I found that out last night when I finally got to Level 10. I was having a lot of success using a bottleneck method, but that method doesn't work when those Bloodmounts just come rushing in, two at a time.

If anyone is up for it, I'd love to spend a couple hours in Wingman with someone who won't drop out. I'd also like to get a few guys to party up and try to knock out some of the Annex maps for the new achievement. Seems like talk is slow on this, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

The New GOW2 Achievements List for the upcoming update & Map Pack-Snowblind

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/19185/...ents-Revealed/


Snowblind Map Pack—March 31, 2009

Don’t worry, that rush of cold up your back is just the Snowblind Map Pack, a winter-themed batch of four new Gears of War 2 maps bound to crank up the heat on your multiplayer and Horde matches. The four maps are:

Grind Yard, a massive industrial complex with low bunkers and high sniping positions.
Under Hill, which takes players through snowbound tunnels and beyond.
Courtyard, a wide-open battle royale.
The popular Gears 1 map Fuel Depot, back with a blast of winter courtesy of Mother Nature, aka Epic Games.

The update is scheduled for the 24th while the Map Pack is for the 31st.

Awesome. I needed a reason to get back into Gears again.

Yeah thats really awesome! need buy a new xbox360!

Here is the skinny on the title update:

New experience-based ranking system: The new system gives you 100 levels of player experience, gained through scoring in Public matches. The game still uses TrueSkill to set up the most competitive matches possible, but skill ranks are now hidden. Players who quit matches early see their experience docked as a penalty.

Public Match autobalancing: Bots now automatically join a Public Match to fill any slots left vacant by players who quit early or disconnect.

Improvements: You get region preference for matchmaking, improved standby detection, playlist optimization, plus nine new achievements—six of which require the Snowblind Map Pack—worth a total of 250 points.

Exploit fixes: Title Update 3 eliminates the ability to mantle greater distances by swapping weapons during cover slide and to melee attack through walls while holding an enemy weapon, plus adding many more fixes.

General fixes: These include more reliable chainsaw interruption detection, improved headshot detection for certain character model heads, improved flag AI in Submission games, plus other fixes.

Balancing: Title Update 3 makes changes to Subway weapon spawns for greater balance, reductions to smoke-grenade stun duration, an increase to the forward angle that triggers chainsaw duels, and several other balance revisions.

There is an even more detailed breakdown listed here.

I hope my usual Gears buddies ante up for these new maps faster than they did the last ones!

These 2 alone are welcomed updates.

Do they typically make the previous ones free when new ones hit, ala Halo?

I have no idea, I buy the maps the day they're out and never really check back to see how they're handled down the road.

Now, now, now...you're not dropping a "Hint" are you?

Well since the update includes new horde achievements, YES!

Snowblind Map Pack Trailer & Screen Shots

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/19225/...ailer-Screens/

Just a couple of more days......

I can't wait, should be good incentive to get back into Horde more.

I really hope this fixes MP finally. I spent dozens of hours playing MP in GoW1, so it's a shame that it hasn't work that well here.

Me, too. I never would imagined that they would have bombed MP in GOW2. If this doesn't help, I am selling this game.

The stupid smoke grenades still pisses me off. It is the worst thing in Gears 2 MP.

Agreed. Never understood why that was added in the first place.

I played last night and MP seems to be fixed. Less than 2 minutes to get in a match! And I was playing the Snowblind maps. I have a really fast connection, (16/4), but that didn't matter in the past since it used to take at least 5 minutes to start a match.

I played 3 maps, twice at Fuel Depot, it looks cool with snow, and since was the one I knew, it was the only one where I was able to get a lot of points/kills. I sucked in the other 2 maps.

I finally just played this game (not finished yet; perhaps 4/5 done). I never played the first either.

I've enjoyed this so much I may go back and play the first one. For what it's worth I'm enjoying this more than Halo 3.

2 is better than 1 in my opinion but they're both good.

Yeah, if you are talking about campaign the second game is better than the one. It's more over the top and more fun.

Well that stinks I wanted to get this on disc.

We finally know why 'All Fronts' started vanishing from online retailers. In speaking with IGN, Epic's Rod Fergusson said that the feedback from fans on the original 1600 ($20) price for 'Dark Corners' and the retail release of 'All Fronts' wasn't, well ... favorable. So, Epic decided to mix things up.

Dark Corners will now be offered at a much cheaper price of 1200 ($15). As for 'All Fronts,' it's ditching its planned retail release for an exclusive Xbox Live Marketplace stay, where fans will be to download the content for 1600 ($20) at 12:00am GMT on July 28.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/31/ep...nts-to-xbox-l/

Well I know the game still has life in it but a lot still didn't get the latest map pack the last go around. Now another one is coming and one has to wonder how many will grab this one. I'm sure the die-hard GOW ones will but hooking up online may become an issue.

are these maps MP only or are their additional campaign segments as well?