➤ RAAM's Shadow on Humanity 🎮

The Game is available for download on the Xbox Live service

It is time to add some extra content regarding the single player of Gears of War 3: RAAM's shadow is the third DLC available on the Xbox Live marketplace regarding the latest Epic masterpiece on 360. After the first two dedicated to multiplayer, here are finally some healthy hours of story and twists. The expansion, consisting of five campaign chapters, will be available to all Xbox 360 users starting December 13 at a cost of 1200 Microsoft Points, or free for all those who have already purchased the "Season Pass".

A jump in the past

RAAM's shadow tells the vicissitudes of the Zeta Team (Michael Barrick, Minh Young Kim, Tai Kaliso, and Alicia Valera) even before the events narrated in the first chapter of the saga. But that's not all, in addition to the three / four hours of gameplay, the DLC also adds six new skins for the characters in multiplayer to Gears of War 3 (in addition to the four protagonists of the story, including that of RAAM and the Theron guards), a skin per weapon (chocolate flavored) and 250 new points to unlock through 10 objectives.

The story sees us catapulted back in time, a few days after the infamous Emergency Day, in the city of Ilima City with the aim of safeguarding human lives and saving survivors of the first alien attack. And here's the first news: the game setting, the city, is still standing, beautiful and not affected by the war. During the five chapters of RAAM's shadow the situation quickly turns towards catastrophe. Buildings collapse, buildings on fire, the population fleeing and hiding and our helplessness in the face of such a large-scale attack. But we fight on the street, door after door, enemy after enemy and we continue in our mission. In the very first chapter, a novelty immediately arrives: the mythological "Hammer of the Dawn" is no longer controlled by aiming at the chosen target, but through a sort of laptop that allows us to observe the view directly from the satellite and to aim at the target from 'tall. Just like it happens during some phases of Call of Duty or the last Battlefield with air strikes. In this DLC we play as Michael Barrick, a rocky marine with few words and a cigar always in his mouth, rather than the leader of the Zeta Team who is Minh Young Kim (from Gears of War 1). The other two members of the team are Tai Kaliso (from Gears of War 2) and the new charming and spirited Alicia Valera. It is obviously possible to play multiplayer and face all the missions in co-op, or select the Arcade mode that allows you to "score" competitively during the actual story.

Xbox 360 achievements

This DLC adds to the classic 1000 points of Gears of War 3 another 250 to unlock, through 10 new achievements. Most of them are unlocked by going through the five chapters of the story, without too much difficulty, while a couple are related exclusively to the multiplayer mode. Pretty easy 250 points, all in all.

Retro-Twists

Without wishing to anticipate anything, we can only say that in the relatively short history of RAAM's Shadow there will be at least a couple of twists and interesting "stories" of some famous characters from the universe of the saga. The plot, despite being linked to a costesto shoot'em up, is very important in Gears of War because it is full of facets, stories, people, and it is no coincidence that books and comics are needed to tell everything (or almost). The uniqueness of the characters is then one of its most important characteristics: each has its own character, its own distinct physiognomy. We cannot therefore not appreciate the new heroine Alicia, which can also be selected in multiplayer once the DLC package has been downloaded. Nice also the idea (now no longer a secret as it can also be deduced from the objectives already declared) of directly commanding General RAAM, during some phases of the game interspersed with the control of the Zeta team. This alternation of good / bad phases is very reminiscent of those already seen in Halo 3.

The leitmotif of RAAM's Shadow it is certainly the progressive decay of human civilization. The destruction of the city of Ilima City is inexorable, very fast and progressive. Even the graphics engine, the infamous Unreal Engine in its best form, helps to recreate this feeling of decay, thanks to the new in-game physics that allows you to move, break and destroy many elements on the screen. Some steps of the game involve the destruction of some objects in order to continue or kill the enemies, as well as some easy and intuitive puzzles to solve. During the second act, for example, we are called upon to eliminate three Seeder giants lurking under a huge building. After trying to throw everything at him, here's the tip: take out the columns that support the building with boomshot shots and make him collapse on the creatures. The idea, in itself very beautiful, however, remains practically the only one of all 3/4 hours of play. We would have liked to have seen a more massive and gameplay-important interaction with physics, just like in this case, but for the duration of the game and not just in a scripted spot. But perhaps, for that, we have to wait for the next Unreal Engine and the new Xbox. In any case, the graphic cosmetics is as always first-rate, with an incredible impact at every shot, all enhanced by a masterful artistic direction that once again manages to perfectly mix graphics, style, colors, lights, effects, and once again an incredible architecture of the city. On the screen there is everything: dozens of enemies, an environment designed with a thousand details, dirty, rotten, in short, alive and pulsating. It goes without saying that the audio sector is once again up to par with the rest, with orchestral music that emphasizes the drama of some moments (made even more beautiful by the magnificent slow-motion cut scenes) and the tension of waiting in others. RAAM's Shadow is a wonderful experience linked to Gears of War and not necessarily only the last chapter, and ultimately a must purchase for all those who want to deepen the universe of the Epic masterpiece.

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A substantial update that extends the Gears of War experience, introducing new characters, an intriguing story and many details about the universe created by Epic. RAAM's shadow it is a small pearl that will delight all fans, satisfying all kinds of appetites: it extends the story, introduces new elements of the game and gameplay, it is beautiful to see, as always. If we really have to find some flaw, the first thing that comes to mind is that it does not offer any new game mechanics, but the usual and classic tried and tested gameplay. But we're not even sure this is bad either.