Mysterious Gears of War 3 maps revealed by leaderboard, no you can't play them

@(Unverified)

They do exist somewhere. I think they got leaked or something. Go to youtube and type in gears of war 3 blood drive. There's someone doing a bot match on it. And it does not look like it is an official video.

@(Unverified)

It's easy to be cynical about these things but I would just like to make this counter-point...

Games go gold usually a good while before they actually ship and end up on your doorstep. Just because the game isn't in stores yet does not mean that the game isn't being pressed and ready to go and that the developers are hard at work making new maps/game modes/dlc/whatever in the process.

It is really easy for a developer to finish the game, get it pressed and ready to ship, and still finish some maps in the mean time while the game is waiting to be released.

Just saying.

@Huey2k2
true, and sometimes they do what 2K did with Bioshock 2 and put the DLC on the disc then ask you to pay to "unlock" it. just saying.

@FuzzyPierce

Not saying it's the case in this game, but a lot of these "held back maps" are developed after the game goes content complete. They simply aren't ready in time for release and if you sit around trying to make sure every map is ready for release then you're stuck delaying the game over and over again. There's more to a map than drawing up some polygons and calling it a day.

@Xcrucio So what you're telling me is that they'd gladly make the maps free if they had the time before release, but they didn't, so that somehow makes them something they charge for?

If they would make them free for release why won't they make them free for post-release?

@FuzzyPierce Because it still requires paid labor to produce the maps.

@blackangel209 What he's saying is they are finished for when the game ships, so they'd usually be included in the price of the game. Now, these maps are locked, which means they were indeed finished by the time the game went gold and holding them back to release as DLC is a bit shady.

@(Unverified) Here are the pictures of them from the dev build...
Rustlung:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/photo1xv.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/801/photolyu.jpg/

@(Unverified) and...

Azura:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/31/photo2bg.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/photo3fw.jpg/

@(Unverified)
Wow aren't you just so cool downloading leaked versions of games

@The Cole Train
Yeah it gets me laid.

@Kingap http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xenophobic

@Kingap locust are aliens though, their from sera ie not earth, so aliens to us but not to the people in the games

@Schlecht
And RAAM, Skorge, and i think Big Rig Dizzy.

@Rubbishy Me They've hinted at those three coming out eventually, but they only confirmed Bernie and OG.

@Vampettrelli

No thanks, I've spent enough time digging out the last few guys alive who decide to whole up in the spawn of those maps with grenade plants because Epic was too stupid to swap the frag/boltok spawns on them (which would have easily fixed the problem on both maps).

@Vcize
Well hopefully they learn from their mistakes, they've done so before, and fair enough Nade camping on pavilion. but i ALWAYS wall bounce my out of jacinto nades lol easy

@LtCmdrChar - I don't think anyone (at least anyone with a brain) would call new maps just aesthetics that have no effect on gameplay.

Character & Weapon skins? Sure but not maps.

@Mcmax3000

Anyone with a brain should recognize that unless a map brings with it new gameplay elements (such as weapons, new interactivity that completely changes how the game is played, etc) such as the CoD Zombie maps, it is strictly going to be just an aesthetic change to on-going gameplay.

New map? Fantastic. It's new geometry to play on in multiplayer, but it does not change the gameplay itself. It's no different than weapon or character skins, but on a much bigger scale. Weapons are still the same, players will react the same, physics will react the same. The playspace itself may be different, but ultimately it has no affect on the gameplay players have been experiencing since launch. Will it change how players move around for a bit as they get accustomed to their new surroundings? Sure, but again in the end whether they're fumbling in the dark trying to find out where place A is or expertly defending spot B it doesn't change the fact that they're doing what they've been doing throughout all the other maps all the same.

To imply that a new map (that is strictly just a new geometry space) adds gameplay is like saying 'driving to a new town I've never been to has suddenly added additional new functionality and/or quality to my car's performance!'. It doesn't. For good or bad, it only adds millage.

@(Unverified)

You're calling it greed for companies like EA to come up with an online pass, yet say that what Epic is doing is covering costs of content?

You do realize the whole point of the online pass is so that the companies that do support such a system get their costs back along with the profit they're seeking. That isn't greed in the slightest bit. The devs that make the game along with the publishers that push them get ZERO dollars for every used game bought.

Try picking a better example to compare and contrast the difference between covering ends meet and being too greedy because that example you provided isn't.

@ColorblindMonk

Because CoD is rehashed shit every iteration. Gears 3 refined Gears 1 MP with many more gameplay features AND dedicated servers. The game is incredibly fun, and I can easily put 100+ hours into it. Can't say the same for CoD series.

@Flesseck I love COD and play it every year from Nov to Aug pretty much non-stop and I'm not bored yet. The gameplay is what brings me (and millions of other gamers) back every year. Don't try to shit on it just because it's not your thing. I also love Gears and will be grinding away in Horde 2.0 for years to come (just like I did with Gears 2).

Believe it or not, there are people like me who enjoy these games and have careers that give us the money to spend towards them if we so choose.

@skbkoy65 Ok, I can see the season pass, it's a good discount if you plan on buying the map packs, but.....why all those skins? I really can't justify forking over $30, or whatever the conversion amounts to from Microsoft points, for all those cosmetic gun skins. Maybe one (despite it's unreasonable price) I might get that I really like, but all of them? But hey, it's your money, do with it what you wish.