Are you bored of curb stomping Locust on the same old maps? Frustrated with the abundance of exploits in multiplayer? Confused about the trueskill rank? Well Epic have you covered! They have recently announced yet another patch Title update 3 for Gears of War 2, with nine new achievements worth 250 points, a new map pack and a whole lot of multiplayer fixes. Full details after the jump.

There have been many of complaints about the online components of Gears of War 2 ever since its release back in November. One of the biggest was its trueskill ranking system which seems to be fairly unbalanced. Epic have been relatively quick with updates and fixes. This will be the third major update from the developer and should hopefully fix many of the exploits that ruin the fun of the game.

Here is the full rundown of updates:

Improvements

Title Update 3 makes these new improvements:

* Adds 100 levels of player experience that you can gain based on your score in Public matches. The game still uses Trueskill for matchmaking to find the most competitive matches, but the skill rank is now hidden. The new level of experience appears next to your gamertag, with levels 1 through 99 displayed as numbers and level 100 displayed as an icon. The game normalizes experience based on match type so that players earn an equivalent amount of experience across all modes.
* Adds an experience penalty for players quitting before a match is complete.
* Adds bots automatically to a Public Match if players quit and cause unbalanced teams. This ability has always existed in Private Matches if the bot count is set higher than zero.
* Optimizes playlists to only have two modes per playlist. Ties are decided by random selection.
* Adds map cycling to Private Matches. The first match map is chosen by vote or by host, and when that match is completed, the game transitions automatically to the next match, with the next map selected in alphabetical order.
* Adds the ability for teams to talk to each other between rounds in a Private Match.
* Adds the ability to save Public and Private Horde high scores after each complete wave, in case the host loses connection.
* Makes minor changes to general bandwidth usage.
* Adds region preference to matchmaking.
* Improves standby detection.
* Adds nine new achievements worth 250 points. Progress toward them starts after Title Update 3 is applied. Six of the new achievements require the Snowblind Map Pack, a set of four new maps to be released soon. The nine new achievements:
o “Rookie Gear” (10 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 5 (Public only).
o “Seasoned Gear” (20 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 15 (Public only).
o “Battle-Tested Gear” (30 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 25 (Public only).
o “Battle-Hardened Gear” (50 points): Reach level 50 and play a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).
o “Veteran Gear” (75 points): Reach level 100 and win a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).
o “Never Eat Red Snow” (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Snowblind Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
o “Icy Dead People” (25 points): Complete waves 1 through 50 on any Snowblind Map Pack map in Horde (any difficulty).
o “Frigid Body Dynamics” (5 points): Play a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).
o “The Weather Outside Is Lethal” (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 3 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

* A player could swap from a pistol to a two-handed weapon during a cover slide and then mantle greater distances.
* Players could kill themselves in Wingman to avoid giving their opponents more points. Now, suicides and team killing will reduce team score.
* A player holding a meatshield could melee through some walls.
* A player could equip a two-handed weapon with a shield using either the Boltok or the Gorgon pistol.
* A player could equip a two-handed weapon with a meatshield using either the Boltok or the Gorgon pistol.
* A player could prevent planted shields from being picked up by other players.
* Players could launch themselves into the air with a smoke grenade while mantling.

General Fixes

Title Update 3 fixes these other issues as well:

* An issue that caused chainsaw interruption when a player is shot to be less reliable in some body positions than in others.
* An issue where a third player could join a Public Wingman party lobby and remove another player from the game.
* An issue in Submission games where occasionally the meatflag would immediately run back to the spawn point after being dropped.
* An issue where players that were knocked down but not out (DBNO) while planting the Boomshield would appear to be standing.
* An elevation-based issue where the detection for a headshot might not align properly with certain character model heads.
* An issue that could cause Wingman teammates to have different character models.
* Additional miscellaneous bug fixes.

Balancing

Title Update 3 makes these balancing changes:

* Reduces stun duration of smoke grenades. Currently, characters always start to get up after 2 seconds.
* Gives melee the same delay after roadie running that shooting received in Title Update 2.
* Removes spawn protection from the Horde in Horde mode.
* Increased the forward angle that triggers chainsaw duels so that players with Lancers equipped won’t be sawn from the side without a duel.
* Reduces the delay before a player can climb up after entering low cover.
* Makes minor changes to weapon spawns on the Subway map to provide greater balance.

All these lovely little fixes will be blasted onto your hard drive (or memory unit) on the 24th of March.

Though thats not all! A week later on the 31st a new map pack named “Snowblind” will hit XBLM, packed with three brand new maps and a remake of the best multiplayer map from the original, Fuel Depot. We now know that the three new maps are Grindyard, a winter-themed junkyard processing plant and spiritual successor to Gears 1’s Gridlock; Under Hill, a highway junction leading into a mountain, with an exposed mortar spawn; and Courtyard, which features long sight lines and recalls Embry Square.

How much will they cost you ask? No word yet, though the Combustible Map Pack sold for 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60), why change now?

[According to Major Nelson, the Snowblind map pack will be shipping for 800 Microsoft points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60) on the 31st of March]

Is this enough to get your chainsaw revved up again? Or is it all just too little, too late?
Will you pay out for another map pack? We want to know!

Thanks to Richard for submitting!