Three New Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Maps
December 15, 2008 16 Comments
If you have a thing for multiplayer games that take forever and a year to find a match, don’t allow you to quit regardless of why you may need to end the game, and offer no form of host migration (giving griefers yet another way to screw with your gaming experience), you’ll be happy to know that Gears of War 2 already has three new maps available for your downloading pleasure a mere five weeks after its release. Collectively known as the Combustible Multiplayer Map Pack, this 800
(US $10) piece of premium content features Flood, Gold Rush, and Fuel Station:
Flood features a rising flow of Imulsion that drives the fight into close quarters. Infiltrate an Imulsion factory in Gold Rush, where multiple levels and volatile materials guarantee memorable encounters. Fuel Station delivers a dangerous battle around an abandoned refueling facility.
I believe this is where the customary “fix your shit” comment goes. So fix your shit already Epic. kthxbai.
Was hoping they screwed up on the Web Marketplace and made it free again… Guess not :(
What’s the point of games having DLC just weeks (sometimes day’s) after the game comes out – surely they could have included this with the game itself? A lot of games have been doing this lately and its really putting me off buying them in the first place, It shows a lot of greed when the game costs so much in the first place.
I typically don’t game with strangers, so i’m not aware of the aforementioned problems in the game angel is talking about, but i’m loving Gears 2. I know angel’s not a big fan, and that’s fine . . . it’s not for everyone (except for the last level of the campaign, which is sooooo good, it IS, in fact, for everyone! OH! and also HORDE mode . . . with the right crowd, is almost as fun as touching boobs . . . ALMOST).
So if you’ve played Gears2, you know it’s a VERY complete game . . . just as worthy of the $60 price tag as any of it’s peers. So why bitch about WHEN they release DLC? If you’re not ready for it, don’t buy it yet . . . it will inevitably drop in price in the coming months.
Right?? Wait it out and buy it on the cheap!
Right??
I agree with the money ripoff of DLC shortly after the game comes out (At least Halo waited 2.5 months). I also hate how GoW2 is going with Halo’s 3 for $10 (when GoW had 4 maps for $10 [even though they're free now]). Hopefully, these will become free after a point like GoW’s maps did. Either that, or Im using my other 800 MSP left over from the Mythic Maps on these.
The game has to be finished somewhere around a month before it goes on sale. Also, companies are tying to find to perfect time period to release DLC. Look at GTA IV, its taking so long that a lot of people have sold their game too Game Stop already. While I agree its lame to release levels so fast after the game comes out, its actually a bit longer than it feels.
I agree with Angel’s point even more though. Why release multiplayer levels when most of multiplayer is still broken enough to not have fun. I guess it will be fun to play these levels in Horde mode, LOCALLY. But that alone is not going to be worth the price.
I haven’t had any trouble with my crap with epic, btw angel, check out the site! It’s gettin up there :-D
lol at the touching Boobs comment. But these maps are ok. It was odd how I found out about them though. I was sitting in a matchmaking lobby and I was talking to my friend and I was like “Hey you know what would make this game better? New Maps.” And then some random kids were like theirs a map pack coming out tonight. I was like bs. Then I came on the internet to find out if it was true and I was like OMG no WAY. haha it was awesome :)
Hmm well its only my opinion that epic is being a bit greedy – but you cant disagree its splitting the user base a bit, you also surely cant disagree they should have spent the time fixing the bugs first?
either way i wouldnt touch a map pack which is mostly remakes – especially only a month after already dishing out 40 quid for the game.
My problems arent so much with the fact theres a map pack – rather the appparent greed on the developers part – i remember when soul calibur 4 came out – there was already stuff on the marketplace the day of release! Surely thats pushing it a bit?
Games are expensive – and its not even a one off payment anymore – DLC is a good thing when it isnt planned so early in development as a means to simply get more cash.
Qix i have to agree with that, but rockstar are still going to make a fair bit of cash out of it – and all the GTA 4 fans will have something cool to play with – it doesnt seem like they delibrately left something out of the game just so they could make a cheap buck a month later. Sure they planned it before the game came out – but it seems to be something that would have taken a fair few months of building to release – not like some dlc out there.
@ bobs99 . . . if Epic waited another 2 months, wouldn’t they STILL be just as greedy? And making money is something that companies usually strive for . . . you can’t blame them for that. So my point earlier is . . . it doesn’t matter WHEN they release the DLC . . . the purpose will ALWAYS be to make more money.
In summary: Gears2 DLC released in Dec. ’08 doesn’t make Epic ANY MORE GREEDY than if they released it in Feb. ’09. Same level of greed . . . seems like they’re eager to get new product into the hands of the fans.
Just to set the Facts Straight: Its not Epic Being Greedy. Developers are known for making add on content free if they so choose. However, on the Xbox 360, Microsoft sets all prices. Sure, Epic will get a cut of it, but all the monetary blame should go to Microsoft.
Though Epic should have waited a little while to release something. Even if they don’t set the price, putting something extra out there so soon knowing that MS will stick a price on it doesn’t sit very well with customers.
Heh i just think if they can release the map pack now they must have been working on it during development and so could have easily released it as part of the game?
i know for a fact with some DLC which comes out the same day as the game thats definatly greed
DLC isnt a bad thing – DLC that should/ could have been a part of the game is
I understand companies, including Microsoft, are out there to make money. I simply would have preferred to see some of the matchmaking issues resolved before attempting to sell everybody more maps. I would think they would sell better in that case as well.
@hawty, agreed. Like i said before, i’m lucky enough not to have had any issues with my multiplayer experience (yet), but Epic should have been focusing their efforts on fixing that . . . UNLESS what bobs99 says is true, that they were essentially done with the DLC at the time the game was released . . .
@AT-AT . . . are you SURE about Microsoft being the sole-decision-maker on setting DLC price?? I mean, i know there’s a basic model in place . . . but i recall the developer of Braid being pretty involved on setting the price of his game on the high side. However, i don’t know this for a fact, i was just under the assumption that the developer has SOME say in the cost of their product.
@bobs99 . . . we may never agree . . . but before i stop beating this dead horse . . . i’m compelled to defend DLC one last time. The DLC phenomenon exists in real life in MANY things we buy . . . in upgrade packages for automobiles . . . supersizing fast food orders . . . all this stuff costs extra because it’s not built into the pricing model for the BASE PRODUCT. Gears2 is a COMPLETE GAME. They are paying staff to create this “extra” content, so why not charge for it? Just because the game disk might have some extra room on it doesn’t mean they’re obligated to fill it.
alright . . . i think i’m done. is anyone still reading this thread anymore?
:: raises hand ::
I’m a big fan of DLC as many times it gives us extra replay value but I do think there is a line (that doesn’t necessarily apply in this particular instance). I’m all for developers continuing to support their game but there have been instances that premium DLC has been completed before the game came out and was actually included on the disc but you had to pay to get to it. To me, that’s a bit much. Other times premium DLC is priced entirely too high and is not worth what they want you to pay for it. While I would like to continue seeing DLC, I’d love to see some free little stuff as well. Like a gamerpic or two with the unlocking of certain achievements, perhaps a theme here and there, small stuff of that nature. Us gamers are a loyal bunch and I think there are cost effective ways they could reward that instead of milking every little thing.
speaking of DLC (not really) . . . hawty . . . you’re two-fiddy away from the big 20K . . . what game is going to put you over the top?
I have no idea! I’m working my way through Rock Band 2 right now so that one could be it. Or perhaps one of the new games I already bought myself for Christmas? … I should work on that. I didn’t realize I was that close!