Gears of War 3 Message Board older than one year ago

#gutcheck RAAM's Shadow is the second piece of downloadable content for Epic's terrific action game Gears of War 3. It drops on December 13th, and is much more substantive than the last DLC, mainly in that it's a prequel-style three-chapter adventure starring Michael Barrick (of the Gears comics) and Zeta team in place of series protagonist Marcus Fenix and his Delta squadmates. More »

Surprisingly, the Raam's Shadow DLC for Gears of War 3 is about more than just a solemn Locust brooding in the darkness. It's also about shooting lots of stuff with enormous future guns, as portrayed in the latest screens.

It doesn't sound like we should be expecting a new Jazz Jackrabbit. Aww.

At the Spike TV Video Game Awards this weekend, Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski will come on stage and unveil a new franchise.

This new franchise will be “surprising,” according to Geoff Keighley, who’s a producer for the show.

“It's not what any of you think,” said Bleszinski on Twitter. “Brand new stuff.”

He also confirmed it does not, in fact, have space marines, and suggested players start following lead designer Lee Perry on Twitter to learn more about the game “in the coming weeks.”

Gears of War 3 is not the end of the franchise, but since it just came out, Gears is unlikely. Infinity Blade II just launched on iOS, which means Chair Entertainment’s time has been occupied with something not Shadow Complex 2, and People Can Fly shipped Bulletstorm this year, so it’s too early for them.

Any guesses?

Here we are, roughly six years into the "next-generation" lifecycle and we're seeing the third installments of major franchises. In a one-year period, we'll see Resistance 3, Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3, Assassin's Creed: Revolution (sort of), and Gears of War 3. And while not all of these episodes represent the end of a considered story arc, Epic Games hasn't been shy about calling Gears of War 3 the end of the line for Dom and crew. Which raises the question: Who will handle the lucrative Gears franchise going forward?

"Gears of War will live on, of course, but in what form?" the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine posits, via CVG, before suggesting "a prequel trilogy developed by Epic-owned People Can Fly (Bulletstorm) as a likely scenario." With Bulletstorm failing to reach profitability (and presumably failing the basic litmus test for being franchised), People Can Fly will be looking for something to work on.

With three Gears titles under their belts, the core North Carolina-based Epic team may be eager to move onto greener pastures. For now, they're working on RAAM's Shadow, the first piece of campaign DLC in the Gears trilogy, and notably a prequel. Sounds like a nice way to hand things off, doesn't it?

Tomorrow, November 24th, Epic Games will release the Versus Booster Map Pack for Gears of War 3 for free. Two of the maps are brand new (for Gears 3) and the other three already arrived with the Horde Command Pack...

It's very, very important that you don't travel too far from the light in the upcoming, rebooted Gears of War 3 map Bullet Marsh. Not because its shadiest corners house equally shady characters -- unless, of course, you consider maneating Kryll swarms shady. Which ... um, you might, now that we think about it.

Epic recently posted some information and a video flythrough of Bullet Marsh, one of the five free battlegrounds included in the Booster Map Pack, due out Thanksgiving Day. Check it out, and seriously, watch out for those swarms. Getting eaten by bugs is one of the worst ways to die in Gears 3, right behind getting chainsawed in half, curb-stomped and exploded.

After widespread reports of freezing issues that were leaving many Gears of War 3 fans out in the cold (see what I did there?), last night's Title Update 2 for the game seems to have rectified the issue. On the Epic forums, posters have been reporting that the title update has fixed the problem, which was causing the game to freeze for brief periods and outright crash occasionally...

Today Epic Games revealed the ten achievements arriving with RAAM's Shadow on December 13th. RAAM's Shadow is Gears of War 3's first story-driven DLC...

Want to put an end to the Locust threat on the cheap? Best Buy has the deal for you then, as it's currently offering Gears of War 3 for 35 bucks. As an added bonus, the retailer will even throw in an extra 800 Microsoft Points to boot. That's like getting some DLC (or one third of the season pass) for free. Just head over to the deal page on Best Buy's website, follow the instructions and get to chainsawin'.

Epic announced today that a new title update is coming to Gears of War 3. In a post on its official forums, Epic said the update is set to be released tonight and adds a spectator mode to private matches for broadcasting by gaming leagues. The update will also make the Leader and Vengeful medals...

Epic's Rod Fergusson says on Twitter that Gears of War 3 is getting its Title Update 2 this evening at 2am PDT. Here's the list of what's changing; the biggest update is that the game is getting a spectator mode for gaming leagues to use which will turn the normally 5v5 matches into 4v4, with each team getting an optional spectator spot. Players grinding for rewards will appreciate the update as well, as the Leader and Vengeful medals are easier to earn, as are the Roadie Comet and Regen Enemies mutators.

The update also tweaks some UI functionality, including adding an indicator during King of the Hill matches, and adding the option to remove the UI for machinima and video producers. And there are a few bugfixes as well -- host migration in Horde will now stick to the same wave as when it happened, and there are fixes for the lost progress and profile freezing issues that players have experienced.

Fergusson says the update will bring down the game's dedicated servers temporarily, and players will need to restart their games to load it up. But follow those instructions, and you can be back to scratching all of the grubs you want.

The first piece of Gears of War 3 DLC is now available, bringing three new maps, new characters, achievements, and more to fans of the game. Xbox 360 editors Peter Eykemans and Steven Hopper downloaded the pack, and here are some of their impressions from what the Command Pack had to offer...

#gearsofwar The $10 worth of new content that went on sale digitally for Gears of War 3 this week is mostly already included on the Gears of War 3 disc that gamers bought for $60. More »

#gutcheck We already know that Gears of War 3 is a damn good game. It came with an exhaustive amount of multiplayer and single-player options out of the box, and now Epic has begun to release constant downloadable upgrades, starting now and running into 2012. More »

Update: A post on the official Epic forums has confirmed that the Horde Command Pack is now available on Xbox Live. According to Epic, "The Gears of War 3 Horde Command Pack is now available on the marketplace. Restart your Xbox to get the latest changes. There may also be a delay while the content propagates across Microsoft's servers.Thanks for your patience everyone!" Keep checking IGN for videos and impressions from the pack...

The Horde Command Pack released for 800 Microsoft Points earlier today, but Epic Games has already announced its follow-up. On November 24thThanksgiving in the U.S.Epic will release the Versus Booster Map Pack, which will be available for free...

#gearsofwar After some difficulties getting out of the gate, the newest DLC for Epic's hit Xbox 360 exclusive is out in the wild and ready to play. Microsoft's also announced that it'll be rolling our free Gears 3 content on Thanksgiving, too. (That's American Thanksgiving, not the Canadian variant.) The Versus Booster Map Pack will deliver three of the maps from Horde Command—Azura, Rustlung and Blood Drive—along with the Swamp and Clocktower environments from Gears 1 available for more multiplayer combat. So, you're getting the maps from the paid DLC for free three weeks later, but with none of the other features from Horde Command. Of course, if you pony up for the Gears of War Season Pass, you're getting all this stuff anyway. More »

If you've purchased the Gears of War 3 Horde Command Pack, now available, you've got access to three new maps titled Azura, Rustlung, and Blood Drive. However, if you wait until November 24, you'll be able to snag those three maps along with two Gears 1 favorites, Swamp and Clocktower, in the free "Versus Booster Map Pack" update. Of course, that free update leaves out the new Horde fortification upgrades, the new playable characters and weapon skins and, perhaps most importantly for some of you, the Horde Command Pack's 250 Achievement points.

But if it's single-player DLC you're interested in, RAAM's Shadow will be available on December 13 for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). That buys you "more than three hours" of prequel gameplay, six new multiplayer characters, and another 250 Achievement points. It also gives us another opportunity to learn more about Locust war hero, General RAAM ... what are his motivations? What about his feelings?

Gears of War 3's first major piece of DLC, "Horde Command Pack," has been temporarily delayed. Epic Games made the announcement on its forums, blaming a "technical issue" for the last-minute postponement.

"We have folks working around the clock to resolve this issue ASAP so you can all play and enjoy the Command Pack," Epic noted. "The Epic Games Community team will stick around and keep you posted with any further information."

Epic informs us that the current delay will not affect the launch plans for the second piece of DLC, "RAAM's Shadow," already scheduled for December.

Update: The "Horde Command Pack" is available now.

[Thanks, Dusty]

The Horde Command Pack release for Gears of War 3 scheduled to hit today is temporarily delayed due to unspecified technical issue, according to the Epic Games forums. "We apologize to those of you who are anxiously awaiting to play. We know this is disappointing news as we've seen a lot of posts today showing excitement for this content. We have folks working around the clock to resolve this issue ASAP so you can all play and enjoy the Command Pack." More »

Gears of War 3's first major piece of DLC, "Horde Command Pack," has been temporarily delayed. Epic Games made the announcement on its forums, blaming a "technical issue" for the last-minute postponement.

"We have folks working around the clock to resolve this issue ASAP so you can all play and enjoy the Command Pack," Epic noted. "The Epic Games Community team will stick around and keep you posted with any further information."

Epic informs us that the current delay will not affect the launch plans for the second piece of DLC, "RAAM's Shadow," already scheduled for December.

[Thanks, Dusty]

Have you loaded up Gears of War 3's "Boom Snipers" playlist yet today? Originally planned as a weekend event, Epic has prolonged the playlist for yet another day. However, there's been one change: all players now have gigantic cartoonish pumpkin heads.

The video above was captured and sent in by one of our readers. Overall, it's a pretty neat nod to the holiday, though the headshot around the 1:20 mark is a bit unsettling. We don't like the idea of blood inside of a pumpkin.

[Thanks, KingOfGods]

As a special Halloween surprise, Gears of War 3 multiplayer gamers will be treated to a Pumpkin Head mode when they play the game today. Entitled "Booooooooom Snipes," the mode fits creepy pumpkin heads onto players and changes their starting weapons to a long-shot sniper rifle and Boom Shot grenade launcher...

Last month, Epic Games started collecting information from its community concerning Gears of War 3 freezing issues. A vocal minority of the player base has been suffering constant lock-ups and profile restrictions since late September. On its official forums, the developer petitioned victims for a d...

#xbox There's an achievement you can get in Gears of War 3 that can be earned by playing a piano 2000 times. That's a lot of button pressing, so LEGO builder Guy Himber set to work on a less strenuous solution. More »

With the upcoming Horde Command Pack DLC, Epic Games will add a bevy of new maps and various upgrades to Gears of War 3's multiplayer. IGN talked with Epic's Jim Brown about one of the new multiplayer stages being offered in the pack, Azura...

Gears of War 3's first DLC isn't even out yet, but Microsoft has already detailed the next downloadable pack. RAAM's Shadow was announced today and will offer the first additional campaign content for the game. According to design director Cliff Bleszinski, it's "the biggest DLC release we've ever m...

#gearsofwar For $15 on December 13, you'll be able to add three hours to Gears of War 3's storyline campaign by downloading a new expansion to the game called RAAM's Shadow. You'll also be able to play as a bad guy in it. More »

You can now count time travel and resurrection among the miracles made possible through DLC. Microsoft and Epic Games have announced "RAAM's Shadow," an add-on campaign for Gears of War 3 that precedes the events of the first game and brings back a few familiar, snarling faces.

Due on Dec. 13, "RAAM's Shadow" sees Zeta Squad attempting to evacuate Illima City in the wake of Emergence Day. Your muscular protagonists for the trip are Michael Barrick (plucked from Gears of War comics), original character Alicia Valera, Gears of War 2's tattooed Tai Kaliso, and a perforation-free version of Lt. Kim. (Presumably, he's still got the codes.)

RAAM's running time is pegged at three hours, and it offers a couple of other bonuses. For $15 / 1200 MSP you'll also get six more multiplayer characters, the "chocolate" weapon set (we're unclear if that refers to a color scheme or a dairy-based construction), Achievements amounting to 250 Gamerscore and -- oh, what's this? "In addition to fighting as a new squad of Gears, players will step into the boots of RAAM himself, and for the first time storm the human stronghold from the perspective of one of the series' most legendary bosses."

As with the first round of upcoming DLC, "Horde Command," Gears of War 3 Season Pass owners get RAAM'd for free.

You can now count time travel and resurrection among the miracles made possible through DLC. Microsoft and Epic Games have announced "RAAM's Shadow," an add-on campaign for Gears of War 3 that precedes the events of the first game and brings back a few familiar, snarling faces.

Due on Dec. 13, "RAAM's Shadow" sees Zeta Squad attempting to evacuate Illima City in the wake of Emergence Day. Your muscular protagonists for the trip are Michael Barrick (plucked from Gears of War comics), original character Alicia Valera, Gears of War 2's tattooed Tai Kaliso, and a perforation-free version of Lt. Kim. (Presumably, he's still got the codes.)

RAAM's running time is pegged at 3 hours, but offers a couple of other bonuses. For $15 / 1200 MSP you'll also get six more multiplayer characters, the "chocolate" weapon set (we're unclear if that refers to a color scheme or a dairy-based construction), Achievements amounting to 250 Gamerscore and -- oh, what's this? "In addition to fighting as a new squad of Gears, players will step into the boots of RAAM himself, and for the first time storm the human stronghold from the perspective of one of the series' most legendary bosses."

As with the first round of upcoming DLC, "Horde Command," Gears of War 3 Season Pass owners get RAAM'd for free.