Gears of War 3 Horde Command Pack DLC

Gears of War 3 got a genuine 10 here on GamersNET, thanks to yours truly. The game has great gameplay, looks sleek and offers great value for money. One of the eye-catchers is the renewed Horde mode, which is also known as Horde 2.0. The first expansion is now for sale and it is therefore completely devoted to the Horde mode. But is the Horde Command Pack really worth all Microsoft Points?

Familiar environments

For more information about Gears of War 3 and Horde 2.0, it’s best to read the Gears of War 3 review. After all, the Horde Command Pack doesn’t change the gameplay, but for the real fans of the Horde mode there is definitely something new under the sun. You get three new maps, new fortifications and some extra characters and skins for your weapons.

The three new maps are Azura, Rustlung and Blood Drive. Well, three… Actually they are two new ones and one old acquaintance, because Blood Drive was already playable in the multiplayer of Gears of War 2. For Gears 3, Epic Games has changed the map quite a bit, both visually and the gameplay. In this map you have two large staircases facing each other with a few side corridors, some open windows and a wide space in the middle between the two halves. It is now also possible to jump directly onto the adjacent stairs from a window, which can provide a very nice escape route if you are in danger of being trapped.

Azura and Rustlung are familiar environments from the campaign. Azura offers many bright colors, open spaces and small connecting bridges. It’s an ideal map for Horde mode, with a nice position to build your base and multiple escape routes and the location of the Silverback within easy reach. Rustlung is a delight for lovers of close quarters combat, because this map offers several narrow corridors and only one really large room.

A great asset

Besides the maps, especially the new fortifications are a great asset to the Horde Command Pack. The big eye-catcher is the Command Center. With this, depending on the upgrade, you can enable snipers, mortars or even automatic Hammer of Dawn attacks. With a little tactics you can get through a normally very spicy boss wave quite smoothly. Furthermore, you can upgrade Decoy to an Onyx Guard, who will also actively fight, the Sentry has an upgrade with fiery bullets (ideal against Beserkers!) and after the necessary investments you can upgrade your Silverback with rockets.

For the real fans

The well-known snag is also included with the Horde Command Pack. First of all, there’s the fact that this DLC is very clearly for the real fans. Everyone will get the new maps, characters and skins for your weapons, but you’ll need to spend quite a bit of time in Horde mode to be able to use all the fortifications. For example, you must have spent $ 360,000 on Turrets for the Command Center, which can be quite a task if you just play a game of Horde every now and then. To a slightly lesser extent, this also applies to the other options; you will have to work hard for it first.

There’s a second catch, as Epic Games is releasing the Versus Booster Map Pack later this month. This map pack is completely free and contains two revised maps from the first Gears of War, as well as the three maps from the Horde Command Pack. However, the folders can only be used in Versus with the Versus Booster package.

Conclusion

Thanks to the Horde Command Pack, fans of Gears of War 3 can enjoy themselves extra online for the time being. The new maps are diverse and for the new fortifications many players will have to work for a while to actually unlock them. So this Pack is really aimed at the avid players, who are looking for even more challenge in the Horde mode. For them, the 800 Microsoft Points, or of course the purchase of a Season Pass, is absolutely worth it.

If you only care about the maps, then you can consider waiting for the free Versus Booster Map Pack. Then you have the three maps from the Horde Command Pack, plus two maps from the first Gears of War game. However, keep in mind that the maps will only be playable in Versus. This seems like a great option for the ‘regular’ player, while the real Horde aficionados can blindly add the Horde Command Pack to their download queue.