Microsoft and Epic have announced the third major add-on pack for Gears of War 3, the very brutal and manly shooter of last year, is now available on Xbox 360. Featuring five new multiplayer maps, four new character skins and a new experience system, this map pack is looking to be full of some serious fun.

With the purchase of the add-on, players who attain level 100 will have a choice to “Re-up” for another tour of duty to showcase their valour and dedication as elite “Gears of War” fans. Their experience and rank will be reset, but all other progression (including TrueSkill rating) will remain intact. Players can “Re-up” up to three times, earning new wings colours each time: Red, Green, and Gold. The rank number will also be coloured Red, Green, or Blue. Each “Re-up” level also awards the player an exclusive, custom weapon skin that cannot be obtained by any other means.

The five stunning new maps – Academy, Anvil, Depths, Escalation, and the Slab – will be delivering endless hours of frantic online action across Versus Multiplayer, Horde and Beast Mode. Additionally, players who purchase “Fenix Rising” will gain access to four new character skins (Recruit Clayton, Thrashball Cole - Limited Edition, Savage Marauder and Savage Kantus - Limited Edition) for use in Versus Multiplayer and Horde Mode.

Fenix Rising is now available for 800 Microsoft Points or included as part of the "Gears of War 3" Season Pass. Look out for the last map pack which will most likely be sometime later this year. Check out the screenshots below of the new maps, and also gun chainsaw your way through to our game page for more info.

Epic have announced the first campaign downloadable content update for the recently released and hugely successful Gears of War 3 (AusGamers 9.5/10). RAAM's Shadow is geared up for a December 13th 2011 launch at 1200 Microsoft Points and according the press release "adds hours of new campaign mayhem".

Starring a cast of characters both new and eerily familiar to the series, “RAAM’s Shadow” will deliver more than three hours of gameplay set in a storyline that precedes the events of the first “Gears of War,” as well as six new multiplayer characters, the Chocolate Weapon Set and an additional 250 Gamerscore.

“RAAM’s Shadow” drops players into the events of Sera post-Emergence Day, as Zeta Squad is enlisted to evacuate Ilima City and protect the citizens against a Locust Kryll storm. Taking on the infamous Locust leader from “Gears 1,” General RAAM, Zeta is led by Michael Barrick (from “Gears of War” comics fame) and comprised of familiar faces such as Lt. Minh Young Kim (“Gears 1”) and Tai Kaliso (“Gears 2”), and also includes a new female comrade, Alicia Valera.

In addition to fighting as a new squad of Gears, players will step into the boots of RAAM himself, and for the first time storm the human stronghold from the perspective of one of the series’ most legendary bosses.

Additionally, RAAM's Shadow and the previously announced Horde Command Pack can be scooped up together if players purchase the Gears of War 3 Season Pass for 2400 Microsoft Points, the first of which will also include the next 2 -- currently unannounced -- DLC for a cumulative discount of 30%. Check out the full announcment for all the details.

As promised, our reviews section of the site is beginning its year-end explosion, and today we have Andy "Butters" Bulmer's review of Epic's epic conclusion to their epic Gears of War franchise.

As an avid fan of the series' story, Butters explores the deeper narrative on offer here, replete with just the right amount of closure for fans who've invested in the trilogy, but also talks about what makes Gears: frenetic combat.

The end result appears to be a perfect close to a franchise that has become an industry household name with a game that clearly stands as the best in the series.

Click here to check out the full review.

As announced at the Xbox E3 Media Briefing, Muscian and Law and Order Actor Ice-T had "gotten the band back together" and his infamous 90's-era hardcore/metal outfit Bodycount had laid down a new track for the hugely anticipated Gears of War 3. It was also revealed that Ice-T would be voicing a character named "Griffin" in the game.

Epic have released a new trailer today featuring Bodycount's "The Gears of War" track as well as a bunch of new gameplay action from the game's Horde 2.0 cooperative mode.

After getting the band together for a surprise concert during E3 at the “Gears of War 31” Horde Showcase, fans the world over are now getting their first taste of Ice-T’s lyrical contribution to the final chapter in the “Gears of War1” trilogy based on his experiences as a hardcore “Gears” player himself.

“I've always been a big fan of the game and got to play a lot of the new one during development,” said Ice-T of Body Count. “I play the character Griffin so when I was invited to also record a new track, the lyrics came pretty quick.”

Watch the embedded trailer below, or click here to watch in HD. Gears of War 3 is due on September 20th 2011, exclusive to Xbox 360.

Fresh out of a presentation at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con event, Epic Games and Microsoft have released a new trailer for the hugely anticipated Gears of War 3.

Titled "Crescendo", the ViDoc features the Epic developers discussing the lead-up to this huge climax for the series and shows off a few of the new toys and environments that will feature in the game.

Gears of War 3 is due exclusively on Xbox 360 on September 20th 2011.

Watch it emebedded below or click here for the HD option.

If you're someone who enjoys both the gameplay and story of Epic's Gears of War series, you might want to avoid any Gears-tagged YouTube videos for the next little while, as the single-player portion of the forthcoming Gears of War 3 was reportedly leaked, which has lead to a number of spoiler-laden vids hitting the Tubes over the weekend.

"We have seen the reports of Gears of War 3 content being propped on the Web and working closely with our security teams and law enforcement to address the situation," Microsoft told IGN. "This content is not from a final build and is not representative of what fans will enjoy when the game launches."

According to reports, the release doing the torrent rounds is an early developer build intended specifically to work on Xbox 360 debugs and its not known if this came from within Microsoft Game Studios, or Epic themselves, though Microsoft does have a track record of leaks like this plaguing them.

Gears of War 3 is due to arrive exclusively on Xbox 360 this September.

Right on Schedule, Microsoft have released the promised campaign trailer for Epic Games' hotly anticipated Gears of War 3. As the video's title suggests, the latest clip focuses on the game's campaign storyline:

Laced with explosive new gameplay, the pulse-pounding trailer offers a gripping preview of the enthralling cinematic story in “Gears of War 3,” as Marcus Fenix and his brothers-in-arms wage a desperate two-front war against the Locust and Lambent menace to save humanity.

Watch the trailer embedded below, or click here for the HD option.

Gears of War 3 is due on September 20th 2011, exclusively for Xbox 360.

In an interview with hip-hop site, Complex, Cliffy B talks about hip-hop's influence on his career and Gears of War 3, but also managed to let a nice nugget of info fly regarding his quest to get Master Chief into the game as an Easter Egg.

"I'll let you in on a secret. I actually approached Microsoft on getting Master Chief into the game, but those guys are kind of squeamish," Cliffy said when asked what the chances were of seeing either Commander Shepard or Master Chief in the game. "One of Halo’s successes is that it’s a soft M. Gears pushes it further. I’m creatively comfortable with that, though it can limit what you do. If you had to break it down, I'd say that Gears is like Mortal Kombat and Halo is like Street Fighter.

"But if we were to get Master Chief, we'd get his model, put him in a COG suit, make it blow up, and do some test animation work," he continued. "We'd have to see what his head looks like being blown to smithereens or how his arm would look getting sawed off. Then we'd package up the test footage, put it on YouTube, and let the fans get a kick out of it because everything is meta these days. That’s why Gears is packed with Easter eggs. That’s the kind of metagame we have to think about in a post-Red Dead Redemption world."

The rest of the interview is basically Cliffy being his usual self, which you either love or hate, but it's a decent read, regardless.

Gears of War 3 is due for a worldwide release exclusively on Xbox 360 this September 20.

Microsoft and Epic Games have released a new developer diary behind the scenes style trailer for the upcoming Gears of War 3. In the video, developers Rod Fergusson, Lee Perry and Cliff" Bleszinski discuss the game's multiplayer component, citing some of the differences and additions from the previous 2 games as well as their some of their beta test plans (which include dedicated servers).

Powered by dedicated servers, “Gears of War 3” offers the series’ most explosive and feature-packed versus multiplayer experience yet, and raises the bar with new game types, weapons, visceral executions, playable characters, squad communication tools, a deep player rewards system, and more. New players will enjoy the finely balanced gameplay and streamlined game types, which make “Gears of War 3” deeper and more accessible than ever before, allowing anyone to instantly jump into the action.

The “Gears of War 3” multiplayer beta opens on April 25 (11:00PM AEST) and runs through May 15 for everyone who preorders the game from EB Games. “Bulletstorm: Epic Edition” owners will get early access starting April 18 through the “Bulletstorm” disc. For full details on the “Gears of War 3” public multiplayer beta, including the new maps and game modes, please refer to the official Epic Games FAQ

There's also plenty of gameplay sliced in amongst the dev diary trailer so check it out embedded below or click here for the HD option.

Gears of War 3 is due exclusively for Xbox 360 on September 20th 2011.

Microsoft and Epic Games have revealed the official release date for Gears of War 3, pegging September 20th 2011 as the day we'll rejoin Marcus, Dom, Baird and yet another Carmine brother as they continue their Xbox360-exclusive battle against the Locust horde. Here's some bullet points on what to expect in number three:

• An enthralling cinematic story that captivates players in an intimately intense action game
  
• Five-on-five multiplayer experience as well as four player campaign co-op experience
  
• New multiplayer game modes including ‘Beast Mode’ – offering a new twist to the game where you take on the role of the locust horde and their assorted variations!
  
• New maps including: Trenches which features an impressive sand storm that reduces your visibility, as well as Overpass, Mercy, Checkout, and Thrashball
  
• New weapons including: The Bayonet Charge, The Retro Lancer, The Sawed-off Shotgun, The OneShot – a heavy sniper rifle that shoots through shields or cover for a surprise one shot kill, The Incendiary Grenade, The Digger Launcher and a few subtle tweaks to old favourites Hammerburst and The Classic Lancer. Don’t forget that each weapon now has its own execution move!

The release date press release also reminds us to keep our eyes peeled for a public multiplayer beta, coming soon.

Looks like the recent pushing back of Gears of War 3 has allowed Epic to make some much needed improvements to their multiplayer offering, with details emerging this week that they'd be offering up a full public beta for the game in early 2011 and that we'd not only see adjustments to things like in-game levelling, new modes and skill rewards, but also dedicated servers and true host-migration.

Dedicated servers is a big issue in the PC world, and more recently it looks like even console games are starting to get the treatment, with Homefront also offering console-specific dedicated servers (to help allow for larger player numbers among better connections).

Does this mean GoW3 will also have a larger number of players able to participate in multiplayer? We'll have to wait till early next year to find out, so stay tuned.

Microsoft and Epic Games are giving punters the chance to decide the fate of a new rookie set to join the ranks of Marcus, Dom and co in Gears of War 3 (it's a new Carmine brother), through the purchase of Xbox Live Avatar gear. Now, before you go all uppity about this being another money-making scheme - all proceeds of the Avatar purchases go to the Child's Play Charity.

Starting July 29 two new avatar t-shirts will be available on the Avatar Marketplace on Xbox LIVE - one shirt reads "Save Carmine" and the other reads "Carmine Must Die". By purchasing the "Save Carmine" shirt, you're casting your vote to let Carmine live in "Gears of War 3". Conversely, purchasing the "Carmine Must Die" shirt means you want to see Clayton follow in the fate of his brothers.

Gears of War 3 will close out the Xbox 360 exclusive trilogy, and will land on the console April 5, 2011.

Microsoft have made public the E3 2010 trailer for the slightly anticipated Gears of War 3. Cliffy B sets the scene and the gameplay footage commences in typically gory and graphic Gears style (mature audiences only, yo), showing some female Gears, the latest Unreal engine technology and the new mutating enemies. You can download the 256mb 720p version or stream it below.

A couple of new screenshots have been released as well; nothing to write home about really, but you can check them out on our Gears game page.

After the initial announcement (which apparently didn't go according to schedule), Microsoft have finally formally announced Gears of War 3 for 2011:

Developed by acclaimed studio Epic Games and available only on Xbox 360, �Gears of War 3� plunges players into a harrowing tale of hope, survival and brotherhood that will conclude the current story arc for �Gears of War�. With the last human city destroyed and the remaining survivors stranded, time is running out for Marcus and his comrades as they fight to save the human race from the jaws of extinction.

A trailer accompanies the release, which you can watch locally on AusGamers. Our game page also features some newly release screenshots.