Improvements

All unlockable and non-purchasable characters are unlocked for System Link play. Online play still limits players to characters that they have unlocked or have purchased through DLC.



“Classic” stalemates are now enabled on the Execution and Warzone playlist. An option exists in private Execution to disable classic stalemates and re-enable the man-up rule.



The ghost camera can be raised and lowered using the Xbox controller d-pad.



“Must Active Reload” mutator has been made more restrictive. Issues with the Torque Bow and OneShot have been fixed.



“Retribution” ribbon is now compatible with dedicated servers.



Holding the “Y” button before being in range of a DBNO player and then walking into activation range will start the execution sequence. This is similar to holding “X” to queue up a weapon pickup sequence when walking into range of a dropped weapon.





Exploit Fixes

Removed Hammerburst and Longshot exploits with using the iron-sights/scope on Mercy where a player could shoot from a concealed position near the Sanctuary bells. Damage will not register when players are using the scope or iron-sights from that concealed position.



Fixed the OneShot exploit on Drydock. Players will be pulled out of the OneShot mounted pose when in certain positions.





General Fixes

A second player signing in on the loading screen before entering the pre-game lobby will no longer cause profile issues.



The transition from spectator player view to ghost camera view will no longer force the ghost camera view to point upwards.



The map cycle in QuickMatch is now randomly ordered.



DLC that is not owned by the current player will no longer stop the player from using DLC they do own.



Horde will no longer use the Versus weapon swaps. Horde players will have Hammer of Dawn and Mortar spawns on Overpass again.



Fixed the lens flare on a scoped Longshot not appearing for a player facing left.



Xbox system notifications have been moved out of the way of kill messages in competitive multiplayer. They now show up in the top center of the screen.

All of the new maps in the just-announced Gears of War 3 DLC “Forces of Nature” take place during or after a natural disaster. There are three brand new maps, Cove, Aftermath and Artillery. Two old fan favorites will be making a return, Jacinto and Raven Down. Fog, snowstorms and tsunamis will make playing these maps quite an adventure.

There are also special weapons hidden in the maps during Horde and Beast mode called “Elemental Cleavers.” The cleavers do different types of damage, like an imulsion cleaver that explodes on impact. Forces of Nature CharactersFans will also be treated to four character models and seven new weapon skins. Two of the weapon skins, which were designed based on community feedback, will need to be unlocked. There is also 250 gamerscore points added with this DLC.

We listen closely to your suggestions and feedback and we’re happy to announce that the game mode Guardian will be making a return with the “Forces of Nature” DLC.

GT.TV’s Geoff Keighley talked with Epic Games Producer Rod Fergusson about the DLC on last night’s episode of GT.TV. You can view the video in it’s entirety HERE. The Forces of Nature DLC will be 800 MS Points and Gears of War 3 Season Pass holders will get the content free when it launches on March 27.

New/Remade Maps:

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• AFTERMATH – Aftermath is a government park after a tsunami. There is seaweed and wreckage everywhere, and the main play space sits under a huge cargo ship which was deposited on top of a building during the storm. The area floods and quakes during gameplay, as the whole thing is teetering on the edge of falling into the water below. This has gameplay implications as it is difficult to aim during the quakes, and difficult to be stealthy while splashing through the water.

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• ARTILLERY – Artillery starts out looking like an ordinary military base, but during gameplay a storm kicks up. Lightning begins to flash on the horizon and eventually a tornado develops and sweeps near the play space. Dust and debris are kicked up making it difficult to see, and the buffeting winds can mask your approach.

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• COVE – Cove is a small port that the Stranded have taken over and turned into a little village. The map is very open with long lines of sight, but there is a really, really heavy layer of fog that masks just about everything. There’s a really nice sniper nest inside a central ship, but the sniper’s form is silhouetted by the low angle light shining through the fog.

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• JACINTO – Jacinto was a beautiful city, but huge stalks have popped up through the buildings and flooded the entire area with imulsion. Half of the map is dead and crumbling, with imulsion fumes hanging in the air. To make matters worse, the drizzle that is present when a match begins quickly develops into a heavy rain storm that impedes visibility and lines of sight as water starts sheeting off the buildings.

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• RAVEN DOWN – Raven Down is a very small crossroads that is blanketed in a blinding snow storm. A Raven helicopter has crashed in the storm, and crashed through an elevated train on its way down, so there’s train wreckage to deal with as well. The snowstorm ebbs occasionally, but is more often so heavy that it’s difficult to see more than a few meters ahead at any given time.

Elemental Cleavers info:
In addition to the maps, Fergusson revealed to GT.TV that the DLC will include a few Easter Eggs of sorts – four special weapons hidden in the maps called “Elemental Cleavers”. As an example of what you can expect, you'll be able to locate a “snow cleaver” that can gust an icy breeze at an enemy and stun them from a distance or an “emulsion cleaver” that explodes on impact and does a small amount of AOE burning damage to nearby enemies (in addition to the normal cleaver damage). Also, there are Achievements tied to these weapons for anyone that can find these cleavers and get 25 kills with them in Horde or Beast mode.

New info regarding MP skins/Weapon skins:
Lastly, Epic let us know that those of you who purchase this DLC will get 4 new character models (pictured above – including the never-before-seen "Savage Hunter" on the far right) and 5 new weapon skins for immediate use, and 2 additional weapon skins (that were designed based on community feedback) that can only be unlocked through gameplay in the 'Forces of Nature' DLC which, again, is scheduled to land on Xbox Live in late March.

No beast announcements as of yet, but there's no telling what the future holds, my friends!

Still no announcements on popular wanted characters like Skorge, Palace Guard, Pendulum Hoffman, etc., but you know they wont just stop DLC and add-ons here if we support them enough! Dont give up hope!

Available March 27th!

ACHIEVEMENTS!:

Natural Selection - 20 - Complete all 12 waves of Beast on all Forces of Nature maps.

Horde Natural - 20 - Complete 20 waves of Horde on any Forces of Nature map without going down or dying.

Unstoppable Force - 25 - Complete all 50 waves of Horde on any of the Forces of Nature maps.

Elemental - 25 - Get 25 kills with any of the hidden elementally charged Cleavers in Horde.

Stock Piled - 20 - Achieve the maximum level on all fortifications in Horde mode.

Force Multiplayer - 25 - Win a match of Guardian on all Forces of Nature maps.

Witty Repairtee - 25 - Build or repair 50,000 worth of fortifications as Mechanic Baird LE.

Hunter Gatherer - 20 - Bag and Tag 20 opponents while playing as the Savage Hunter in Versus multiplayer (any mode).

I've Got This! - 20 - Kill 10 opponents as the leader in a round of Guardian on a Forces of Nature map.

Force Multiplier - 50 - Kill a Lambent Berserker with a team comprised of 5 Forces of Nature characters in Horde.

1) Ivory Weapon Skins: I’ve Got This! – Kill 10 opponents as the leader in a round of Guardian on a Forces of Nature map.
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2) FL4K Weapon Skin: Force Multiplayer – Win a match of Guardian on all Forces of Nature maps.
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3) Vixen
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4) Ultra Violet
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5) Midnight
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6) Major League(MLG skin?)
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7) Hype
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They all look awesome! I'm partial to Hype, Major League, and Midnight.


Info obtained from various tweets(Thanks to Quinn and Pete for the Info ):

Guardian and CTL will share medals, all except for the Rescue medal, which wouldn't work with Guardian.
Guardian matches played will count towards CTL matches played.
Only those who download Forces of Nature DLC will be able to play Guardian.
According to a Tweet from Quinn, the leader in Guardian will have the same X-ray Vision as the leader in CTL.

Regarding the Stock Piled achievement:

Rob Pears ‏ @robpears
@PeteNub Is the Max Level fortifications achievement only for the horde levels in Retail (Level 2 silverback) or DLC (Level 5 silverback)

Peter Knepley ‏ @PeteNub
@robpears it's retail levels only


TU4 Details!:

IMPROVEMENTS

- Savage Drone and Savage Grenadier can now “swat” turn in Beast mode
- Spectator mode now starts viewing a player instead of a battle camera
- Alternate control users in multiplayer will no longer look at DBNO characters when pressing R3
- The crosshair for the Longshot and Hammerburst will now show an X if a shot is obstructed.
- KOTH – ring locators are now visible in spectator mode
- KOTH – some hill locations have been adjusted

BUG FIXES

- The Onyx Guard decoy in Horde will not drop his rifle after exhausting the Vulcan ammo
- Clients will no longer be stuck with a “Waiting For Players” message up if the host quits Horde during the progression screen
- Chainsaw audio loop will now persist for listeners who leave the audible range and re-enter it
- Fixed some instances where special event ribbons would not be properly awarded
- COG pistol firing rate has been adjusted to be equal on host and clients
- The Flaming Retro Lancer is now available for attendees of the first special event(Golden Wings week)
- Fixed some issues fixed related to the destruction of meatbags
- The Slab start up screen no longer has debug text
- After a host migration in Horde, the waves will no longer go past 50
- Cover near the elevator on Hotel no longer allows players to lean outside of the visible area
- Grenade throwers that are killed mid-throw will receive credit for any kills that grenade causes
- Silverback will be disabled if hit by a smoke grenade when the driver is in the middle of the exit animation
- Team Deathmatch time limit no longer resets to 3 minutes when both teams are out of respawns

EDIT: Looks like some other things were added. FoN achievements were added to the achievement list, details to unlock "Ivory" and "FL4K" skin sets, seperated Warzone and Execution, added a new category to the playlists(Forces of Nature), and added Alpha back. Very well done, Epic! I love it all!

EDIT: Thanks to TAO Devil for hooking me up with an early FoN code. Your selfless generosity will never be forgotten. <3

My personal opinions on the maps:

Aftermath: A nice, huge open map. Plenty of opportunities to camp somewhere with a Longshot/One-Shot and have a vantage point almost over the WHOLE map. One of the best looking maps in the game, in my opinion. Not to mention there's a huge friggin ship wrecked on one side of the map. Also a Memorial on one side of the map, that plays some heavenly, ethereal choir when you get near it. Possibly an Easter Egg here since there's extra stuff inside the memorial(COG Helmet, COG tags, Anvil plaque). All around, awesome map.

Artillery: What else can I say, but WOW! A fairly open map in some areas, that will lead to some long range rifle(or One-Shot...there's 2 of them) battles, but also a couple inside areas for some CQC action. The map itself looks amazing. The sky looks menacing as hell, and once the tornado kicks in, all hell breaks loose. Warning sirens blare off, the trees blow like crazy, the visibility goes down(but not as bad as Trenches), and its just plain INTENSE! My favorite map of the 5....although its barely there.

Cove: Gorgeous map. For some reason, reminds me of Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco lol. A ton of cover in this map, leading me to believe there's gonna be alot of CQC here. The fog that rolls in is a nice touch, and limits visibility quite a bit, but not so much it totally impedes the play, like Trenches.

Jacinto: A HUGE improvement on the original. Epic really took their time with this one. Instead of just the one way up out of spawn, you now have 3 choices. You can go up and out the normal way into the courtyard like in Gears 2, but you can now also stay to the outside and go directly down to the mortar area behind the Boltok spawn, or stay towards the inside of the map, and go into a new path that goes underneath the Grenade spawn and directly down to the HoD/Boomshot area. Massive, much-needed improvements here. All the Imulsion, the darker feel of the map, and the rain are some nice touches to this already awesome map. Well done, Epic. Well done!

Raven Down: Now, I cant say much about the original, since I didnt play Gears 1 online, but judging on just from what it is in Gears 3, I love it! Its actually fairly small compared to most maps. I would say its pretty close to Thrashball or Checkout size. Alot of open areas for some heated rifle battles, but also some tight, inside areas for some epic CQC action. The snow is a nice touch, one I personally love since I grew up in an area with a TON of snow almost year round. Every so often, a small blizzard kicks up and limits the visibilty quite a bit(but again, not nearly as bad as Trenches). Amazing remake of a Gears 1 map.