Gears of War 3: Forces of Nature
Following on from the previous post we now have more details about the upcoming Gears of War 3 DLC named “Forces of Nature” which will take place during or after a natural disaster. The 3 brand new maps are, Cove, Aftermath and Artillery. Also 2 old fan favorites will be making a return, Jacinto and Raven Down. Effects such as fog, snowstorms and tsunamis will make playing these maps more difficult.
Aftermath is a government park after a tsunami. There’s seaweed and wreckage everywhere, and the main play space sits under a huge cargo ship which was deposited on top of a building during the storm. The area floods and quakes during gameplay, as the whole thing is teetering on the edge of falling into the water below. This has gameplay implications as it is difficult to aim during the quakes, and difficult to be stealthy while splashing through the water.
Artillery starts out looking like an ordinary military base, but during gameplay a storm kicks up. Lightning begins to flash on the horizon and eventually a tornado develops and sweeps near the play space. Dust and debris are kicked up making it difficult to see, and the buffeting winds can mask your approach.
Cove is a small port that the Stranded have taken over and turned into a little village. The map is very open with long lines of sight, but there is a really, really heavy layer of fog that masks just about everything. There’s a really nice sniper nest inside a central ship, but the sniper’s form is silhouetted by the low angle light shining through the fog.
Jacinto was a beautiful city, but huge stalks have popped up through the buildings and flooded the entire area with imulsion. Half of the map is dead and crumbling, with imulsion fumes hanging in the air. To make matters worse, the drizzle that is present when a match begins quickly develops into a heavy rain storm that impedes visibility and lines of sight as water starts sheeting off the buildings.
Raven Down is a very small crossroads that is blanketed in a blinding snow storm. A Raven helicopter has crashed in the storm, and crashed through an elevated train on its way down, so there’s train wreckage to deal with as well. The snowstorm ebbs occasionally, but is more often so heavy that it’s difficult to see more than a few meters ahead at any given time.
During Horde and Beast mode there will be special weapons hidden in the maps called “Elemental Cleavers.” The cleavers do different types of damage, for example an Imulsion cleaver explodes on impact or the Snow cleaver can gust an icy breeze at an enemy and stun them from a distance . You will also be treated to 4 character models Mechanic Baird, Savage Grenadier Elite, Commando Dom & Savage Hunter and 7 new weapon skins. Two of the weapon skins, which were designed based on community feedback, will need to be unlocked. There is also 250 gamerscore points added with this DLC.
Thanks to player suggestions and feedback the game mode Guardian will be making a come back with the “Forces of Nature” DLC.
GT.TV’s Geoff Keighley talked with Epic Games Producer Rod Fergusson about the DLC on last night’s episode of GT.TV. You can view the video in it’s entirety HERE.
The Forces of Nature DLC will be 800 MS Points and Gears of War 3 Season Pass holders will get the content free when it launches on 27th March 2012.
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