New Free Maps Confirmed for Gears

In a partnership with the Discovery Channel, Microsoft this week will release two new downloadable Gears of War maps for free via Xbox Live following a software update; $25,000 in Microsoft Points up for grabs.

According to Microsoft's global marketing team blog Gamerscore, the Discovery Channel is sponsoring the content in conjunction with the January 15 season premier of its “Future Weapons” series, which focuses on advanced future weapons technology.

Discovery Channel will also be giving away “an unprecedented” 2 million Microsoft Points ($25,000) that can be used to purchase Xbox Live Marketplace content. There will be multiple winners (i.e., there won't be just one person that receives 25 grand to spend on the Marketplace).

The two new maps are dubbed Raven Down and Old Bones.

Raven Down is apparently influenced by the story behind Black Hawk Down, and has Gears fighting Locusts in a search for survivors after a Raven chopper goes down in the middle of a battle.

Old Bones involves the preservation of history, as Gears try to reclaim planet Sera’s museums before the Locust destroy the buildings in an attempt to erase human history.

The maps will be available to download January 10.

In addition, prior to the availability of the downloads, developer Epic Games will release a software update on January 9 with the following modifications to Gears of War (via Epic's Gears Forums):

• Fixed aspect ratio distortion when using VGA cable with 4:3 displays at resolutions higher than 640x480
• Fixed voice issue with new players joining Player Match games in progress
• Players can now get the Achievement for "Dish Best Served Cold" when using Troika turret to kill RAAM
• Fixed rare situation where host could loop countdown and never start match
• Fixed rare situation where players could get stuck after chainsawing in multiplayer
• Reduced Grenade Tag melee distance
• Enabled “Strict” NAT check on host to prevent possible connection issues
• Optimized server browser queries to return results more quickly and prevent scroll bars from hiding quality of service icons
• Reduced number of possible revives in Execution to match Warzone
• Removed host name from Ranked match server browser
• Disabled security cameras in Ranked matches
• Ranked matches now require balanced teams (3v3 or 4v4)
• Increased penalty for quitting a Ranked match to -50 points
• Added additional cheat detection code
• Additional housekeeping updates

Next Generation