Gears of War 2: Dark Corners Review
Epic Games have really tried to push the Gears of War multiplayer after the terrible start it had. Now with the third map pack they have gone all out to show why they have sorted most issues with the online aspect of Gears 2.
This collection comes with seven maps and a deleted scene of the campaign. I will start with the seven maps as this is where most of your money goes. If you have played Gears 2 at all this is what you will want from a map pack. Great looking, playing and thought out maps, that all have the symmetrical Gears style to them. Nowhere is set in the middle of the desert and has a great open feel to it, where Sanctuary is a three tiered level where the action points change per round. Highway and Way Station are based in the Locust Hollow. Memorial feels much like the launch map Jacinto at first but has a sort of Gladiator pit at the back of the map and Allfathers Gardens is one of the bigger Gears of War maps offering multiple paths around your enemies. Also making a return is War Machine from the first game, this has not changed too much except a graphical overhaul and the removal of the Troika turret at the top of the map.
Not only will you get these seven maps but a deleted scene called Road to Ruin is opened up to you. This takes place after the event in the Hollow where, and for spoiler sake I am going to skip on the real reason, but where Dom gets pissed and Marcus says he has found a way to sneak into Nexus (the Locust city) and Dom dismiss this and says he wants to kill them all. Well now you get to play this road to Nexus and you have two choices, sneak or go all guns blazing.
Starting with the stealth side, it puts you in the shoes of Marcus as he has put on a Locust Theron uniform. Most of this level will see you following Dom as you stay away from any Locust as they can smell you if you get too close. You will also have to set off diversions such as dropping a crate from a chain to get the Locust attention away from yourself. Also there is a small reference back to Gears of War and at the end you get to kill a few Locust but apart from that this is a slow and quite boring way to play an action game.
From the other side going in all guns blazing is much more to my taste as from the start it is none
stop fighting. You will still go through the same five rooms and at the end of each room it will Checkpoint the level so you must stay alive until then. I found myself dying time and time again after some silly mistakes and having to do the whole section again, but it wasn't the games fault. Also you will follow the exact same story as the stealth side meeting the same characters and finishing it off with a big fire fight.
The question really is, what did you expect? If you wanted a nice expansion to Gears of War 2 you will not find it here, what you will find here is a small introduction video by Cliffy B telling you why some parts of video games have to be cut and then playing said cut piece and realizing that the cut bits don't really make a difference. If however you wanted to revamp your Gears of War 2 multiplayer with seven new maps this is for you. Epic Games have done their hardest to make Gears of War 2 just as good as the first with releasing the Hidden Fronts map pack as well offering all 19 downloadable maps and the deleted scene for only 400 points more. So does this make me feel ripped off that I had to pay 1200 points for the expansion? Well no, because it is worth it if you are a fan of Gears of War or are looking to get back into cutting up some Locust again.
This collection comes with seven maps and a deleted scene of the campaign. I will start with the seven maps as this is where most of your money goes. If you have played Gears 2 at all this is what you will want from a map pack. Great looking, playing and thought out maps, that all have the symmetrical Gears style to them. Nowhere is set in the middle of the desert and has a great open feel to it, where Sanctuary is a three tiered level where the action points change per round. Highway and Way Station are based in the Locust Hollow. Memorial feels much like the launch map Jacinto at first but has a sort of Gladiator pit at the back of the map and Allfathers Gardens is one of the bigger Gears of War maps offering multiple paths around your enemies. Also making a return is War Machine from the first game, this has not changed too much except a graphical overhaul and the removal of the Troika turret at the top of the map.Not only will you get these seven maps but a deleted scene called Road to Ruin is opened up to you. This takes place after the event in the Hollow where, and for spoiler sake I am going to skip on the real reason, but where Dom gets pissed and Marcus says he has found a way to sneak into Nexus (the Locust city) and Dom dismiss this and says he wants to kill them all. Well now you get to play this road to Nexus and you have two choices, sneak or go all guns blazing.
Starting with the stealth side, it puts you in the shoes of Marcus as he has put on a Locust Theron uniform. Most of this level will see you following Dom as you stay away from any Locust as they can smell you if you get too close. You will also have to set off diversions such as dropping a crate from a chain to get the Locust attention away from yourself. Also there is a small reference back to Gears of War and at the end you get to kill a few Locust but apart from that this is a slow and quite boring way to play an action game.
From the other side going in all guns blazing is much more to my taste as from the start it is none
stop fighting. You will still go through the same five rooms and at the end of each room it will Checkpoint the level so you must stay alive until then. I found myself dying time and time again after some silly mistakes and having to do the whole section again, but it wasn't the games fault. Also you will follow the exact same story as the stealth side meeting the same characters and finishing it off with a big fire fight.The question really is, what did you expect? If you wanted a nice expansion to Gears of War 2 you will not find it here, what you will find here is a small introduction video by Cliffy B telling you why some parts of video games have to be cut and then playing said cut piece and realizing that the cut bits don't really make a difference. If however you wanted to revamp your Gears of War 2 multiplayer with seven new maps this is for you. Epic Games have done their hardest to make Gears of War 2 just as good as the first with releasing the Hidden Fronts map pack as well offering all 19 downloadable maps and the deleted scene for only 400 points more. So does this make me feel ripped off that I had to pay 1200 points for the expansion? Well no, because it is worth it if you are a fan of Gears of War or are looking to get back into cutting up some Locust again.
