Review: Raam Living in the Shadow of Gears

By: Landon "DefHalan" Dastrup

The Kryll Storm is only hours away. You are a part of Zeta Squad and have to evacuate Lima City. Did you know what the Kryll Storm was? Neither did we. Raam’s Shadow is out and brings about three hours of story for 1200 points, if you didn’t get the Season Pass. The Season Pass is still available for only 2400 and there are two more pieces of DLC on their way. Not only do you get to play as some old gears, Minh Young Kim and Tai Kaliso, but new ones as well, Michael Barrick and Alicia Valera. You also get in the shoes of some cool Locust characters, General Raam, Elite Maulers, and an Elite Theron.

This DLC takes place before Gears of War 1, so there are no Lambent. Minh Young Kim is the leader of Zeta Squad, too bad he dies in the beginning of Gears 1. Zeta Squad is ready for action in Raam’s Shadow. The beginning is just holding at a single point from waves and waves of Locust. During that fight, the game shows the new Hammer of Dawn Command Center. Make sure to look around, there were guns and ammo crates that I didn’t find until my third or fourth time playing it. Jace makes an appearance in this DLC. It shows how Jace got into the war and decided he wanted to be a Gear. I would have rather seen someone else’s origin story, but whatever, it is still a fun story.

Playing as the Locusts has never been cooler. This is the only way to play as the Locusts other than Beast Mode. Beast Mode was a big deal before Gears 3 came out, but has taken the back seat ever since. The story uses the Locusts very well. Playing through an area killing COG, planting Seeders, and busting down walls is cool. What is even better is playing that same area as Zeta Squad after all the destruction. Four-Player Co-op is where this DLC shines. Depending on what player you are, you get to control a special Locust. First player is Raam. Second is the Elite Theron. Third and Fourth are Elite Maulers.

Raam has his Kryll Shield and his sword from the first game. He can use his Kryll Shield as a weapon by having them attack COG. The Elite Theron has a Sawed-off Shotgun with a bayonet attachment with a sick charge attack. He is also is equipped with Kryll Grenades, allowing him to call Kryll of his own to the field. The two Elite Maulers are much like normal Maulers with a twist. What make them “Elite” are the Shields. They can reflect bullets back at the COG. There is even an achievement to do that ten times. Sadly, these new Locusts are not in Beast Mode. Maybe next DLC.

Overall, it is an enjoyable three-hour experience, unlike what happened to Gilligan and his friends. The characters are very unique, each offering their back stories very easily. It was fun to play the Locust side of things and I hope to experience that some more. It is also interesting to kill the Locusts, which you have played as, later. For 1200 points, Raam’s Shadow doesn’t have enough content. No additions to Multiplayer, Horde, or Beast. As part of the Season Pass, it is totally worth it. Hurry up and buy the Season Pass before it is gone and you are forced to pay full price.

Gears of War 3 DLC: One More Thing to Horde

There’s a shooter somewhere! Wait, wrong game. I know you are all waiting for our Battlefield 3 review, but you have to hang on just a little longer (that’s what she said). Chainsaws, glowing bits, explosions, and fortifications; what do all these things have in common? Gears of War 3 Horde mode! With the new DLC that came out yesterday, you get even more of those things (But less time with your woman or man). The Horde Command Pack gives you 3 maps, new fortifications, new characters, and new achievements.

One of these new maps will look familiar to Gears Veterans. Blood Drive returns in all its glory. This is a very symmetrical map with a lot of small nooks and crannies that make sniper rifles a powerful tool for friend or foe.  In Rustlung, an intense battle rages in the middle of a storm on the lower deck of Sovereign (the ship from the opening of the campaign). In the middle of the level, walls can be lowered or raised using buttons on both sides to help protect teammates or expose enemy forces. Azura is set in the final chapter of Gears of War 3, so if you still haven’t beaten it, get on that (Secondly, if you still haven’t beaten it, why are you looking at DLC to extend the gameplay?). It’s the biggest level in the pack and might just give Sandbar a run for its money. I played about an hour on that map and still felt like I haven’t seen all of it.

The upgrades and new fortifications came just in time for me. I spent hours in Horde trying to level up all my fortifications so I would be ready for this map pack. Some people may not have everything upgraded yet, and that’s ok, but you wont see the pay off these new fortifications give you right away. The new fortification, the Command Center, is a nice addition. It makes you feel less like a trapped soldier trying to survive and more like a solider trying to complete a mission. The ability to call in snipers or mortars helps when you’re playing by yourself. The sad part is, you can only call in for support once and then you have to rebuy the Command Center at the end of the wave.

The new characters are nothing too great. It’s just different people to stare at while killing things. I wish it had more female characters (not like that, Dante). Due to the medal for playing as a female character, I find everyone is playing as one of the three females. They only added one, so when you get a full team of five, some people are naturally the same character. It’s hard to know who you’re fighting next to without pressing LB. New weapon skins also came out with the pack but again that’s just for looks.

The new achievements will be fun to get, but seem really easy if you have friends. If you don’t have friends, then I’m sorry. Send me a friend request and I will try to be your friend, but no promises. All the maps, characters, and gun skins can be used in Versus and Beast so it gives them all more screen time. The Horde Command Pack is fun but not enough. With the next DLC pack announced (and coming just a month) this will keep you busy, but it won’t last.

Six Cast Under

Ready to hear about some Gears?! Alright, well go get ready. I’ll wait. Just don’t make us late this time. Your mother will get furious! In this episode, Landon, Ivan, and David sit down (or maybe we’re standing. You’ll never know!) to discuss the Gears of War trilogy, ending with our sexy impressions of the latest installment. Remember how we said this podcast would be shorter? Neither do we. That’s why I’m giving you my scouts honor (whatever that means) that our next podcast will FINALLY be shorter. Until then, just enjoy the soothing sounds of our mouth noises for an hour. Email us and tell us what you think! Subscribe to us on iTunes here!

Gears of War 3 Review: Please Check Life In At the Door

It’s been three years. Long for the satisfying crunch of another man’s skull under your boot? Addicted to hearing your enemies scream as you burn them alive? In desperate need to use your chainsaw for something besides carpentry? You know what you need? NO, not another trip to the Catholic Church! You need Gears of War 3 all up in your Xbox! Gears is back and offers the same ball busting, gut spewing pleasure we all know and love. With a few additions like Beast Mode and four player co-op, this is a package bleeding at the sides with content.  Gears of War 3 includes the longest campaign Epic has ever created, and the most refined multiplayer experience in the series. Get on your athletic cup. This installment is so good, you’ll feel like you got kicked in the nuts.

The campaign starts about 2 years after you sunk Jacinto at the end of the last game. The COG military has collapsed and everyone is doing their part to gather whatever supplies necessary to survive. You play Marcus Fenix once again and assemble a team to kick some locust ass all over the planet Sera. The story kicks off with a data disk Fenix receives from the former COG chairman. The disk holds a video message from his father saying he knows how to stop the locusts, and it has something to do with Imulsion (Sera’s version of oil and the cause of 80 years of world conflict before the locusts showed up). The most curious detail in the video comes from daddy Fenix looking older than when they thought he died. Marcus sets out to find his father and unravel the secret behind what he was talking about.

For the first time in the series, you can grab three friends and hop right into the campaign (Previous installments only allowed two player co-op). The feature is nice but I can’t help but think it was a bit of a wasted opportunity. The first Gears ushered in a new era of co-op, allowing players to work together in ways besides just splitting up enemies to shoot. One player could hold a spotlight on the other so he wouldn’t get devoured by the game’s night loving critters. Some levels had you taking separate paths to open doors for each other in order to progress. It was a type of co-op I hadn’t seen in shooters and couldn’t wait for more. I expected Gears of War 3 to carry exciting new sequences like this with four players, but the amount of split paths and separate jobs are dramatically less than before. You still split up sometimes, but it’s always 2 and 2. Where’s my cool X-Men moments that can only happen with four people helping each other out? The feature definitely feels like just a way to get four players into the campaign instead of an exciting new opportunity for fresh gameplay.

The single player still packs a punch (did I just say that?) and delivers quality set pieces and theaters of war that rival the best shooters out there. Every act is full of something memorable and screams for multiple play throughs. As if this wasn’t enough, Epic also crafted us the best Gears multiplayer experience to date. As soon as you’re done ripping through the story, you can duke it out in competitive multiplayer, crush some A.I. in Horde Mode, or crush even more A.I. in the brand new Beast Mode.

Competitive multiplayer is addicting and has definitely come a long way from the glitch heavy Gears of War 1. Everything seems smoother in general. Any online game is susceptible to connection problems and exploits, but Gears of War 3 has finally reached the industry standard in multiplayer lag. You can fight online across ten maps in 5 vs. 5 matches. The game doesn’t boast a huge number of multiplayer modes and none of them are overly unique. A few variations of death match, king of the hill, and capture the flag. Each one has a Gears spin on it, but none of them offer a set of rules that can’t be found anywhere else. The series has always fallen short on modes, but the matches play so well, it doesn’t hurt the online experience a great deal.

If player vs. player bores you, hop in to Horde where fifty waves of A.I. locusts are just dying to get their head blown off by you. The Horde Mode, first introduced in Gears of War 2, allows you and four friends to fight as soldiers against the A.I. locusts in waves.  At wave fifty, the game ends and the victory chants ensue. In Gears of War 2, the explanation could pretty much stop there. In Gears of War 3, there’s a lot more at your disposal. There is now an entire economy to get lost in as you fight the good fight. Every enemy you kill in horde gives you money. Money buys defenses (turrets, spikes, ammo). Buying defenses unlocks more powerful ordinance over time. This adds a whole new level to Horde and keeps you coming back. Your unlocks carry over from match to match, so you’ll want to hop back in numerous times just to see every piece of equipment you can acquire. A new unlock is a new cool way to rip a locust apart.

A brand new mode called Beast allows you to do the same thing from a different perspective. You are a part of the locust horde, charging towards a group of defending soldiers with your grotesque brethren at your side. Kill every last human you see. Unfortunately, Beast mode isn’t nearly as robust as Horde and doesn’t really seem needed. There are only 12 waves and it doesn’t offer anywhere near the depth of any other feature in the game. Killing some humans with a few friends is all in good fun, but you won’t be coming back to this one often.

Gears of War 3 is a fantastic shooter. It boasts a quality campaign everyone should play, with an online component that will keep you engaged for months. With the promise of DLC, it’s likely you’ll keep this disc in your Xbox for a long time. It isn’t without its flaws. The co-op could have been better, online modes could have been more plentiful, and Beast mode felt like an afterthought. However, each one of these is instantly forgettable when you’re screaming at your friends and blasting away grunts until 4am. Buy Gears of War 3. Love Gears of War 3. Ignore all of life’s responsibilities. Instant bliss is guaranteed.