Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow

1. GTMippey

   Dec 18, 2011

   10

   Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow is the first story-driven piece of DLC for Gears 3, and hopefully not the last. This bite-sized campaign hits aGears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow is the first story-driven piece of DLC for Gears 3, and hopefully not the last. This bite-sized campaign hits a lot of highs in a short amount of time, and is thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.
   
   Playing as Michael Barrick and Zeta Squad is refreshing, after being given heavy doses of Marcus Fenix and Delta over the course of Gear's lifespan. Granted, you will care more about the characters if your knowledge of the Gears universe comes from more than just the games, as Barrick and Tai Kaliso feature in the comics and the books. The story itself is simple, and serves as a prequel to Gears 1. The objective is to evacuate civilians from Iilima before the Kryll Storm hits, and for what the story is, it works well. There's often a sense of impending doom and isolation, knowing you're amongst the last squads in the city. The gameplay is varied, and although you'll spend the bulk of your time blasting Locust, the game offers up different, exciting scenarios and set-pieces each time. One minute you're crushing Seeders with buildings, the next you're trodding through an empty school in darkness, with something haunting your every step. The DLC gives off some nostalgia that harkens back to Gears 1, and this is amplified by the return of emergence holes, beserkers and not to mention, the titular character.
   
   Of course, I'm referring to General RAAM, who makes a grand re-appearance. It's good to see Epic listens to their fans. He's as much of a badass as you remember, and this time, you can step into his shoes during certain parts of the story. These sections play out the same the whole time, but they never last too long and definately give you a sense of power. For me, however, it was a strange feeling to kill Gears so easily and quickly, as the games and companion novels spend so much time making us care about the COG and their plight, and show them as tough, battle-hardened warriors. It felt oddly out of place to just mercilessly slaughter them in the hundreds. But, that's a side of battle we haven't seen yet in the games, and it was good to get a different perspective nonetheless.
   
   The multiplayer works just as you'd expect, 4 player coop the whole game. The extra players play as the other members of Zeta Squad, and during the Locust sections, members of RAAM's personal entourage (2 Special Maulers with reflective shields and a Theron with a Bayonet-Enhanced Sawn-Off.) If you played coop in Gears 3 already, then you know what to expect. Good multiplayer fun.
   
   RAAM's Shadow isn't the deepest or longest piece of the Gears universe, but it fits right in to it, and offers up various bite-size chunks of the Gears gameplay we know and love, with the added twist of playing as
   the biggest badass of the series. If you're a Gears fan, or even a newcomer, it's definitely worth checking out.… Expand

   • 3 of 6 users found this helpful
2. Titan11

   Dec 14, 2011

   10

   rilliant! 10/10. - Excellent DLC pack. Truly brilliant at setting up the story for Gears 1 and seeing what it was like when the locust firstrilliant! 10/10. - Excellent DLC pack. Truly brilliant at setting up the story for Gears 1 and seeing what it was like when the locust first came up. Tension was high throughout the whole DLC and the COG's battle to get to their destination before the sky became dark was great! My only bad point was it did get a little boring playing as RAAM, but still was nice to see their perspective. I really hope for more DLC like that in the future. Overall, Great work Epic (:
   
   Loved it! A must buy for all Gears fans. (:… Expand

   • 0 of 5 users found this helpful
4. FineapplePucker

   Dec 27, 2011

   10

   Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow is what every dlc should be. The overall package is well worth the money, and then some. The story behind ZetaGears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow is what every dlc should be. The overall package is well worth the money, and then some. The story behind Zeta squad and RAAM is excellent and the game provides much diversity in gameplay. The add-on goes back before Gears of War to the darker and more depressing roots providing a setting that reminds me of what made Gears of War and Gears of War 2's campaigns so much fun. Even though you may already know the fates of certain characters the game still draws you in making anxious to find out what will happen to them. Playing as RAAM and his squad is also a new approach that is very well crafted. When playing as RAAM you walk around with your big butcher knife, and command kryll to decimate your cog foes while feeling nearly invincibly. This new combat style plus a new execution makes you feel like a badass.You should also definitely play in 4 player co-op. Don't worry about not playing as RAAM in co-op because the Theron Elite and the Maulers also have there own gameplay features that you should not skip out on, the retro sawed off with the theron and the reflective shields with the maulers. Despite the short 3-4 hour campaign, the high replay value makes up for it. Additionally, the new characters are brought out and introduced very well in this short time and fan favorites also return. New multiplayer skins, weapon skins, new achievements, and a solid campaign; what more could you ask for. I personally found this add-on more fun than the actual Gears 3 campaign due to the diverse gameplay and overall feel. This add-on is the perfect reason to buy the season pass and one of the reasons why I still play Gears of War 3. What are you waiting for? Get yourself a copy of Gears of War 3, some microsoft points, grab some friends, and have one hell of a good time.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. Jellosnake

   Jan 3, 2012

   9

   An absolutely fantastic addition. This add-on really kept the game fun for a decent price, even months after it's initial launch. Just what IAn absolutely fantastic addition. This add-on really kept the game fun for a decent price, even months after it's initial launch. Just what I needed to come back to it.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. Sirdjay14228

   Dec 16, 2011

   9

   Great story driven shooter, a ton of replay value, huge online multiplayer element with many, many unlockables to be had. if you have a pulseGreat story driven shooter, a ton of replay value, huge online multiplayer element with many, many unlockables to be had. if you have a pulse buy this game !… Expand

   • 1 of 3 users found this helpful
7. Professorfett

   Nov 11, 2018

   8

   Gears of War time wooo. For those of you that know I (Brandon) did not care for the latest addition to the series being Gears of War Judgment.Gears of War time wooo. For those of you that know I (Brandon) did not care for the latest addition to the series being Gears of War Judgment. If you were wondering and I know you were what Gears of War games I do like this DLC is exactly what I want. Is it short yes but it is also DLC and for 10 dollars I've seen bigger wastes of money on the Xbox live market place than a four hour DLC.
   
   The story is actually one I want to see adapted more often. It shows you two different sides of the story one from the heroes side and one from the villains side and that is something I've seen done in movies but not to
   often in games which is just a shame.The gears side of the story is you play as Barrick this balding cigar chomping overly badass of a badass. This guy is just an **** the entire game to everyone on his team. His team being good ole Lieutenant Kim (Gears of War), Tai (Gears of War 2) the deep philosophical brute, and another new character being Valera she is a COG trying to protect her people in this story they are attacking her home town so she has the most riding on this mission. There mission is evacuation because off this new General who can control these creatures known as Krill and they eat anyone alive that's in darkness. I do like how they bring back two familiar characters and show what they were doing before the events of the first game. Their story has everything I like about the Gears series it has climatic scenes and over the top characters and a pretty darn good ending if I might say. Raam's side of the story is destroy! Kill all humans! Block out the sun so your little pets can feast! That is his entire plot but I'll get into why it was amazing to play as him in a moment. The story is nothing deep but it did seemed a bit rushed the could've extended it by a couple of hours and made it just as good as the actual games.
   
   The sound quality is good I like the voice actor for Barrick he did fairly well. Too bad his character honestly was a pallet swap for Marcus Fenix they act very similar. Everything else with the sound is well Gears of War I don't know what to add that you don't already know.
   
   The game graphically is just like Gears 3 which it should be so look at that game and that's what to add. This is a DLC after all.
   
   The COG side of the gameplay plays exactly like Gears of War with about one difference. The only real change in how they play is how you use the Hammer of Dawn. Instead of it being portable it is a station you get only twice in the game and you go there and it turns into the top down look on the
   battlefield and that's how you use this super weapon from hell. Other than that it is exactly like every Gears of War on the market (except Judgment). Raam how ever plays very, very different. He is an unstoppable killing machine, you literally can't be hurt as long as the Krill surround you. What I love on top of being unstoppable is sending the Krill to eat people alive and the fact Raam uses a sword the entire time. Nothing is more satisfying then slowly walking up to some generic COG and cutting off his head. Sadly if you play this two player the second player is some generic Locust while player one is mother **** Raam.
   
   Overall I love this DLC I am just amazed on how much I loved playing the villain and then being the hero and defeating the villain I was just playing. This is only four hours but if you own Gears of War 3 and haven't downloaded this yet I say you must this is a must have DLC. I can't say good enough things about this I have to give this a high, high B+… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. THE_COCONUT_MAN

   Jan 17, 2012

   4

   Another HORRIBLE expansion which further enforces my personal opinion that Cliffy B has no idea what he is doing. The sheer popularity of GoW1Another HORRIBLE expansion which further enforces my personal opinion that Cliffy B has no idea what he is doing. The sheer popularity of GoW1 was more of a shock to him then it was anyone else and the whole franchise was like putting a child in charge of fireworks, a very, very bad idea… Expand

   • 1 of 7 users found this helpful

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