Moving into a few of the map's indoor sections you'll find numerous holes in the walls and space that open up in the ceilings, meaning you're almost always going to be in danger getting clipped by incoming grenades or boomshot fire. Memorial should get some solid mileage online with its central stone fountain area around which jut out low banks of cover, a perfect space for a team trying to defend the area. Here you'll also find a number of heavy weapon pickups as well as sniper rifles and bows that can be used to tag opponents from some of the map's higher perches. Things open up more on the sprawling Highway map that features a number of multi-level battle zones connected by a maze of ramps that mean you've really got to pay attention to your surroundings, not only so you can keep your bearings but also so you can keep tabs on where the enemy could be hiding. On the larger Allfathers Garden map you'll find long passageways with sniper rifle pickups at either end, so while players can move cover to cover within its stone ruins toward the map's center, it's a space that could be dominated by anyone skilled at long-range shooting. Anyone content to sit back and peck away at others at long range may find it more difficult, since sandstorms regularly roll across the terrain, temporarily reducing visibility. With a few ramps up to a rooftop and a generally open view across a lot of the map, you can be sure the fighting is going to be frantic and brutal. The most memorable map included with the new content is called Nowhere, set in a dusty station area littered with burned out husks of cars and low-lying buildings. As Dom so elegantly puts it near the end of the chapter, "I'm done with all this sneaking ****." The multiplayer maps are a different story, and should be greatly appreciated by people still blasting things to bits in horde and annex and all the various other modes. Road to Ruin isn't that long of an experience so you should be done in 20 to 30 minutes or so, and it didn't strike me as something you'd want to replay over and over. In one instance you'll come face to face with a brumak on a bridge, which in case you're not familiar is a gigantic monster strapped with heavy weapons and rocket launchers, but there's not much to the fight since you just hop on turrets to take it down. You'll encounter boomers and grinders and bloodmounts and a reaver, but none of the battle setups are particularly memorable. Once stealth is broken or if you've just decided to forego the sneaking system altogether, since it is optional, the game plays much better, though it's still not really a standout Gears of War campaign experience. Of course you can always shoot your gun, which comically pops your helmet off your head like a Corona bottlecap at a fraternity party, prompting the characters onscreen to start yelling and bleeding and dying. Check out our previous impressions of the Snowblind and Combustible map packs. If you're looking to pick this up but want all the Gears of War 2 downloadable content released so far as well, then it's the All Fronts download you want, which will be priced at 1600 Microsoft Points, or $20 USD. Gears of War 2: All Fronts Just so you know, what's covered in this review is only the Dark Corners downloadable content, which will be made available for 1200 Microsoft Points. Even so, the gameplay here feels cumbersome and underdeveloped, as it's simply a matter of waiting for Locust guards to continue on their patrol paths until there's an opening to rumble past or in some cases to take advantage of overly obvious environmental distractions. You'll actually see the freakish guards sniffing around if you're within a certain proximity. Though there aren't vision cones or anything like that on the Locust troops, Marcus and Dom will need to keep their distance since the Locust can smell them. Watch the Video Review The gameplay is also a little odd, since before running through the new content you're given the option to either proceed normally (kill everything you see), or to strap on some Theron armor and try to sneak past Locust guards. Though there are a few sequences of dialogue included as you progress through and an appearance by a character franchise fans will recognize, it doesn't really do much to enhance the overall narrative experience. Road to Ruin takes place right after the incident with Maria in the Locust underground, just as Dom and Marcus are attempting to break into Nexus. It launches from the Gears 2 main menu from an option labeled 'Deleted Scene.' Before digging into the mission, a message from Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski plays explaining how this content was cut out from the campaign while Gears 2 was still in production, and after playing it's not too hard to see why.
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