Four new Gears of War maps arriving Thursday
Epic Games will continue to expand upon its highly-acclaimed 2006 “Game of the Year” with four new multiplayer maps this Thursday. Available for purchase in the early morning on May 3rd, the “Hidden Fronts” pack will run gamers 800 Microsoft points unless they decide to wait four months.
On September 3rd, Epic and Microsoft will drop the price of the pack. So, if one can wait that long, he/she may be able to save $10. Over the past few months, there has been controversy regarding the price for this new pack: Epic wanted it to be free from the start, but Microsoft stated that they should make it available for purchase initially.
The new maps take aim at diversifying the online environments, requiring gamer interaction in order to achieve victory:
Bullet Marsh: In this Kryll-infested swamp, an old generator still powers the area lights. A few stray bullets could easily knock out the generator, leaving combatants to fend for themselves against the Kryll.
Garden: This overgrown and crumbling conservatory still has a working fertilization and pesticide system. This system can pose a serious hazard to anyone who ventures into the greenhouse without first venting the air.
Process: Teams must fight for control of this subterranean Imulsion processing plant, still active despite the cessation of the Pendulum wars.
Subway: Timgad’s Central Subway station used to serve as a central hub for commuters. Now the tunnels are crawling with Locust.
The map pack will arrive this Thursday at 5AM EST.
Thanks to JayMart 4PoInt0 and nofear360 for submitting!
Screens courtesy of Xboxyde.
sweet
Sounds cool, not a fan of Gears online myself.
I hope people wait till Sept to get this and show Microsoft they can’t get away with charging for content the DEVELOPER wanted to give away for free.
I am waiting, i will have plenty to play until Sept and besides Gears has got a little boring for me online.
I am done with GoW. It was a good run. That game couldn’t survive without matchmaking. I loved single player though. I’m buying GoW2 just for the campaign. Best atmosphere of any shooter so far IMHO.
does anyone know if there are any of those online petitions so we all can tell microsoft that they are charging too much for extra content like maps? if not then please everyone who reads this dont buy the maps. dont tell your friends to buy them. its ok, its only 4 maps. we can all live without them if they are gona cost $10
Those screen-shots are gorgeous. Gives me something to look forward to come September.
Think I’ll wait. GOW online bores the tits off me
So, does all of that actually mean that there are kryll, locusts and environmental hazards that players can interact with, or is it just clever captioning for otherwise static maps?
FUX SHEET FUX SHEET FUX SHEET NEGGER
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Nice try, but you missed the 4.
Nice pwnage there ;).
lol,
is this considered identity theft?
and SHEET? I sleep on SHEETs each night.
i like the new maps. i hope they include some new weapons for 800 points. i’m still not sure what i’ll be doing. i’m a gears slut, but at the same time i friggin hate ms for making epic put a price on this man. that just blows ms!!!
looks pretty good to me, n i think its pretty rotten that ms is making epic charge for the map pack, i may not get it because i’ll be playing spiderman 3 for a while but my one die hard gears fan bud is prolly gonna make me. that means i have to find some money for ms points.
i dont see what’s the big deal with paying for these maps. MS is paying to have these maps developed they should be able to dictate how they are put on LIVE. If $2.50 a map is too much for you then you need a new hobby
they have been more generous then any of the 3rd party DL content when it comes to extra content, so why the hate?
when i dont have to pay extra for maps in Lost planet, GRAW2, CoD3, and other games then i’ll bitch.
for those who dont care, i’ll see you on the battlefield, for the rest who feel the need to cry: vote with your wallet and leave the rest of us to enjoy the carnage.
Edit: it’s $2.25 a map actually sorry
i agree with lotus 111 at the top……..out of spite i will wait until september to download the new maps………as if microsoft arent loaded allredy…….GREEEEEEEEDY BASTARDS
While is is true that MS is “loaded already” (they sit on about $40 billion in cash), the games division should still be profitable.
Since their business model is to turn a profit on services, software, and peripherals (due to the net loss on consoles), it makes sense that they would charge for DLC. Yes, it is frustrating that the devs wanted it to be free, kudos Epic, but there’s no sense in bad-mouthing MS.
The day you tell your boss you’d like to decrease your pay because you can live on less is the day I’ll eat my words.
fuck off kenny k dont tell me i need a new hobby if i dont want to pay for these new maps….£40 a year and all the shit microsoft have put me through with me having to send my xbox back twice……its bull shit ….if anyting they should be pating me to download the maps……….EPIC RULES
Well said sargeant sebas, let Microsoft get away with this and nothing will EVER be free on XBL. Bill Gates has enough cash as it is. I pay £40 a year and laggy games yet on he PS3 its free and 40 player games are lag free?!?!?!?!?!
probably because there are about 200 people playing any given game, as opposed to GoW where like 2+ million people playing a day. Xbox Live is a much huger service than PS3online, not only do they have a vastly greater amount of users, they also host high-speed downloads of 1000’s of files, many of which are at least a gig or more.
that costs a lot of money to keep running, it’s not free just because they are MS and they also have to pay server admins, content employees, and although EPIC wanted to have the maps be free, im sure they wont mind getting a bit of pay for all that un-required work. what people dont take into account is that EPIC and MS dont have to give us anything. EPIC has no mandate to provide further content after the launch, its just a nice favor they do for fans, they dont really have to keep the game’s playability value up like they are. they already got your $60+ bucks when you bought the game and they dont get anything more beyond that, unless there is a charge for the content which they do release, like with these maps.
MS doesnt owe you anything either, they are providing the XBL service, which is all they have to do based on your subscription. anything beyond that is your decision to pay for, not to mention the fact there is a need for more money beyond your subscription fee to keep the servers running and upgraded, pay for the licenses to 3rd party content like video content etc. most important to pay their staff which includes: the admins, tech guys, software developers, content managers, service call recievers, repair workers, finance admins, etc.
so you can see its not as simple as it seems. also remember that microsoft is certainly not a dumb company. they wouldn’t be where they are entirely on luck - they pay a lot of money to have some of the best business strategists working for them.
if youre still so pissed off then wait until september and get them for free. which is lucky for you because they dont have to give that option either. remember this is capitalism, things dont have to be fair or moral, if that bothers you too much then dont participate, but it will always be there in some form. if you cant get along with this idea then you probably shouldnt have bought something like an xbox in the first place. sorry be a hardass, but it’s the truth, unless you’d rather start a communist revolution… good luck with that.
Yea, dude, we should just not buy games, either, then they’ll make them all free!
Douche
hey i never had to lower myself into insulting others but that’s fine if you cant be above that.
go on and bitch then, you obviously dont understand how things are run.
you dont like paying for LIVE (even though 99% of the features are free) play online with the ps3 and quit crying.
yes, microsoft is loaded but they didnt get loaded by giving stuff away for free. again they have been more giving then just about any other company out there when it comes to DL content, but once things dont go YOUR way, the childish rants start.
i never said i didnt want them to be free, but i wont play the ignorant role whining a storm because i dont understand how a business is run
bingo. well said.
I’ll wait till September. I have plenty to play until then. Hell I haven’t even played GOW in about 3 months or so.
Lotus is a perfect example of someone who doesnt understand many things.
first of all i find it puzzling that anyone would compliment another who starts their post with “fuck off”. i also think it’s funny that people like to comment on the online set up for any console without even understanding it. this would be no different then me voicing my opinion over a couple of cars i know nothin gof.
for the record, if LIVE is so laggy then that is your connection or those you play with. as for the ps3, the ONLY reason that RFoM has 40 player games “lag free” is because the game runs on dedicated servers, something that is NOT the norm on the ps3. because ONE game has this feature is so superior? even though all of the other games handle their data exactly the same as LIVE but slower.
what a way to prove your point guys
/sarcasm
Are you employed by Microsoft?
Stop telling people to get a new hobby dude, or you might end up with no one to play your shiny new maps with.
Oh and BTW i have been playing games online for 12 years now, so i do understand all about lag/dedicated servers. So STFU and stop pretending you are the only one who knows anything about anything.
Jeez some people.
so what’s your point? you say you do know all about online gaming and how servers work - then make a legit argument back. you said nothing. “STFU” isnt really an argument, it just makes you look like a fool because it looks like you have nothing of substance to say in response. so far Kenny K has bested you, though if you could put together some substantial, legit rebuttle then maybe you could save some face.
Damn your a douche. You might not find anyone to play the new maps with? Yea, Gears isn’t the most played xbox live game or anything…
And by the way, if someone likes a company’s product, it doesn’t mean they are employed by them you over-reacting prick.
“Dude, Taco Bell is the shit.”
“Are you employed by them or something, jesus?”
Fucking douche-bag.
Okay, hows about everyone STFU.
Bitching about nothing, you bother me, sit down and zip it.
(He’s stirring the pot, he stirring the pot, can’t seem to help himself, he just loves to stir the pot)
maps look cool
Nice that they included one of my ideas, having a map where you disable the lights so the Kryll attack…
Won’t wait until September though it’s ages away, it’s a lower price than some other map packs but could have been cheaper, well atleast they’re going to be free (like with halo 2)
hotdog
just what I wanted some new maps
I’ll be ponying up the MS points and enjoying myself. Epic are good devs, and 800 MS points is less than I’d pay to take the wife to the local multiplex to see some forgetable 90 minute movie.
I’m no MS fanboy - but have had enough free content from Epic over the years to not be bitter about this news (hell I still like a game of UT2004 from time to time).
But Lumines Live - now that was a different story!
KultiVator
Agreed - not such a bad deal in light of the great Lumines scandal!
My new Samsung R88 32-incher arrives on the same day as this update - this is surely a sign!?!?
lol
Kenny K, you employed by MS? They’re charging $10 on top of the $60 you paid for the game initially, what if they just start charging £70 outright or decide that they’ll start charging more than the $10 for DLC because people are willing to DL stuff as soon as it’s available?
They’re going to be fucking free for Christ’s sake. Just wait a few months. It’s a smart decision, just because you don’t want to waste your $10 allowance on these maps doesn’t mean that Microsoft are jack-asses for putting a small price-tag on a sizable amount of DLC.
me gots microsoft points so im all set for the map pack
AHH SHEET SON, don’t yo realise this is my Tag on this here forum. The real TRIGGER MAN has no NEED for 4!
Why dont they release it for the cheapest allows points eg. 400 rather than 800, people would be more prepared to pay this ammount. If the old maps were re-lit and there were extra characters and guns then 800 would be more acceptable. Its a pity epic couldn’t get another sponser like the last time.
Old maps re-lit?
excellent point sniperwolf 79. 400 points would certainly have shown some effort of restraint.
Yawn………………..
personally I have spent $10 on worse stuff… so can’t wait to spend 10 bucks on some great maps
good luck waiting till sept…
what a fucking soap opera this is.
i think the point is epic wanted to give the maps away, and m$ is charging us for them. if you brought a case of beer to a party, and left it there for everyone to enjoy, and when you left, someone started selling the beers for 5 bucks a piece, it would be wrong. even if the person selling the beer is the one throwing the party (especially if they CHARGED their guests to get in). it is just fucking wrong. it is not about the fucking money, it is the wrongness of it all. it is a bad pr decision by m$, when they could really use some good press, and it makes them peanuts.
$10 x the amount of people who play GoW online = Not fucking peanuts!
I wouldn’t turn me nose at it anyway.
good luck waiting for 4 months u cheap asses !!
no i dont work for microsoft, i dont care to state who i work for. however i do have a good understand on the game industry for many reasons.
i never meant to insult anyone but when comparing apples to oranges someone should (and hopefully will) call you out on it.
the beer comparison is not accurate either. if you paid a lot of money to have that beer made, would you just go to that same party and give it away for free still? good business isnt always pretty.
i never said that i didnt wish these were free, i would have loved for them to be free but their not. instead of pointing the finger and crying about it, i first try to understand WHY things are done the way they are.
beer is cheap as fuck to make, and if i made a batch of beer and i brought some to a party to share, and you started charging people for it after i left, i would think you were a total asshole.
kenny k. powertrip elsewhere please.
Nope. Kenny has my backing.
The £40 you spend on the game is for the media format and anything on it.
The £40 you give MS a year for live is exactly for that, Live.
So these extra maps, as far as I am concerned are fine to have a price tag, I mean for fucks sake, you have already had three maps and a new gametype for fuck all, what more do you want.
wow, the glovner is a tool after all. sad.
cliffy b kicked up stink for months about how all content for gears WOULD be free. that is why people feel ripped off. the maps would certainly be worth $10 otherwise.
i didnt ask how much beer costs to make, i asked if you spent A LOT of money to make it, would you just give it away for free? doubt it, if you would then you wouldnt be making beer for long.
so because i can see things openly or have the ability to look out of the box, im on a powertrip? im not insulting others or being disrespectful to anyone. im mearly trying to explain how a business is run, for those that dont care to accept that’s fine, live in neverland but that doesnt change the facts.
as for their comments on all the content would be free, they never made any promise. they said that in the PAST their content was always free and that they would TRY to continue that for the future.
i really dont know where all of the insults or negative replies are coming from. never have i said or hinted that i didnt want them free as well, i would have loved for them to be free. it still stands though that there really is little room to bitch, MS has been more giving then just about every other company out there. until i start getting more free content in games like GRAW2, RSV, Oblivion, CoD3, etc then i cant just point the finger at MS.
back to the topic: i love the maps, much more then the last new maps. not sure if it’s from the “newness” of these maps, but they impressed me graphically even after all this time playing gears. $10 well spent IMHO