Adrenaline Gaming Zone

Gears of war 2: Snowblind map pack review

By admin - April 1, 2009 - 23:07 UTC

Hello everyone. I am glad to write this review for you as now we have yet another reason to come back to the problematic yet charming world of Gears of war 2.

The new map pack, available for 800 Microsoft Points, can be considered the second part of the most recent update that encourages us to come back to the multi-player part of this game. If you haven’t come back to Gears of War 2 in a while you’ll find a few needed improvements such as a shorter matchmaking time, new ranking system from 1 to 100 and bots for those ridiculous situations when you are alone against a 5 member team.

Talking about this update first, I have to say its pretty much ok except for the bots part. The Bots are very weak compared to the very competitive players found when playing Gears of War 2 online. Rankings are ok as you gain experience according to your match score. The more kills and recovers you have, the faster you’ll level up.

Now let’s get down to business. The snowblind map pack includes 4 now maps; 3 brand new and a very welcome remake of fuel depot, all of them available for traditional matchmaking and horde modes.
Grindyard was the first map I played. It is a big industrial junkyard place ideal for long matches. Grindyard is pretty symmetrical on the first floor and has an elevated bunker on each side and is perfect for being able to provide cover fire. Everything you need for attack and defense is here; flamethrower and grenades have proven to be a big part of strategy when trying to protect your meat flag.

Under Hill is a pretty cool exterior and interior map. The exterior part is pretty straightforward. It has a lot of covering so you will be pretty safe on your way to the central weapon (torque bow or sniper). The lateral part is underground and has narrow ways leading to a central area of the map where all the action takes place. This map is pretty fun and invites you to explore inside and out in order to find your best strategy.

Courtyard is another awesome addition to multi-player maps. Courtyard is fairly big with a good view of the horizon. Snipers, Boomshots and mortars are deadly in the right hands. There is a good elevated area where snipers are very valuable however be careful as there are 3 ways your foes can corner you. Great map for explosive matches.

Finally we have Fuel Depot, the long awaited remake of the same map of the first Gears of War. Winter arrived to the depot with no considerable in-game effects but definitely adds that elegant wintery touch to the game. This map is practically the same one we all know and love but gets the benefits of the new game mechanics like the weapon swap, making it even better. I could tell you more about this map, but you already know it, it is one of the strongest reasons to buy this map pack.

We also get new achievements with the Snowblind map pack. All the achievements invite you to play these new maps and some require you to reach a determined level according to the new ranking system.

Final words…
Overall I really enjoyed playing these maps. Epic knew its matchmaking was very poor compared to Halo 3 or World at War. However Epic has made the proper adjustments to make the multi-player experience more desirable. If you enjoyed Gears of War 2 try its new matchmaking system and if you like it I’ll suggest you download this map pack, it’s a lot of explosive, bloody fun.

This review by Reeve

Check out his work in Spanish Here:  http://alecker.blogspot.com