounds a little confusing, there’s a brief “Previously on Gears” vignette that will catch the uninitiated up…at least a little bit.

But the first thing you’ll notice before you get caught up in all of that is that this is without a doubt the best looking Gears of War to date. The level of texture detail that Epic manages to squeeze out of a six-year-old console is truly impressive, but it’s actually the imaginative and varied art direction that stands out the most. Nearly every chapter in the campaign hosts a unique and detailed environment, whether it’s the lush jungle foliage of Act II or the tranquil and majestic sea-floor of Act IV. The richness of colors really stands out, even in the dustiest of ghost towns. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the focus on fresh and appealing environments actually detracts from the feel of the universe sometimes.

Meet the Retro Lancer's Bayonet.

Maybe it’s just me, but I always felt like darkness was something to be feared and respected in the Gears universe; I still think that pushing the burning car to avoid Kryll in Gears 1 is one of the highlights of the series. But Gears of War 3, sublime though its visuals may be, spends less than one act in the dark of night (which also happens to be its best act), and there aren’t even any Kryll to hide from. I feel like darkness is both thematically and mechanically important to this universe, yet this game forsakes it for a better first impression. Whether that matters as much to you as it does to me is up for debate, but it’s certainly worth noting.

But regardless of the lighting situation, Gears‘ signature gore is on full display. The Unreal Engine seamlessly renders dozens of meaty humanoids at a time with animations that are more fluid than ever before, and it even manages to do it without too much texture pop-in. And whether you’re up against a lumbering Digger, a skittering Centipede, or a Lambent that’s sprouting tentacles before your very eyes, they all blow up real nice. The new sawed-off shotgun in particular creates a nice “there used to be a guy in that red spot” effect.

But all the quivering chunks of bloody flesh in the world wouldn’t do a very good job of satisfying your bloodlust without an appropriate squish to match. Thankfully, Gears of War 3 sounds about as squishy as swimming in a pool of Locust-flavored jello. This contrasts nicely with the booming thuds of shotguns and relentless chugging of machine guns. The distressing screams of Locusts and humans alike help to round out the sympathy of carnage, and of course, Marcus, Cole Train, and the rest of the gang are always prepared with an enthusiastic quip. Their voice acting is especially important to the campaign, which tries to maintain the COGs’ over-the-top bravado whilst evoking a somber sense of loss and the individual price of war. The score is also very fitting and helps to raise the tension during some dramatic firefights.

And there will certainly be plenty of those. Between the rebuilding Locusts and the growing Lambent, there are literally dozens of enemy types that vary from big to small, strong to fast, smart to dumb, and more. It’s pretty awesome the first time you see a Lambent grow three tentacles that proceed to lob harmful imulsion at you, but by the end of the game you’ll probably appreciate the greater variety of combat situations offered by traditional Locusts. All of the Tickers and Drones and Grinders of previous games are here, plus a couple new types. But the Lambent are certainly a formidable foe worthy of their place in the game.

And thankfully, there is an equally impressive array of weapons to combat all of those hostiles with. Some of the new additions (of which there are close to half a dozen) feel a bit tacked on and unnecessary in the campaign, but their distinct pros and cons quickly become apparent in multiplayer and they earn their keep. All and all, there is an astonishing amount of gun variety in this game that manages to offer enough distinction between weapons to make every one worth trying, if only to see how it uniquely obliterates the enemy.

As with previous Gears games, the vast majority of those guns will be put to use in linear openings that are filled with cover-objects. Squads of grubs or glowies dig in behind their own cover and let their big guys move in for the kill. You have to pop in and out of cover while maneuvering the battlefield and making every last baddie you encounter regret the day he was born. It’s a solid formula that’s carried the series for years now, but it does tend to get a little predictable and boring without a good set-piece to aid it. Perhaps it’s just wearing thin in the franchise’s third entry, or maybe it loses some intensity because of this game’s relative ease.

For better or worse, your AI companions in Gears 3 are extremely capable and will do all the fighting for you if you’re so inclined to let them. Sometimes it’s nice to have a comrade that doesn’t belong in a zoo, but other times it can steal some of your thunder. Personally, I don’t mind their enhanced combat prowess so much (even if they are kind of grenade-happy), but I can’t stand it when I get shot down and they refuse to run ten feet to help me up. It’s a fairly regular occurrence that sort of makes me wish the enemies would just kill me and save thirty seconds of frustrating bleed-out time. Then again, it’s probably easy to forget all the times that the AI actually did help me up.

But AI issues aside, the firefights are generally fun, and they’re often capped with memorable set-pieces and boss fights. The first three acts of the game are really a non-stop, breakneck barrage of progressively awesomer boss fights that pit you against the creepiest and crawliest monsters in the Gears universe. It’s not quite as ridiculous as riding a Brumak or cutting through the four hearts of a Rock Worm (thanks for the memories, Gears 2), but the relentlessness of the assault creates some really good pacing. There are also some slow-burn chapters in there that keep the tension high and your trigger-finger anxious. But unfortunately, Acts IV, and especially V start to lose the game’s previously superb pacing and drag on.

There will be brumaks.

That may have something to do with the developers being unsure of what kind of story they wanted to tell. The first few acts put you in the boots of both Marcus and Cole Train, and effectively use lived-in environments and trippy hallucinations to convey both a sense of the world’s history and the cost of war to an individual. These soldiers had lives before the war, and it’s really moving to see how everything’s changed. And it’s because you get a devoted glimpse into their former lives that the characters seem so much more real than the archetypical caricatures of the previous two games. There’s a real sense of loss for Marcus, Cole Train, Dom, and even Anya to a degree. But the second half of the campaign pulls away from this intimate characterization for a self-conscious save-the-world plot that can’t be taken seriously. I get that “Mad World” is a cool song and Ice-T is a cool dude and that they both have ties to the franchise, but putting them in the campaign, especially at dramatic moments, simply pulls you out of the narrative. It becomes campy and comical, which would be fine if it were consistent throughout.

The divide is probably most apparent if you stop to realize that a great deal of the drama in the game’s first half is conveyed through nothing more than environments, but the second half can’t manage to evoke any feeling without obtrusive cut-scenes that pull you out of the gameplay during critical moments.

The shift from character to plot is really disappointing when you consider the perspectives Baird and Dizzy and Anya could have offered had they been given their own individual segments. Anya lost Lieutenant Kim, who’s never mentioned in this game; Dizzy lost Tai, who’s never mentioned in this game; Baird lost…well I’m sure Baird has some really touching connections with hair products that we could have learned all about. Why Epic thought it would be a good idea to replace Baird and Cole with Sam and Jace (who?) for half the game is a mystery to me. They’re simply warm bodies to move around and fill out an action-oriented plot that falls short in the end because it relies on the thoughts and actions of a cardboard cut-out. And despite some massively unanswered questions, it’s presented like a nice, tidy conclusion that makes everything A-okay. Oh yeah, and the third Carmine brother, who’s probably lost more than anybody in this war, is essentially thrown into a brief cut-scene at the end after barely appearing throughout the game.

All of these complaints might sound asinine to Gears fans who never wanted the characters to offer more than some funny dialogue (which they still do), but the first three acts of this game give a glimpse of how much more it could be. That said, I’ve certainly played worse stories and I’ve definitely endured worse gameplay to reach a story’s conclusion. Some might even say that Gears of War 3‘s campaign is the best of the series.

Put those Silverbacks to use, young man!

Regardless of how much you enjoy the campaign, you’re sure to find something that revs your Lancer in this overstuffed gameplay bonanza. Versus matches, Horde Mode, Beast Mode, and Campaign Co-op each offer such vastly different experiences that you’re sure to find at least one mode you like. There’s also an intricately detailed stat-tracking system for each mode that keeps you up-to-date on your lifetime stats and progress toward medals and ribbons, which are awarded for completing specific tasks such as getting 100 executions or sweeping the opposing team in a competitive match. There’s even an Autolog-like feature that pops up and lets you know how your progress on a particular challenge matches up with friends’.

The competitive Versus mode’s new additions include Gears‘ unique spin on traditional deathmatch and a variation of Gears 2‘s Capture the Leader. The deathmatch type gives each team a set number of respawns that are depleted with each kill, making for some intense, distinctly Gears moments at the end of matches when you’re the last guy on your team and have no respawns left against a full team of five. The variant of Capture the Leader does away with the home base location that you have to drag the other team’s leader to in favor of a 30 second timer that only counts down if your leader is protected while you hold the other team’s. I still love this innovative variation on Capture the Flag, as a human meat-shield is a lot more interesting than a flag, but I must admit that I prefer the old version. These new matches tend to end very quickly and don’t encourage epic stand-offs at home bases. Hopefully Epic will up the timer in the next update. As for the remaining Versus modes, there’s Warzone, Execution, King of the Hill, and Wingman. They’re pretty much unaltered from the last game and just as fun as ever. King of the Hill seems to be the preferred objective game type online.

Horde Mode has seen some significant improvements that make it easy to sink hours into a match without even looking at the clock. The basic concept of five players defending against increasingly difficult waves of AI enemies remains the same, but an in-game economy has been implemented that rewards cash for every kill, assist, or revive you perform. This cash can be spent on better weapons, desperately needed ammo, or a variety of defense barriers that make this seem like more of a Tower-Defense game than a Third-Person Shooter. There are barbed wire fences, wooden decoys, devastating turrets, and eventually Silverback mechs (another one of the campaign’s new toys). All of these defenses can be upgraded once you’ve bought the lower-grade stuff enough times. The defense aspect adds a whole new dimension to Horde Mode that makes it even more addicting than before, if that’s possible. Oh, and also: seeing a brumak rumble into an undersized hotel lobby with its rockets pointed directly at you is a terrifying and ridiculous experience.

Beast Mode is for all of those gamers out there who want to give the humans a taste of their own medicine. It allows up to five players to take control of the Locusts and attack AI fortifications like those you build in Horde mode. Each of the 12 waves has a timer that adds a few extra seconds for every human you take down, which can make for some pretty intense moments when the clock is down to its final seconds. You earn money for every kill or whenever you destroy fortifications, and that money can be used on cheap Locusts like Tickers and Drones, or it can be saved up for the most feared Corpsers and Berserkers. Thankfully, the cash flows easily enough that it’s not difficult to routinely play as the most devastating Locusts. And considering that each of the waves adds more enemies and fortifications, as well as more difficult “hero” enemies that can only be defeated with executions, you’ll probably need to dip into the Locusts’ elite troops. There are lots of Locusts that aren’t available (and no Lambent), but after you decimate a camp of 30 humans with a Berserker, that’s an easier pill to swallow.

Each of these three modes can be played on any of the game’s ten multiplayer maps, which are all pretty solid, but kind of forgettable at the same time. To be completely honest, I have to say that the first two games shipped with more interesting maps that featured a few dynamic environments. Other than one level that kicks up the occasional dust storm, there’s none of that here. Something tells me that a remake of Gears 2‘s Subway will find its way into some premium DLC sooner than later. But hey, dedicated servers and AI bots make up for that. Not to mention the fact that Gears of War‘s multiplayer plays differently than anything else on the market.

Lastly, there’s the four-player online co-op. Up to two people can splitscreen as well. And making co-op more fun than ever before is “Arcade mode,” which is essentially Halo‘s Campagin Scoring. Gears even steals the idea of gameplay modifying skulls from Halo, although these modifers are called “mutators.”

And here we are, back to the Halo comparisons. But that’s a good thing. Much like last year’s Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3 earns its keep with an insane amount of multiplayer depth and variety that makes it infinitely replayable. While this game doesn’t have the technically stunning Forge creation tool or the machinama-friendly Theater mode, it does have the jaw-droppingly fun Beast Mode on Halo. It might not alter its competitive gameplay as fundamentally as Reach‘s armor abilities did, but the defense economy completely changes the way Horde Mode is played. And maybe Reach has got Gears beat on the customization front (by quite a bit, in fact), but Gears has a more action-packed campaign full of memorable set-pieces. These comparisons all bode well for Gears of War 3, considering Halo: Reach was InsaneBear’s Game of the Year for 2010. Epic does the same thing Bungie did by taking what it does best evolving it to become the standard-bearer of the genre. If you have the slightest interest in Third-Person Shooters, you won’t regret buying Gears of War 3.

Bros to the end.

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Thanks for catching us up, Anya. May I be so bold as to say that I’m rather surprised by the game opening with you, but that I like it? Perhaps you’ll finally develop into a real character and not just be that piece of eye-candy in the other chopper. And maybe we’ll finally get more than half a dozen vague lines of dialogue on Marcus’ father. Maybe just maybe Gears 3 will have a compelling story to go with all that sexy gameplay.

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That thang being demonstrations of incredible value, of course. Between the four-player co-op, Horde mode 2.0, Beast mode, and the refined competitive multiplayer, Gears 3 is shaping up to be this year’s Halo: Reach in terms of pure value. It’s also got a leg up on Reach in the giant tentacle monster department…

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Whether you knew it or not, Ammy is rather fond of kibbles, bits, and video games. She keeps tabs on all three and wants you to be informed too.

Bark! Hey, friends. First some bad news. From Software’s Dark Souls has been delayed. But only by a week! You can now expect to die again and again, and again on September 22nd.

Woof! Not to get your spirits down even more, but Eat Sleep Play’s Twisted Metal reboot has been delayed as well. Instead of October 4th, all you ragin’ vehicle operators will have to wait until sometime in early 2012 to hurt innocent, well-meaning clowns.

Ruff! But it’s not all bad! According to a job listing (that has since been altered), Epic is working on “a new unannounced IP.” We all love Gears of War here at InsaneBear, but it’s always good to know that studios are branching out with new things!

Roo roo roo! Lastly, there’s not a whole lot to report on here, but we may have our first screen-shot of Bungie’s secret new game, code-named “Tiger.” Gotta give the pups something to chew on, right?

Well, I certainly appreciated Amaterasu’s unique brand of reporting and I hope you did too. Now why don’t you go enjoy some more adorable pictures of our favorite sun goddess/wolf. The third one is especially great.

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