VGA 08: Gears of War 2 Combustible Map Pack
by Dustin Burg 
{ Dec 14th 2008 at 9:30PM }
Moments ago, on the Spike VGA stage, Gears' lovable Augustus Cole announced the new Gears of War 2 Combustible Map Pack downloadable content. And, just as was rumored, it'll be releasing in a few hours, at 3AM eastern on Monday, December 15th.
The Combustible Map Pack will include three new multiplayer maps. "Flood" is the imulsion map that was leaked weeks back and will feature imulsion as an environmental hazard. "Gold Rush" will also be included, a map that was released as part of Gears PC. The third map, "Fuel Station" looks to have been inspired by Gears favorite Fuel Depot, but is not a straight remake. More details still to come (including pretty screenshots) and, per a reliable source, we've been informed the Combustible DLC will set you back a hefty 800 Microsoft points.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Andrew @ Dec 14th 2008 9:34PM
I'm pretty sure a bunch of people who flamed Halo for it's expensive maps will be buying this in 5 hours 25 minutes.
Erik Stroud @ Dec 14th 2008 10:58PM
Yeah, they probably will. I will eventally, but not tonight.
Commando62 @ Dec 14th 2008 9:38PM
Woot WOO! Time to kill me some AI Bots! After of course I take my final exams....
mrm3x1can @ Dec 14th 2008 10:04PM
yet again, i can relate...
DBoyFlex @ Dec 14th 2008 9:36PM
Yikes, 800 pts. Haven't payed that much for maps since CoD4. Might have to wait and see if they drop in a few months. Most of my friends don't buy DLC, so I wouldn't be playing them much anyways I guess.
Rick @ Dec 14th 2008 9:37PM
Definitely getting these maps tomorrow morning, free or not. The game plays just fine for me, I've got nothing to cry about.
Dylan @ Dec 14th 2008 9:38PM
can't wait
Chase @ Dec 14th 2008 9:40PM
Pass. Fix the online multiplayer bugs (which are still there) and then I'll give you more money.
offday @ Dec 15th 2008 12:09AM
Agreed. I'm not paying for maps that I won't even be able to play or at the best wait 20 minutes before every game. BS move Epic.
Nick @ Dec 15th 2008 1:59PM
very much agree. Though my wallet is looking going "ooooooooooooh, horde maps"
ON another note, BEST AVATAR EVER!
"He throws an angry tantrum if he cannot have his way / He calls for Mom and sucks his thumb and doesn't want to play / Too late to be known as John the First, he's sure to be known as John the Worst! "
Zerato @ Dec 14th 2008 9:42PM
What?! I refuse to buy these maps unless i see a real fix on all the goddamn glitches!
Mazrael @ Dec 15th 2008 5:56PM
There's strange glitches (or just overlooked) in local MP too. blind throwing a grenade sometimes just lasts at your feet.. bot survival when taking a meatshield even when the grenade is at their feet (not seen a rear blast yet).. strange body shuffling when triggering a curb stomp.. just a couple that I remeber at the moment..
800mp is a bit much considering.. anyone remeber what it was for the old map sets?
DarkNightRJ @ Dec 14th 2008 9:43PM
We just bought this game, what, month and a half ago? We have the bugs, and the matchmaking issues, and what do we get? 3 maps that we have to pay 800 points for. This is ridiculous. They should be 400. (if not free)
Mainly cuz im broke tho...lol
bnun @ Dec 14th 2008 9:48PM
Epic gave us a buggy multiplayer, no way we should have to pay $10 for these maps. I'm no longer confident that Epic can fix all the bugs and glitches so that Gears 2 MP will have the longevity to make it worthwhile to pay for maps.
Dragod @ Dec 14th 2008 9:51PM
800MS Points? You best be trolling...
DO NOT WANT.
cj @ Dec 14th 2008 9:53PM
Don't buy this rip-off. Epic hasn't even fixed the matchmaking yet -- if people buy it, no patch is ever going to be released.
Boycott Cliff B's new car collection.
Cal @ Dec 15th 2008 4:41AM
So do people who download these actually get to play them, or does the wonderfully shit voting system mean that they never will?
Nick @ Dec 15th 2008 2:03PM
dingdingding
private matches only will these be. Hell, I think I've played any of the "flashback" maps on regular rotation (I refuse to play 20 other game types I don't want just to play them on the old maps) MAYBE 3 times, and I've had my fair share.
These? With the lack of people that will have them? Never. It's bs unless it's for horde or private.
Now, I said something before about PUBLIC MATCHES?!?!?
>.
thoth2020 @ Dec 14th 2008 9:59PM
Gold Rush was an awesome map on the PC version, and was really popular. Good to see it.
offday @ Dec 15th 2008 12:13AM
Yeah. Good to see a recycled map that was originally free.
atthegates911 @ Dec 14th 2008 10:06PM
I'd rather have them fix this piece of trash, and it's broken online play, than work on new maps.
Seriously epic. Get off your asses and fix your broken game.
Delirium @ Dec 14th 2008 10:22PM
Only three maps? WE'RE NOT RETARDED.
Well, some of us aren't, anyway.
Soup4Brains @ Dec 14th 2008 10:24PM
How about they fix all the glitches before they start trying to charge for DLC? I love Gears 2 but until they fix its many glaring flaws I'm not paying another cent.
Alexander @ Dec 14th 2008 10:49PM
Three? For 800?
Nahhh, I won't buy it.
skin.bintin @ Dec 16th 2008 2:32PM
I'm in New Zealand, so naturally I'm dealing with Gears 2 lag like most american's couldn't imagine.
Yet still, I love this game. Matchmaking is much faster since the last patch, and in game everything is just as I imagined it would be. While it isn't the same game mechanics as Gears 1, I'm not upset. Personally, I didn't buy Gears 2 hopeing for a repeat of Gears 1.
Matchmaking could be made a but faster for sure. And some of the glitches (shield glitch, setting out of River etc etc) need to be removed. However, this is still easily my favourite game of the year.
I look forward to buying this map pack. Maybe not as much as if it was free, or 400MS points, but still, I'm excited about it.
Aero @ Dec 14th 2008 10:56PM
800 for three maps when matchmaking is less than desirable? Sorry Epic, not buying this one.
Sataited @ Dec 14th 2008 11:04PM
Whatever happened to the idea of using player made content over Live? I thought that was one of the reasons UT3 was delayed so much...
You get played made content working and you'd see these map packs drop to almost nothing if not nothing...
I remember playing the original UT for YEARS since we always had a steady stream of new maps/content, I ended up buying the game a few times and having new people pay for the game itself years after it came out...
Tier @ Dec 14th 2008 11:07PM
Wait a second, you want me to pay $10 for three "new" maps. One of which, gold rush, is already featured on the PC version of the game for free. Then a remake of Feul Depot which should have been part of the original remakes anyways. LOL add to that your game is a buggy unplayable mess. You have some f'in nerve.
josh @ Dec 14th 2008 11:11PM
that caption should read "Look at all that hate.."
I do agree that the game is a glitched laggy mess, though.
Matt @ Dec 14th 2008 11:14PM
Yah, I agree. When I see the bugs and glitches fixed I will pay 800 points to get three maps. They ask a lot for something that they give little.
Levon @ Dec 15th 2008 7:09PM
what good are new maps if you can't get into a match? i sat for 5 min yesterday and it wouldn't match me up. ridiculous Epic!
miguel @ Dec 15th 2008 8:46PM
Booooo.. greedy.
AnthonyGalindoX @ Dec 14th 2008 11:22PM
Well, it would have been an exciting announcement if it were free. A normal map pack release just doesn't seem worthy of airtime at an awards show.
blindfromthesun @ Dec 14th 2008 11:31PM
Personally, I'm not suffering from the same issues you guy's seem to be. Matchmaking and lag have been minimal for me. I have seen a few glitches that pissed me off. My "favorite" was the meatshield and torqebow/any weapon combo. Granted I could strangle a cheater when he kills me with said glitch, it is satisfying as heck when you kill him, even with glitches. Nothing saying f-you better and hearing his little girly scream of frustration is pure gold. This is coming from a GeOW 2 (multiplayer) noob.
blindfromthesun @ Dec 14th 2008 11:36PM
I apologize if multiple comments come up, almost exactly the same. Does joystiq/xbox360fanboy filter profanity? Oh noez
pete @ Dec 14th 2008 11:38PM
sooo basically its 10 dollars for a stupid immulsion map??? fuck that, give me a better ending to the game where the last level isn't on some invincible dinosaur and is a fucking challenge. THEN fix the multiplayer, and then maybe, MAYBE, ill PAY for the ONE new map were seeing here. fucking DLC
Mazrael @ Dec 15th 2008 1:30PM
yeah.. that ending was very anti-climatic.. guess it'll be the 3rd game to end it properly.. it's a bit Matrix/Halo.. first game stands alone, but the 2 sequels need each other.. Gears 2 was a bit too experimental in the gameplay..
Why not unlock those chieves so it can be done against bots.. the first game was stupid for the ranked chieves, why couldn't they of been done in the campaign? I'm not interested in online.. I didn't find the ranking worked on Gears 1, & it's online play didn't play as it should of.
Nick @ Dec 15th 2008 2:06PM
uh, damn near ALL of the cheevs are unlocked during whatever map type, other than the actual "GAMES" like King of the Hill, Wingman, etc.
Which is the way it freakin' should be. Otherwise everyone would cheat their way through it. It's BS.
I wish more of the cheevs were from playing the real game with real people. It actual makes them feel VALID.
Mazrael @ Dec 15th 2008 5:15PM
sorry Nick, when I said about the chieves, I meant Gears 1 needing you to play online to most of the chieves.. even having a minimum difficulty to count to chieves (like 50 ranked or 200 Insane) I'd be happy with that.. Online sucks when you have british lag.. the US must get a second or so advantage coinnecting all the way across the pond to Washington..
erisandra @ Dec 14th 2008 11:40PM
Um.. 800 points for 3 maps? No thank you. Especially when they bring out DLC BEFORE even fixing the problems with the game and multiplayer.
Rick @ Dec 15th 2008 12:01AM
I saw the clip they played on the Spike VGA show and Fuel Station really didn't look anything like Fuel Depot. I think the name is throwing people off a bit. It was a gas station on a street in a city. Not quite the same thing, is it?
auxois @ Dec 15th 2008 12:31AM
rather wait til the price goes down. 3 maps for 800 ms points ain't worth it.
Adam @ Dec 15th 2008 1:24AM
i won't be buying this. I haven't played much MP yet, but what I have played has been unplayable.
Add that 3 maps for 800 is a high price (400 for maps is the sweet spot IMO) and that's a definite no.
Royale @ Dec 15th 2008 12:46AM
The problem here is that the game just came out a month ago. WTF? Seems like stuff that should have been on the disc.
D dogg @ Dec 15th 2008 12:57AM
I remember the last time I got 3 maps they were FREE. I remember the last time I paid $10 for maps I got 5 (which eventually became free).
Epic isn't quite as humble with Gears anymore it seems. It's a fucking cash cow to them and for that, they can kiss my ass.
Fix the bugs; fix the glitching; fix the STORY in campaign mode; fix the multiplayer options and add 2 more retro maps and I'll CONSIDER buying this map pack...
Epic Games is no where close to Bungie in terms of QUALITY software and I'm by far NOT a Halo multiplayer fan.
dangcucu @ Dec 15th 2008 1:30AM
maybe it will be free after EPIC reads this and/or the PRICE source was incorrect. i'm just thinking of getting my 360 back from ms... if i had it i would've gotten the RB2 bundle for 109.99 with a 25.00 g.card at Toys R Us or price match it a Circuit City to pay only 99.99. or just get a secondary game unit cause im going nutz not playing now...
Inzo @ Dec 15th 2008 2:43AM
Hahaha... get to work on fixing your damn game and I'll consider buying maps for it.
DeadPlasmaCell @ Dec 15th 2008 2:49AM
Well if nobody is going to mention it, I will: "Fix the fucking game Epic then we'll talk about shelling out more coin"
Henry @ Dec 15th 2008 2:51AM
I wish there was a way to organize a boycott of this content. It would really teach them a lesson if nobody bought this thing. They SHOULD have gotten the message by now when Gears 2 quickly lost the number one slot on xbox live. Gears 1 was number one basically from launch all the way until halo 3. Gears 1 lasted years, gears 2 lasted a month. Fix the freeking game, then try and sell us content.
People give halo lots of crap for their maps costing so much but I cant name a single bug that interferes with game play. I can list several with gears.
GPX2 @ Dec 15th 2008 7:48PM
Don't know if you heard the reason they say it lost the top spot, but it was that Halo 3 been out a year and a half, and they just had a price drop on their maps. So to compete they charge a outragest price for their maps, and release they less then 6 months after the game been out.
That is apparently their plan do the opposite of what Halo does, having working matchmaking system, release a constant stream of updates, and I don't know Beta test a game maybe?