Fenix's Rising, new DLC map pack for Gears of War 3 coming soon

  New Years' upon us and Epic Games want to start 2012 right by releasing a new map pack to expand Gears of War 3's addicting multiplayer. The map pack will include five new maps, new character skins, and a new level up system that lets you level up all over again.Think of the new system as the prestige in COD.

Fenix Rising will cost only 800 Microsoft Points, or free if you already purchased a Season Pass which give you free access to upcoming DLC. Here's the list of the new maps, which is inspired from the locales in the Gears of War 3 campaign. No old maps from previous games remastered here.

• Academy –The lineage of the Fenix family can be traced back along a distinguished line of military officers.  Officer training at the Oracle Academy was simply the expected path for Marcus, and he had visited the grounds many times in expectation that he would walk the same path as his ancestors.  But it was not to be, and Marcus broke with tradition to be with his best friends Dom and Carlos.  Like any number of fine Seran traditions, the Academy is now lost to the invasion of the Locust Horde.
• Anvil – The fortress of Anvegad was called Anvil Gate because its impenetrable walls were forged in the fires of war.  Huge cannons sat atop battlements that guarded sprawling walls running the line of the UIR borders.  Marcus went there to find Hoffman, and they both thought that Anvil Gate would offer protection from the incoming forces of Locust and Lambent.  They were wrong, and little remains other than the ruined shell of a once mighty fortress.
• Depths – The excessive opulence of Azura defied all normal reasoning.  But Adam Fenix could see the cracks in the veneer of splendor from the moment he arrived at this underwater processing center.  And all that beauty mattered not at all once he was held captive by the Locust.  Out of options, he had to find a way to contact Marcus, and finally reveal the truths he’d been keeping to himself for all these many years.
• Escalation – Haldane Hall has been the home of the Fenix family for countless generations.  But the only history that matters to Marcus’s are his memories of warm summer evenings spent with his mother, Elain, relaxing in the estate’s gardens.  Sadly, all the estate’s history and beauty was lost when the Locust destroyed it in an attempt to kidnap his father.
• The Slab – Convicted for insubordination and treason, Marcus was incarcerated in Jacinto Maximum Security Prison.  Known as “The Slab”, this prison is not a correctional facility – it’s a place where Sera’s worst offenders are locked up and forgotten.  The inmates are brutal, parole is not an option, and the average life expectancy is about two years.  But that was before the Locust showed up, and what couldn’t get worse, suddenly did.  Now your life expectancy there is around 2 minutes.

New character skins are included. They have a total of four new skins, two for each side:

• COG:
  • Recruit Clayton – Clayton was born a Gear, grew up a Gear, and on the very day he became eligible, he signed himself up to become the capable, confident, and devoted Gear he’d always known he could be.
  • Thrashball Cole (Limited Edition) – The Cole Train prefers to take the most direct path to the Locust Horde in any situation. What he lacks in finesse, he makes up in raw energy.

• Locust:
  • Savage Marauder – Locust Marauders were the first to form any sort of organization outside of the Hollow – if their brutal infighting and bloodthirsty raiding parties could truly be called organized.
  • Savage Kantus (Limited Edition) – The Savage Kantus were profoundly impacted by the loss of the Hollow.  They have reverted to a primal, shamanistic state, and their battle cries have taken a dark, melancholy turn.  Few sounds are as terrifying to human ears.

Getting the map pack upgrades the way you level. Not really an upgrade, more like a choice to re-level all over again when you hit the max level of 100. Not sure why doing that all over again is appealing, but if its your thing, the map pack allows you to do it all over again three times. Think of it as COD's prestige feature. Each time you reset your level, you earn a new rank icon color each time: 1st Re-up earns you Red, then Green, then finally Gold for the third and last time you hit 100.  Hitting level 100 a second or third time will also earn you weapon skins:

• Re-Up Plasma – Animated flowing plasma in gold.
• Re-Up Omen – Shiny, red Omen.
• Re-Up Electric – Animated, golden electric shocks.

Other features aside from the maps of this DLC is only icing on the cake, but With only 800 Microsoft Points for five new maps sounds like a good deal. If you haven't sold your copy of Gears 3 yet, Fenix Rising will be out on Jan 17 2012.

[Source: Gaminformer]

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Trailer (12-20-2011) [Update: 8 minute full trailer]

Now the 3DS is no where near my "want" list but I can't help but get excited when SquareEnix puts out a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

So we got the main cast of characters from The World Ends With You with voice acting, Sora and Riku get new duds, Disney worlds some new and some old, Terranort, old man Spock~ I man Xehanort, Axel saying his real name, and mother freaking RINZLER from Tron Legacy.

I am sold on the content and presentation, if the story is bogus.. well that just comes with the KH territory. All that's left is actual gameplay. If it impresses then I might MIGHT just get a 3DS. Maybe.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVMUlDLLNE[/youtube]

Long version

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPtX25lSRmE&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Check out Steam's Holiday Sale and start shopping

Steam has its issues like when installing a game or updates that are just a pain, but they have been having sales since the black friday sale making me forget all the problems working a game through Steam. Since the start of December, they have been featuring daily sale for a specific game. It's been going for a while now having great games like Bastion and even Dead Island going 50% off. Now with Christmas only days away, it got even better with the Steam Holiday Sale.

If you're an avid PC gamer, you should check out the Steam store for the huge sale they're having. Instead of just one deal for a game for the day, there will be several choices this time. If you don't like the offers today, check tomorrow because they will have a new set of deals for the next day until January 1. gotta love christmas.

The Great Gift Pile

Not only that, they're also introducing this interactive contest called the The Great Gift Pile.  In a nutshell - if you logged into your Steam account, your given a list of six objectives to complete within 24 hours and changes daily. Those objectives are pretty much achievements in a specific game on steam. If you've completed an objective, you get either a gift or a coal item. Gifts will have special prices like free games, or discount coupons when you open it. Like for me, I was able to do an objective and I earned 1 coal and coupon that gives a 33% discount  on any Valve published game.  The coal item isn't there to just for nothing though. Each coal in you're inventory is consider one entry on the big giveaway happening on Jan 2. So the more coal stored in your inventory, the bigger your chance winning. If you want to gamble though, crafting 7 coals will result into one gift that could either lead to a coupon or a free game.Risky.

The big giveaway happening on Jan 2 is pretty exciting. Its like the big gaming lotto of 2011. There will be a grand winner(1), First prize winners(50), second prize winners(100), and third prize winners(1000). Third prize winners will earn a Valve complete pack(every Valve game in Steam), second prize winners earn the top 5 games in their wishlist, and first prize winners earn the top 10 games on their wishlist. The grand prize winner gets EVERY GAME REGISTERED ON STEAM. damn! What a lucky bastard whoever wins the grand prize. If you have a Steam account, go check if you're eligible to join.

It's an awesome interactive program but objectives can only be done if you actually have the game. It's good for us if we earn gifts but it's also good for them because their giving people incentive to buy that game just to earn an objective. Smart move Steam, like I'm tempted to buy "Orcs Must Die" since its cheap and one of its achievements is an objective.

Steam is also having pack deal discounts. these pack deals are a bunch of games made by a specific developer all packed up in one price. Those packs are now having a huge price drop.

If your planning to give a gamer friend a give for christmas via Steam, now is the time to do so. Happy Shopping!

coupon

Twisted Metal 2012: Mr Grimm Trailer

Since the announcement of Twisted Metal'sdelay to Valentine's Day, the game has been quiet. Guess their hard at work in making sure the delay was worth the wait. Well, the game resurfaces yet again with an awesome trailer which to me beats everything else they have shown us thus far. Have a look at the Mr Grimm trailer.

Thank god they brought a trailer because with all the awesome games out now, I completely forgot that this is still on its way(hopefully). I'm once again excited for this classic to come back, please no more delays. Twisted Metal is out on February 14, 2012 exclusively for Playstation 3.

Skyrim patch 1.3 out now for Xbox Live, PS3 patch live in Europe

For the people playing Skyrim on console, I'm sure you guys have been waiting for this patch to fix that damn no magic resistance bug thanks to the 1.2 patch. Well the 1.3 is finally up for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and fixed all the issues that came with it. The Ps3 patch is only up in Europe though but it eventually be released very soon.

This latest patch is literally a patch to fix issues that came with the previous patch. The 1.3 update fixes the hilarious backward flying dragons and magic resistance not even working.  I dodged this patch and continued to play with it since have no resistance to magic is a big deal. Now that it's live, I've installed the game on my 360, updated myself and everything seems to be working. You can find the official patch notes here.

The 1.3 patch for the PC has been up since December 7. No word yet on the release of the patch for PS3's other regions.