“Basically… RUN!”

by Karissa Barrows, Reviewer

Okay.  So, I know that the game itself has been out for quite a while now, but the four downloadable content (DLC) installments only just finished complete release, the final of which was the Fenix Rising pack.  I’ve talked to several friends and fellow fans who are unsure as to whether or not they should buy the Season Pass or any individual DLC packs.  Lucky for you, I have no trouble spending money!  Prepare thyselves, gamers and Gears enthusiasts – I talk a lot, I loved the crap out of this entire game, and as far as I’m concerned, the DLC stuff is totally worth it.

I am ashamed to admit that I was late to the Gears of War party.  In my defense, I couldn’t afford an Xbox until my buddy Chris sold me his old one for $100, but still.  Shameful.  When I finally was able to play Epic Games and Microsoft Studios’ Gears of War 3, which was released after a slight delay in September 2011, it was like the game angels had descended upon my (quite lovely) basement.  Not only did the game have amazing action, fighting both the Locust Horde and Lambent, but the storyline was excellent, even though I didn’t really know what exactly was going on during my first playthrough as I had not (and still have not, though I own them) played the first two games in the series.  The third installment has all the meat and potatoes of the first two with the conclusion to the current story and some highly enjoyable DLC goodness, particularly the short campaign add-on, RAAM’s Shadow.  I’m going to focus mostly on this campaign prequel as, for me, it was the bigger reason to purchase the Gears Season Pass.  (Not that I don’t love a good Versus or Multiplayer match.)

RAAM’s Shadow

Zeta Squad (left to right):  LT Minh Young Kim; CPL Tai Kaliso; PVT Alicia Valera; CPL Michael Barrick

RAAM’s Shadow is set prior to the storyline seen in Gears, specifically just after Emergence Day, when the Locust first attacked the human race.  There are several characters from Gears of War and Gears of War 2, which was great to see (especially since some of them don’t make it out of their respective games).  We also meet pre-COG Jace (featured in Gears 3), a trapped Ilima City resident who was the only one to survive an early attack in the city’s Bank and Trust.  He, armed with a baseball bat, and the Zeta Squad, armed with various familiar Gears weaponry and tasked with evacuation assistance, become the frontline of defense against Queen Myrrah, General RAAM and the Locust Horde, and their incoming Kryll Storm set to destroy the entire city.

It did take me a while to play through the entire thing, but that’s mostly because I enjoy sitting there for a while and killing the at-times seemingly endless onslaught of Locust.  That was one thing in the add-on that wasn’t seen quite as much in the standalone campaign – moments where you can just keep on shooting until you can’t find any more ammunition or you die.  In the first half hour of Shadow, I encountered at least three instances of endless shooting until you figure out what the heck you’re supposed to do, including the very first fight.

Don’t mind me!  Just hanging out, killing Locusts… for like, an hour…

You play as both COG personnel and General RAAM, switching from mode to mode with no warning and no obvious indicators of doing so within the storyline, which was okay with me but has been a source of frustration for others.  I can understand the frustration as it did sort of chop up the story awkwardly, but it didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed it.

Playing as a COG was just like any other gameplay as a COG, but I thoroughly enjoyed controlling the power that is General RAAM.  Playing him was incredibly simple – almost too much so.  He has a noncombative knife-rush action and only one major attack controlled with three different buttons at a time, the Kryll Shield, which you send out like some kind of dark Patronus charm (sans wand) and move around as the Kryll at your command literally tear the COG into a veritable explosion of blood and guts.  Gore fans out there will adore this, but players that like more of a challenge will, for the most part, long for COG mode to start up again.  I personally found the COG gameplay in this prequel to be more challenging than in the Gears 3 campaign (though that may just be because I’ve been spending all my time on a quite different PS3 controller as of late), but not so hard that I became too frustrated to continue.  There were only a couple of times where I failed an objective, mostly because I didn’t figure out what to do in time.

 
“Uh, has anybody seen a Kryll Shield anywhere?”

The story was great, taken from the Gears of War novels by Karen Traviss (so the Gears readers out there will be especially pleased with RAAM’s), and I love a good shootout so more than once I took advantage of the endless streams of Horde before carrying out the task necessary to end the onslaught.  I have heard of development glitches here and there where an enemy will all of a sudden stop moving against a wall or barrier as you shoot and kill it or you find your weaponry doesn’t have quite the effect it should.  The only glitch I personally encountered was during some in-play dialogue, where I tried to sprint and ended up completely unable to control where I was going.  Once the dialogue was over, I regained full control, but it was very odd since the only other time I experienced that, during the regular campaign, was after my controller died and my network hiccupped.  There was also a distinct lack of things to jump over and either not a whole lot of cover or poorly located cover to take advantage of, which is part of what made the prequel, in my opinion, a bit more difficult than the regular campaign.  Overall, being that you do switch off between RAAM and COG, you shouldn’t find yourself too much of anything but entertained.

Multiplayer DLC Packs

The ULTIMATE throatpunch.

The other three DLC installments included in the Season Pass were the Horde Command Pack, Versus Booster Map Pack, and Fenix Rising, released in that order (with RAAM’s coming before the lattermost title).  Since people tend to continue playing a game over time solely due to multiplayer features, it makes a lot of sense that Epic Games developed so much extra multiplayer content.  RAAM’s Shadow keeps me and my fellow campaign lovers happy with a decent length, and these other three packs give us something to do once we’re done.

The Command Pack is heavily marketed toward those who love playing Horde/Versus.  All three maps are additions to that particular game mode and give players new fortification builds for use against attack.  The Booster Pack, which is actually now free (no excuse not to get that one now!), includes five maps.  Three of these maps are revamped versions of those released in the Command Pack, which is probably the biggest reason why this was released for free. 

Fenix Rising is a multiplayer enthusiast’s dream.  In addition to the five new maps (yay, less Thrashball map!!), Rising introduced the ability to work your way to level 100 time and time again.  For those that play a lot of multiplayer but like a continued challenge, this was a very welcome addition.  One of the nice things about Rising is that certain modes are only accessible with this particular pack, something you don’t immediately notice with the others.  Some special events, including this Valentine’s Day Weekend event Cupid’s Wingman (which I did get a chance to play today and really enjoyed), are also accessible only if you have Rising.  Exclusivity is one of the best ways to get people to buy add-ons, so I’m not surprised (and kind of glad) to see that Epic Games and Microsoft did this with the last DLC pack.  

New Rising Character Skins (L-R):  Savage Marauder; Savage Kantus; Recruit Clayton; Thrashball Cole

Included with all new DLC packs are new Achievements for all you trophy hunters.

Yeah buddy.

When all was said and done and I’d had the opportunity to experience every new piece of the Gears puzzle, I was not at all disappointed that I’d spent the $34 or whatever it was on the Season Pass.  Despite my tendency to feel buyer’s remorse for anything I spend more than $20 on, I remain satisfied with my purchase and continue to enjoy every bit of it.  Judging by how many Achievements I have yet to unlock, I know I’ll be enjoying it for some time.  There were some minor complaints, but nothing that I felt deviated from encouraging others to go ahead and purchase either specific DLC packs or the entire Season Pass.  Any fan of the Gears series will enjoy the content, even if you are one that likes to sit and nitpick a game or story to death.  Honestly, there isn’t much I won’t enjoy despite flaws, but I do realize that there are some out there that were disappointed with purchasing the entire Season Pass and would have been much happier only purchasing RAAM’s Shadow and/or Fenix Rising.

For that reason, ComicsOnline gives the
Gears of War 3 downloadable content an enthusiastic
4 out of 5 crimson omens.

All DLC packs are in-game or network purchases, as is the Gears Season Pass, so you can buy whichever edition of Gears of War 3 you like if you haven’t already (why haven’t you already!?) from Amazon by clicking its respective image below, then get yourself some Microsoft Points and download to your little COG heart’s content.  Or, if you don’t yet have an Xbox360 or want to upgrade your old one, why not get a Gears-themed package by clicking that?  It’s tax refund time – might as well put it to good use! 

You’re welcome in advance.

NOTE:  Apparently I can’t do proper research or just didn’t read something right, because it turns out there apparently is a fifth DLC coming out March 27th called Forces of Nature.  Keep an eye out for this!  Gears Season Pass holders will get this for no extra charge, and others will need 800 Microsoft Points for it.

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