In the realm of console gaming, this week is pretty bland. There are not many major titles hitting store shelves this week, so if you were hoping for something fresh to get your thumbs on, save your pennies.
However, if you own an Xbox 360 and Gears of War 3, you may want to look into the “Forces of Nature” DLC available for download March 27, 2012. GOW3 was one of the most anticipated games of 2011, with numerous delayed releases. The problem is that gamers today are not content playing the same eight levels of Super Mario Bros. on NES over and over again. They want the latest game, they want to beat the latest game, and they want the next latest game. A game today with even a one-year life cycle is impressive and developers know this, which is why we see a new Call of Duty title every year. Between releases, developers often rely on downloadable content to keep their audience playing and engaged.
The “Forces of Nature” pack for GOW3, consists of five new maps, new characters, and new weapon skins. In sticking with true content recycling, there are only three new maps: Cove, Aftermath, and Artillery. The other two, Jacinto and Raven Down, can be found in Gears of War 2. Appropriately titled, each map has some sort of environmental occurrence that affects the map and gameplay halfway through the round. Cove is covered in dense fog, Aftermath shakes up the action with an earthquake, and Artillery is visited by a tornado. Jacinto, if you remember, is soaked with rain, and Raven Down gets a blanket of snow.
The new playable characters include Commando Dom and Mechanic Baird for the COG, and Savage Grenadier Elite and Savage Hunter for the Locust. Most of the weapon skins are available right off the bat (Hype, Major League, Midnight, and Ultra Violet), but two need to be unlocked. Here’s how to beautify your weapons:
- To unlock the Ivory skin, you must kill ten enemies while your team’s leader in the Guardian game mode on a “Forces of Nature” map.
- The FL4K weapon skin is unlocked after winning a match of Guardian on each of the five “Forces of Nature” maps.
You can take on the “Forces of Nature” for only 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Check out the slideshow on the left to see screenshots and images from the DLC.
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The author of this article is a Video Game Examiner in the Greater Boston, MA area. You can read more of his articles here.