Just when you've lost faith in humanity, Cliffy B. and the boys at Epic have gone and made everything right in the world. When nearly every other developer thinks they need to (over)charge for their downloadable content, Epic bucks the standard and delivers two brand new maps for their uber-hit; Gears of War..Free!. The two new maps, Raven Down and Old Bones, don't feel like at all like leftovers. Both maps maintain the sky-high production values of the retail release: each environment oozes the polish you've come to expect in Gears of War with plenty of graphical flourishes and even a bit of a storyline punctuates the action. Now, hop on board the Gamehelper tour bus for a guided tour of Raven Down and Old Bones. For your own safety, please, keep your hands, feet and all other objects inside the bus at all times; those delta boys tend to get a little wild with the chainsaws.

Blackhawk Raven Down
One of the COG Raven helicopters has been brought down, and the smoking wreck is definitely not going to go unnoticed by the Locust. Now, both the Locust and Delta Forces are about to converge on the wreckage and yes, all hell will break loose.

There is no messing around in Raven Down. No opening sprint for the torque bow. No race to the Hammer of Dawn. Besides a few grenades, the only weapons in Raven Down are the ones you have on your back. With the downed Raven at the center of a four-way intersection, the Locust and COG teams spawn in pairs on each approach to the intersection. In an eight-player game you and a teammate spawn directly opposite a twosome from the opposing team with your other teammates and another pair of hostiles on the remaining ends of the intersection. Each of the four spawn areas radiate from the wrecked Raven. With the wreckage blocking your view directly across the intersection, communication among your teammates isn't just recommended; it's essential to your survival. The close proximity of the four spawn areas means that the other team will be on top of you in no time, so calling out hostiles to your teammates can take away the advantage of an all out rush.

Even though Raven Down takes place outdoors, it's easy to feel claustrophobic as you get hemmed in by quickly advancing enemies. The action gets up close and personal almost immediately. Your best bet is to get your team together as fast as possible and fight back to back, that should help keep those pesky 'nade taggers from sneaking up on your six.

Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Old Bones
The Locust have taken over Sera's Capitaline Museums in an effort to try and erase all traces of mankind's history and culture. Of course it's Delta Force's job to retake the Museum.
In stark contrast to Raven Down's fast paced action, Old Bones presents the usual Gears map formula. Opposing teams spawn in symmetrical buildings separated by a large, rectangular courtyard that can further be divided into three smaller areas. Each spawn building opens up to the courtyard at three places, and the start of the match usually opens with the customary mad dash for the lone sniper rifle located at one end of the courtyard. Securing the sniper rifle usually translates into securing the victory, given the courtyard's wide-open structure. Failing to secure the sniper rifle, the boomshot—protected from the sniper's field view just off the center of the courtyard—may offer some solace to the sniperless. However, without the sniper, your best bet is usually to retreat to the spawn buildings. With their long hallways and multiple entryways, the spawn buildings offer a good position to regroup and set up ambushes for any over confident pursuers.

Old Bones plays out a lot like Mansion or Gridlock, because of the initial race to the sniper. There's definitely more opportunity for strategy in Old Bones and rounds last substantially longer than in Raven Down.

Only Two?
Overall, Old Bones maintains much the same tone as the other Gears of War maps, while Raven Down feels altogether different, even down to the lighting of the map. Both are beauties to behold (no surprise there). Because of the ultra fast paced action in Raven Down, it's actually good map for newbies to learn the do's and don'ts of close range combat in Gears of War. Seasoned veterans will probably prefer the subtle strategies and gameplay opportunities Old Bones has to offer. Whatever the case, Raven Down and Old Bones are two great additions to the Gears of War multiplayer map library. Plus, they're free, just be sure to pay your respects to the Discovery Channel (they're the one's sponsoring the content)! Now, if we could just find somebody to sponsor the boys at Epic to make some new game modes… Aw, just kidding Cliffy!

Actually, we're not kidding. More maps and game modes, pronto!

- teal