Microsoft and Epic Games today officially announced the Horde Command Pack add-on for Gears of War 3, set for release on Xbox LIVE Marketplace on November 1. The DLC will include new maps, playable characters, and many Horde fortification upgrades.
The add-on game pack includes the following maps:
Blood Drive: This returning favorite takes place in the Jacinto Medical Plaza, a safe haven turned into an inferno after it was overwhelmed with evacuated citizens after the Hammer Strikes, who rioted and caused much damage. This map includes lots of high ground and funneled choke points.
Rustlung: Battle on a decommissioned battleship, once the pride of the Royal Tyran Navy. This one includes an exposed central torpedo bay; teams can hold this area and use the battle-ready Silverback mech suit, which has replaced the ship’s loader.
Azura: Here, an island paradise full of water gardens and foliage that once catered to Sera’s elite is now a battle zone that includes a powerful explosive weapon and a defensive central platform that might be a team’s last resort.
New fortification upgrades include a Command Center, allowing players to call in fire support from sniper teams, mortar strikes and multiple Hammers of Dawn; Decoy Upgrade, a level that turns your decoy into an Onyx Guard bot to defend you; Sentry Upgrade, adding a fire bolt sentry that deals a lot more damage and is effective against Berserkers; and the Silverback Upgrade, letting you make your Silverback exo-suit better with rockets and extra levels of repair cost reduction.
New characters in the Horde Command Pack include an Onyx Guard, Big Rig Dizzy and Bernie. New weapon skins are Team Plasma and Jungle Camo. Additional Achievements worth 250 Gamerscore will also be included.
The DLC is playable in Horde, Beast Mode and privately-hosted Versus matches, and is one of four game add-ons expected for Gears of War 3. You can buy the Gears of War 3 Season Pass for 2400 Microsoft points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace to get all four as soon as they are available for a slight discount, or purchase the Horde Command Pack by itself at 800 Microsoft Points once it’s available on November 1.
Gears of War 3 is selling well for Microsoft, with three million units moved just in its first week. Microsoft claims that the GoW franchise overall has garnered more than a billion dollars in lifetime sales and has driven more than three million users to play on Xbox LIVE.
For additional information on the game and the add-on content, visit www.gearsofwar.com or www.epicgames.com.
Are you playing Horde as much as we are? Will you pick up the Season Pass, or just go for the Horde Command Pack? Let us know in the comments!