Gears of War 3 Forces of Nature DLC announced

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 17 February, 2012

5 maps, Easter Egg weapons and new Achievements.

Epic has announced Gears of War 3 DLC Forces of Nature, due out on 27th March.

Forces of Nature is a collection of three new maps, each set during a natural disaster, and two remakes from previous Gears games. The new maps are Aftermath, Artillery and Cover. The remakes are Jacinto (Gears of War 2) and Raven Down (Gears of War 1).

Gears executive producer Rod Fergusson announced the DLC on GameTrailers, explaining how they work.

Aftermath is a government park after a tsunami. The map floods and quakes during gameplay, making it difficult to aim. And stealth is reduced due to players splashing through water.

Artillery is a military base ravaged by a storm during gameplay. Dust and debris makes it difficult to see, but winds can mask your approach.

And Cove is a small port the Stranded have taken over and turned into a village. A heavy layer of fog masks "just about everything". Epic described the map as very open, with long lines of sight with a "really nice" sniper nest.

Fergusson said the DLC will include Easter Eggs in the form of four special weapons hidden in the maps called Elemental Cleavers. The snow cleaver can gust an icy breeze, stunning players from a distance. The emulsion cleaver explodes on impact, doing a small amount of AOE burning damage.

There are new Achievements tied to these weapons for anyone who can find them and get 25 kills with them in Horde or Beast mode. In total the DLC adds ten new Achievements for 250 Gamerscore.

Additionally, buy the DLC and you get four new character models: Commando Dom, Mechanic Baird, Savage Grenadier Elite and Savage Hunter; and seven new weapon skins (two of which are designed based on community feedback), which can only be unlocked through gameplay in the Forces of Nature DLC.

Epic is yet to announce a price, but we expect it to follow previous Gears of War 3 DLC and go for 800 Microsoft Points. Forces of Nature brings to a close the DLC that forms a part of the Gears of War 3 Season Pass.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 2 months ago

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  • DUFFMAN5 #1 3 months ago

    Fuck yes, can't wait

  • duckmouth #2 3 months ago

    The maps sound absolutely brilliant. I was hoping for more dynamics like Avalanche or Trenches. The only disappointment is that River isn't returning. I loved that map!

    For those who want some screenshots of the new maps:

    http://tinyurl.com/762koyx
    Edited by duckmouth at 17/02/12 @ 18:22

  • deadmonkeyuk #3 3 months ago

    Season pass really needed more campaign missions, the new maps and characters have been good though.

  • adofessex #4 3 months ago

    I am glad I invested in the season pass, Epic's post game content has been very good.

  • CaptainQuint #5 3 months ago

    How many locales do people need to run around with a shotgun in?

    I traded this in after hitting 50 because I was just bored to death of gnasher battles. I appreciate there's a lot of skill and some strategy involved, but this series really needed more than one gun.

  • Skooch #6 3 months ago

    Can't wait for this, although IMO Raven Down is one of the worst Gears maps of all time, maybe even THE worst.

    @ Captain Quint - lots! Did you know that in ranked games the weapon with the most kills is actually the lancer? It is a shotty game but at higher levels with coordinated teams it becomes more strategic.

  • Darklightside #7 3 months ago

    Where is Skorge? He was in the Gears 3 heroclix range but not yet in game? If I am correct this is the last season pass dlc? So I wonder if there will be a season pass 2?

  • fiery_jackass #8 3 months ago

    Strategic? Deadly dull, more like. The power of the rifles crushed my enjoyment very quickly although I'll admit to having been a long-term sniper and gnasher fan through 1& 2

  • BurningEclipse #9 3 months ago

    Am I right in saying this will bring Gears of War 3 to 2000 Gamerscore? Is that a first?

  • sjmlondon #10 3 months ago

    Would really like to know what the achievements are so I know whether it is worth re-upping a third or 4th time.

  • TeaFiend #11 3 months ago

    I was hoping for beast mode DLC, but the new maps sound good.

  • nickal47 #12 3 months ago

    so my exclusive pre order mechanical baird wasnt so exclusive after all

  • sfp_noodle #13 3 months ago

    Woohoo more maps! Is this the final map pack that is part of the season pass then? If so, I think I got my money's worth in the end. I felt ripped off in the beginning because the Horde Command pack wasn't for me as I never really play Horde and Raam's Shadow was also disappointing. The last map pack was excellent though and I've been playing it a lot more than usual.

    Also, if they are adding new achievements, is the first game ever to exceed the 1750GS limit set by MS? I can't remember any other game, including MS' own Halo games ever reaching the lofty 2,000GS number.
    Edited by sfp_noodle at 17/02/12 @ 16:18

  • sourc0r #14 3 months ago

    a really nice sniper nest could also be a really nice lancer fest.

  • AlphaDeathWish #15 3 months ago

    This is bollocks, epic are so lazy !!! stop giving us map how about some new weapons or new fortifications in hordes mode and will we see a new campaign mode ? i am bored with maps, we have enough good maps on gears, i would like to see more then just maps!!!

  • clergyyeldarb #16 3 months ago

    Just to everyone who thinks that this will be the firs game to have 2k Gamers, Dawn of War 2 has 2k, but it's technically two seperate games.

  • GearsMaster #17 3 months ago

    love the new dlc fuckin sick :D

  • Grubs_will_die #18 2 months ago

    Post deleted at 14:37:28 13-03-2012

  • Grubs_will_die #19 2 months ago

    They should have done a beast mode dlc. I mean if you think about it, the first dlc was horde, the next was a campaign dlc, then multiplayer, it makes sence that thenlast should be beast. I mean I want to play as a grinder. Or how about a whole sperat one with lambent cretures. There is so much you can do with that.