Gears Of War 2 Horde Maps
The June update for Gears of War 4 is called Rise of the Horde and brings more skills, achievements, and rewards to the cooperative mode, developer The Coalition revealed today. The update, coming June 6 for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, will also enable optional ranked crossplay between the two platforms and add two new maps for season pass holders.The wave-based Horde mode sees the biggest change in the update with 15 new skills, such as taking reduced damage while repairing fortifications as the engineer class and reloading automatically by roadie running as the scout class.
All maps are playable on every “Gears of War 2” multiplayer mode, including the highly popular Horde mode: Grindyard is a massive industrial complex located in a junk-processing plant from. Gears of War 2 is a tactical, third-person, over the shoulder, shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed best-seller Gears of War and the predecessor to Gears of War 3.
All new and past skills can now be upgraded to level six, one above than previously. In addition, every boss at wave 30, 40 and 50 will now drop a random Horde skill with harder difficulties increasing the chances of obtaining a rare skill.Horde and Campaign modes receive two new, harder difficulty levels with the update called Inconceivable and Ironman. Inconceivable is a “direct step-up” from Insane mode, making players weaker and enemies stronger in Horde while dropping less ammunition in Campaign. Ironman mode is a toggle that restarts players “back to square one” after one death in Campaign, and disables reviving teammates in Horde. Ironman also ends the Horde game after one failed wave, but offers 5% XP bonus for all XP earned and XP Bounties completed.
Gears Of War 2 Locations
The Developer playlist returns on June 6 for season pass holders with two new maps that return from past Gears of War titles. Avalanche is a mountainside resort with a deadly avalanche that changes the look of the map, while Rust Lung is a close-quarters map with cover that can be raised or lowered with a press of a button. The maps will be added to the public matchmaking rotation for everyone else on June 13.The Rise of the Horde update brings 20 new achievements, Horde packs for season pass holders, and balance changes to turrets in Horde. Turrets now cost more create and refill ammo, while the damage output of level three and four turrets have been decreased. The Coalition explains this change should “result in more varied base building,” and “more opportunities for Class Skills to shine.” Check out the for more detailed information.Additionally, a free 10-hour trial of Gears of War 4 will only be available during June 9-15 with extra rewards for new players who reach level 30.
The Xbox One and Windows 10 PC trial contains the first Campaign act, and full access to Versus and Horde modes. CHECK OUT MORE.
So here we are, not even 5 months after the release of Gears of War 2, Epic have released a second map pack. This map pack, titled Snowblind, comprises of four new maps, all covered in lovely, crisp white snow. Now all we have to do is play around with yellow snowballs.or not. Anyway, moving on, lets take a closer look at these maps.CourtyardThis map is (unsurprisingly) a snow covered courtyard, with a symmetrical layout. Teams start at either end side, and then have the choice of either heading down to the courtyard floor, or up some steps to a raised area. Heading up high will give you access to the mortar/sniper rifle, while heading down below gives you the opportunity to grab the torque bow/boomer.
There is a clever wall dividing the lower section of the courtyard, meaning that rather than there just being one huge battle flowing over the entirety of the courtyard, there are often a couple of fights taking place either side of the wall. Underneath the raised area of the courtyard with the mortar/sniper spawn there is a rather tasty little tunnel, with grenades nestled inside, which is a really nice place to hold up.
There is no shortage of cover anywhere on this map, with loads of different objects for you to cower behind all over the place. This can result in some tense and tactical fights as you and your opponent move from cover to cover taking potshots at each other in between. However you go about fighting your opponent on this map, there will never be a dull moment due to the open nature of the courtyard.Monster Tips – The tunnel with the grenades inside can be a great place to hold up if you are outnumbered, or even in Horde mode. Make sure you use the grenades to tag the walls in strategic locations, and use the surrounding cover to your advantage. Best of all, in this tunnel you are completely safe from the mortar!Monster Map Score – 87%Fuel DepotAnyone who has played the original Gears of War should be immediately familiar with this map, although it now has a shiny layer of snow coating it. Again this is a relatively symmetrical map, with both teams having a set of grenades near their spawn point, as well as sniper rifle/torque bow spawning inside the back of a truck at both ends of the map.
The key focus of this map is the warehouse along the side of the map, within which is housed the mortar/hammer of dawn. Getting hold of this weapon is no mean feat however, as there are 3 different entrances to the warehouse; one at either end, and one in the middle of the map. On top of this the cargo doors in the walls of the warehouse are not completely closed, leaving you with a nice gap to shoot in or out of.
If you choose to avoid the warehouse you can head along the other side of the map and up onto the helipad, complete with a lovely helicopter for cover. Anyone who has ever played this map in the original GoW will no doubt remember that this map provides a great deal of different tactical options, and trying to keep on top of the enemy can prove a real challenge. This means that the map really lends itself to the wingman, execution and warzone gametypes, as you are never really sure where your enemy could come from.Monster Tip – Don’t underestimate the flanking opportunities that can arise by taking the route across the helipad. Often most of the players will head towards the warehouse, leaving you with a great opportunity to flank round and come up behind them.Monster Map Score – 89%Grind YardThis map is based around a massive symmetrical junk-processing plant full of abandoned offices and equipment. Along one side of the map is a raised walkway, along which are a few abandoned offices which can be used for cover.
At the middle point of this walkway lies the scorcher flamethrower. Opposite this is a central office building which sits raised above the ground floor, and is accessible by some ramps. Underneath this office are the grenades, and on a small walkway around the office lies the grinder/boomer. As you can imagine, with the grinder/boomer in such close proximity to each other, there is usually a constant fight going on for this central area, which makes for some truly intense games. Further to this, some beautifully placed objectives (such as the capture point for submission games) help make this map truly stand out.
A team that can strategise well on the fly can often be more important than your actual skills at the game, which is something few map designs can achieve.Monster Tips – Holding the central point can be a huge advantage maker in most game types. Stick together as a team and help cover one another. Once you have control of this area, be sure to guard it well, and take full advantage of the grinder/boomer to pick off people at a distance.Monster Map Score – 93%Under HillThe final map in the pack is based around a collection of snowbound tunnels. This map is essentially split into an inner and outer area in terms of movement.
Once you go into the tunnels at either end, the only way out is at the other end, or by opening the door in the centre. You can however see out of the tunnels into the outside area, so you can pick off people from a distance, as they cannot get up close and personal without going to the entrance of the tunnel at either end of the map. Similarly, anyone on the outside can also shoot into the tunnel. The outside area consists of loads of cover in the form of broken down cars.
There is also a large bridge leading up to a dead end at the top. This spot, whilst fairly exposed, gives you a nice advantage due to the distance anyone must travel up the bridge in order to reach you.
Weapon placements also give this are a boost in the form of the mortar. Other weapons on the map include grenades at either end of the tunnels, a flamethrower in the centre of the tunnels by the door, and the sniper rifle/torque bow at the base of the bridge. This map is overwhelmed with cover, making it more suited to deathmatch style games rather than objective based, due to it being awkward to move to a certain point in a hurry.
Unfortunately I feel that the sheer amount of cover hurts the overall feel of this map, therefore I found it the weakest of the new maps.Monster Tips – Taking your whole team sweeping through the close quarters of the tunnels can really cause some damage. First of all in a close environment it is extremely difficult to win a fight against multiple players, and secondly it means that the mortar is rendered useless, as obviously you can’t be hit by it in the tunnels.Monster Map Score – 70%So, four maps, with a couple of great designs. If like me you still thoroughly enjoy taking your lancer online and introducing the chainsaw bayonet to someone’s face, there really isn’t much reason not to pick up these maps. Sure, there may already be a good selection of maps, but each of these maps brings something new to the table, and ends up feeling like something completely fresh and new.
On top of that the new maps look fantastic. I know some people are complaining that Epic are making us pay for new maps all time, but when the maps are this nicely designed, why should we not pay them for their effort?
Thomas was once a nice casual gamer, but within the last few years he has been slowly transforming into somewhat of a gaming fanatic, playing games in his spare time, and testing games all day at work! Whilst he enjoys just about any game, he loves getting his groove on with some online gaming, blasting away his fellow gamers with huge satisfaction. His gamer alias of Kirbish is an ode to Nintendo's pink puffball Kirby, although he has no idea why he likes him so much! Aside from gaming Thomas is a pretty big fan of WWE, and so if you come across him online, be prepared for him to lay the smack down!