Nate Lanxon

Tuesday 11 August 2009, 5:48pm

Gears of War 2 Dark Corners DLC tested

Shooting a Brumak in the face: is there anything more satisfying?

Watching Lars von Trier's Antichrist with girls, sure. Though to be fair, these two activities share several common themes. It's the Brumak choice we're focusing on today, however, because I spent a whole bunch of time shooting the waste out of one at the weekend.

Dark Corners is the new Gears of Wars 2 DLC on Xbox 360, costing 1,200 Microsoft Points (around £10). In addition to seven new multiplayer map packs, it includes a brand-new single player mission -- a 'deleted scene' deemed too crap unnecessary for the main game.

New single-player mission
It's a weird level: half Gears 2, half Splinter Cell, a decent player will complete it in about 15 minutes. The scene takes place just after -- spoiler alert! -- Dom painted some cave walls with the brain of his beloved wife (she'd gone rather nuts and kinda needed it, TBH), and sees the pair bust their way into the Nexus, pulverising a whole bunch of enemies on the way.

Shooting a Brumak in the face

Except you don't have to. If you'd rather, you can choose the 'stealth' option and quietly sneak through dressed as an enemy Theron guard. This way, only the latter half of the mission involves blood and carnage -- the first bit involves walking quietly around enemies so they don't smell you.

No, really.

New multiplayer maps FTW
It's good fun in co-op, and there are multiple new achievements to earn. But the real value comes from all the new multiplayer maps you get -- seven in total. And if you buy the All Fronts collection for 1,600 Microsoft Points (roughly £14), you not only get Dark Corners and its maps, but all Gears of War 2 map packs released to date.

It's a worthwhile download for fans, but I highly recommend you only cough over the cash if you enjoy the multiplayer elements of Gears. The new campaign chapter is extremely short, and by no means worth the money by itself.

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