My thoughts on "Hidden Fronts."

Just a quick rundown on the new Gears maps.

Bullet Marsh -
First of all, there's TWO STORIES on this map. A first for Gears (don't start with me. You'll see what I mean when you play it). When you spawn, you have the option of two paths. The one leading uphill teaks you straight to a sniper rifle (one on both sides). You can then turn a corner and head to a shelter that has frag grenades, smoke grenades (don't ask, because I don't know), and a boomshot. Or you can take the straight path and go to the TORQUE BOW. Yes, with emphasis. I love this weapon. There's also a generator where you can turn off the lights over where the snipers spawn. Yes, you guessed it, Kryll come down from the sky and attack. If you're in the darkness long enough, they'll down you (yes, just down you). Overall, it's an awesome map that makes you think, unlike some of the "run and gun" maps. It also brings something new to the table, which is always welcomed.

Stinger's rating: 8/10

Subway -
While a fun map, this one definitely isn't the best for ranked play. The bottom side feels so overpowered, much like Escalation. There's two spawn points, dowstairs and upstairs. Downstairs is the inside of a subway station, with quite a few trains you can get inside and barricade yourself in. not to mention that there is a torque bow inside one of the trains. There's also a boomshot and a set of frags downstairs. Upstairs (outside in the rain) is a set of frags (WAY out of the way) and a sniper with an AWESOME sniping point. However, there's so many things to hide behind downstairs it's not a huge advantage. There's two sets of stairs too, which is great, since they aren't that close together. I'll definitely be setting this one in my player match cycle, but you won't catch me in very many ranked games in this map.

Stinger's rating: 6/10

Garden -
My least favorite of the four maps. It has a very Mausoleum feel to it. Anyway, Garden has a hammer of dawn, boomshot, and two snipers. However, to get to the two snipers (which are in small green rooms) you have to hit three button (which are right beside each other) to cut off the TOXIC FUMES that are in the room. I don't know WHY there are THREE buttons, but whatever. It just wastes time. I'd much rather turn the toxic fumes on to kill people. Instead, they just turn back on automatically after 15 seconds or so. The hammer of dawn and boomshot are relatively close to one another, both in the center of the map. However, my biggest complaint about this map is that there are SO many places to hide. Not to take cover on, but to HIDE. I can see myself searching for some dumb, talentless jerk who's hiding somewhere in the map because there's two people left on my team and he's the only one left on his. That's pretty much the only reason Fuel Depot gets on my nerves. But what can I say, at least it isn't Raven Down.

Stinger's rating: 5/10

Process -
The new hotness! This is a great, great map. It's the smallest of the four, and has a TON of power weapons, but believe me, it balances out. You spawn on opposite sides of the map (such as Canals or War Machine). Let's say you spawn on the COG side. On your left is a torque bow, while a sniper is on your right and a boomshot is in the middle (roughly). There's two sets of frags on the sniper side (one for locust, one for COG) that aren't terribly out of the way. The coolest thing is the boomshot/torque interaction though. To pick up the boom you have to go up a few steps. In between the boom and torque there's a fence. You can't boom the torque, but the torque can shoot through the fence. Now, before you say how unbalanced that is, listen up. If you run straight there, you will get to the boom about 5 full seconds before someone reaches the torque, giving you plenty of time to jump down the steps. Plus the fact that the torque has to charge before it can stick you, it balanced out the map very well. There's PLENTY of things to take cover on, but pretty much NOWHERE to hide. I don't know how well the sniper will be utilized in such a tight space though. I guess I'll figure it out when I play with Reg. This may be my new Canals (which is my current favorite level). Overall, this map is near perfect.

Stinger's rating: 9/10

So there you go. Unless you're trying to "boycott" Microsoft by waiting to get them for free, these maps are ABSOLUTELY worth the 800 points. I've boycotted a lot of downloads (themes, picture packs, Guitar Hero songs) but I finally bit the bullet. Don't let Microsoft ruin your fun. Buy these maps and play with your friends right now. They're worth it.