Gears of War 2 has been on shelves scarcely a month now, but Microsoft and Epic have already launched a new set of three maps for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace. For 800 Microsoft points ($10 to the layman), these three maps can be yours.

• Flood is a very tight map that's made extra snug when the environmental hazard of Imulsion begins creeping up around the edges. As the playing field closes in, the firefight will intensify as combat is forced to the center of the map. Teams skilled at flanking their opponents will have a powerful edge.
• Gold Rush takes place in an old Imulsion refinery that now serves as a hotly contested battleground. Players must survive heavy crossfire as they infiltrate the factory and navigate multiple tiers. Breakable glass allows for a clean shot at those who make a dash for the Longshot rifle while bolder players make their run for the heavy weapon. In the right hands, the Mortar can be devastating on this map, so keep those smoke grenades armed as the concussive effect comes in very handy.
• Fuel Station is situated in a desolate area marked by an abandoned fossil fuel station. The team that secures and controls the station is likely to be the side that wins the match. An especially strategic location on this map is the rooftop, as there are only two points of entry – the main elevator and a staircase on the back side of the building. Heavy weaponry is situated right in front, which presents a high risk to reward ratio in this level. Lugging the Mulcher around, deploying it and revving it up can keep an entire team at bay, and unleashing hell from the rooftops is always an excellent tactic.

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Gears of War 2 has been on shelves scarcely a month now, but Microsoft and Epic have already launched a new set of three maps for purchase on Xbox Live Marketplace. For 800 Microsoft points ($10 to the layman), these three maps can be yours.

• Flood is a very tight map that's made extra snug when the environmental hazard of Imulsion begins creeping up around the edges. As the playing field closes in, the firefight will intensify as combat is forced to the center of the map. Teams skilled at flanking their opponents will have a powerful edge.
• Gold Rush takes place in an old Imulsion refinery that now serves as a hotly contested battleground. Players must survive heavy crossfire as they infiltrate the factory and navigate multiple tiers. Breakable glass allows for a clean shot at those who make a dash for the Longshot rifle while bolder players make their run for the heavy weapon. In the right hands, the Mortar can be devastating on this map, so keep those smoke grenades armed as the concussive effect comes in very handy.
• Fuel Station is situated in a desolate area marked by an abandoned fossil fuel station. The team that secures and controls the station is likely to be the side that wins the match. An especially strategic location on this map is the rooftop, as there are only two points of entry – the main elevator and a staircase on the back side of the building. Heavy weaponry is situated right in front, which presents a high risk to reward ratio in this level. Lugging the Mulcher around, deploying it and revving it up can keep an entire team at bay, and unleashing hell from the rooftops is always an excellent tactic.

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How much for a new matchmaking system?

800 points = major rip off

EDIT: Gears of Awesome is well....an awesome video.  All the Awesome videos by Egoraptor rock.

Not really a Gears fan but I like the idea of a shrinking map.  Also $10 for 3 maps? That's a bit steep isn't it?

already? sheesh I barely hit the multiplayer in that game... maybe i'll get it if it ever gets free... like the Gears 1 maps did

$10 for 3 maps?....seriously?....god i love being a PC gamer.

You would have to pay me to download one of these map packs.
Epic used to be above this kind of thing, I guess their battle with Microsoft in 2007 changed them for the worse.

This is pretty ridiculous.  I have no problem paying for DLC but $10 for 3 maps is a lot and they're coming out so close to launch that they clearly could have been on the disc.

Combine that with the fact that they're trying to put out paid DLC when ranked online play is still full of cheating and matchmaking problems and I'm sorry but they don't deserve anyone's money yet.  the community I play Gears online with every Friday have all said they won't purchase these until online ranked play is fixed, if at all.

I would LOVE to play on these maps if only it didn't take 10 minutes to load a game.

"How much for a new matchmaking system?"

I love gears multiplayer more than most people (probably because Gears 1 was the first game console multiplayer game I really played religiously) but this is kinda ridiculous.  10 bucks for 3 maps?  I still haven't played on all the freaking flashback maps because not everyone has them downloaded.  

"I love gears multiplayer more than most people (probably because Gears 1 was the first game console multiplayer game I really played religiously) but this is kinda ridiculous.  10 bucks for 3 maps?  I still haven't played on all the freaking flashback maps because not everyone has them downloaded.  

The scary thing is this time they didn't put a little disclaimer saying "these will be free in 3 months..." so maybe epic really lost this battle.  Or maybe they just enjoy their new porsches.

"

I don't ever buy map packs. They always become free anyway. Fuck you, Microsoft! t0_0t

Epic isn't in control of the pricing. This is the price Microsoft has been charging for maps since Halo 3 and COD4.

idk about $10 for three maps. $1.50 per map sounds better.  My wallet thinks so too.

Anybody here who buys this map pack who complained about the Far Cry 2 DLC two weeks ago can come meet me in my office for a complimentary boot up their ass.

I dunno...I'm kinda tempted, since some of these look like good Horde maps, and Horde is awesome...

I'm not spending money on maps. I think it's a waste. They'll be free in a few months anyway, I think I can wait.

Ah, there's matchmaking in my multiplayer!

Seriously bummed that it wasn't free. Their map packs on Gears1 turned out to be free and I was holding them to that precedent.

...Maybe...

I'm with Samcotts. The matchmaking in Gears 2 is horrendous. I don't know if it was because of my low ranking (from having no experience) or what, but it took forever to find a match if not kicking me out entirely. I loved the first Gears multiplayer. It cut a major chunk outta my life and I remember it fondly. Is it just me, or does Gears 2 seem to be way more muddier in the controls ( as far as online matches go)? Honestly, I don't like it much and don't really care to ever go back to it, but I feel I have to. This was supposed to be my multiplayer game for the next few months. What happened? If one more player is what's causing the matches to chug so badly, I can do without it. Actually, I've found myself trying to manage the crowd  of my own team several times. Is five players a team just too much for Gears's design? Anyways, very disappointed, but I'm sure I'll play it some more and hope it "clicks" somehow.

looks like M$ got Epic Games by the balls

Shouldn't they be working on fixing those weird multiplayer disconnects and game breaking exploits that are plauging gears 2 online.

Guess not.  They do not care about making a solid game, just about more money.  And $10, really?  $5, even $7 you would have had me sold but not $10 that is a ripoff for just 3 maps.

ill just wait till its free

Fix the lag and maybe ill.... who am I kidding.  I wish people would stop buying these overpriced packs but as long as it works, they'll keep doing it.

Wow....Gears of awesome sucked, I never thought egoraptor would do a crappy flash animation....But then again he did make that Metal gear awsome 2 which totally blew compared to the original.

But yeah i wont be geting these maps any time soon.

Wow.. I haven't even finished Single Player yet..

they're releasing them so early because, scarcely a month after and it's already fallen off number 1 of the live charts (now taken by halo 3). that is rather disgraceful for a game that sold 2.4M in 24 hours  a month ago. halo 3 sold a similar amount in 24 hours nearly 15 months ago... seriously gears got curb stomped

They should just patch everything but horde out, spending over five minutes to find a match only for it to be against pro gaming assholes isn't exactly what I consider fun.

No buy for me. I like gears 2 and horde. But have never been a fan of multiplayer. Plus it takes me forever to find a match.

Gears of War??  WHATEVOH

Of course these go up when I don't have my 360

in order to charge 10$ for new maps and not make me angry, game makers need to wait about 3 months. Enough time for launch buyers to get tired of the current maps. Enought time for people who bought the game a couple of weeks after its release to get familiar with the game. Enough time to make people want to buy the maps at the same time assure that the matchmaking wont be splitting the users.
Gears 2 came out a month ago and had horrible multiplayer matchmaking problems, thus making a lot of players wait before jumping into that mode. I bought the game on day one and might have played 5 or 6 online matches up to now...
You want me to fork up 10$ for 3 new maps when I dont event remember the names of the ones that came with the game in the first place ? Forget it !!! Im getting sick of this nickel and diming crap ! Im starting to understand why Im playing less and less online games and sticking more and more to single player content...

I'm curious to see how much time I'll wait when I need to renew my gold membership, as opposed to last year when I bought the renewal ahead of time because I didnt want to miss a day of multiplaying...

"in order to charge 10$ for new maps and not make me angry, game makers need to wait about 3 months. Enough time for launch buyers to get tired of the current maps. Enought time for people who bought the game a couple of weeks after its release to get familiar with the game. Enough time to make people want to buy the maps at the same time assure that the matchmaking wont be splitting the users.
Gears 2 came out a month ago and had horrible multiplayer matchmaking problems, thus making a lot of players wait before jumping into that mode. I bought the game on day one and might have played 5 or 6 online matches up to now...
You want me to fork up 10$ for 3 new maps when I dont event remember the names of the ones that came with the game in the first place ? Forget it !!! Im getting sick of this nickel and diming crap ! Im starting to understand why Im playing less and less online games and sticking more and more to single player content...

I'm curious to see how much time I'll wait when I need to renew my gold membership, as opposed to last year when I bought the renewal ahead of time because I didnt want to miss a day of multiplaying...
"

Bought the pack because I knew eventually I'd cave in and buy them anyway.  I must say that Fuel Station is possibly my favorite of all the new maps in Gears 2.  Although to me the maps generally aren't as good as they were in the first game.

Smells fishy. These maps must have been done, or near enough to done that they could have finished them in time to be pressed onto the retail disc if they had really wanted to. Epic's history proves that they aren't out to do us like that, but I could easily EASILY see Microsoft insisting on it.

Thank you for not throwing that TERRIBLE GoW trailer. Doesn't do Kratos justice imo. I'm lucky, by the time I can afford a new 360 and get to buying Gears 2 (after FarCry 2, ME, Fallout 3, etc) they'll probably be free. Weren't the Gears 1 maps free? I didn't have live till after I got rid of Gears.

I wish that game companies would at least wait for than a month to release DLC because it would then be less obvious that these maps could have been shipped with the retail game and less obvious that they're trying to poo on us and take more of our money. Far Cry 2 did this too. Fuck 'em all.

They were free to begin with, when they first went up.....

Glad to see that Fuel Station's back. :]

I'm amazed(well really I'm not, but anyway) that less than half a day after it goes up it goes from free to 800 points immediately. Its incredibly fucking stupid. I only dl'ed it because its free, if these maps don't feel good on horde mode I won't play them anyway.

They apparently couldn't get Di Maggio. Dude has to be charging quite a bit now.

"Glad to see that Fuel Station's back. :]"

How many points to get the maps in color?

"800 points = major rip off

EDIT: Gears of Awesome is well....an awesome video.  All the Awesome videos by Egoraptor rock."

Mister Spiffy,Fuel Station is not a remake of Fuel Depot,just letting you know that.And also,they had the gore off in this video.

Simply disappointed in epic.

Multiplayer is tosh, its crap, its broken, it feels unfinished, i was a massive gears 1 fan, but to be honest, if it were not for hoarde mode, i would have traded this in already.

Bugs, glitches, stupid matchmaking, insane host advantage,  stupid truskill ranks, lag switchers, quitters, the multiplayer part is just annoying as hell for me, and this is coming from sombody who played the original gears 1 for a long time (up until release of gears 2 and a few times afterwards)

i had a good game of hoarde mode yesterday with a few decent chaps, afterwards one of them invited us all into a new party to play again, so we started again on "River"  2 quit after a few matches and 3 of us managed to get up to level 27, i had not gotten so high on river before so was looking forward to updating the leader boards with my new score, fekin eejit host quit on level 27 when he got downed.

what a complete waste of time on my part, the other lad was a newbie who was playing well and messaged me afterwards thanking me for the game and expressing his "guttedness" at it being a waste of time for him.