The three "new" maps included in the new Map pack are a bit of a switch from the current Gears 2 Maps due to the fact that they are actually very small maps and make for much more intense battles.
Of the three, Gold-Rush is actually an "Old" Gears of War map. But many of you may not have seen it before, it was one of the Maps that shipped with the Windows version of Gears of War. It is a very simple map, you have an upper section and a lower section, the upper section has Torque/Sniper, the lower section has Grenades and Boomshot/Mortar. Coming from either spawn puts you near a stairway that leads up to the main level, at the top of the stair you can either go straight, sticking to the main/lower level or you can go up another flight of stairs to the upper area. The Torque/Snipe area is the source of many heated battles as it also overlooks the lower area and provides an amazing vantage point to attack the players that went for the boom/mortar.
One of the best features of this map are the stairs that lead up to the upper level. Thay have some nice little spots along the side where you can duck out of site as well as shoot at people coming from below you. Another nice thing is that planting smoke grenades in the little side nooks is an amazing advatage here since they usually have to slide all the way to the bottom before they can get back up.
Of the other two new maps, Fuel Station (So sad that this was not fuel Depot...) Is nice and provides some new items like a small gas station with stairs and an elevator to get to the roof where the flame thrower is. This is a nice place to hold since there are only two ways up. I am not used to the placement of weapons yet but I think this map will be very fun.
The last map, Flood, has you battling on a small map under/near a collapsed section of freeway. You can sneak around the backside of the map from one spawn to the other fairly easily, though most team will rush for the center of the map where there is a Hammer of Dawn/Mortar spawn. This map is very small and though I like the fast pace, I have to question putting a Hammer and Mortar on this as the map is way too small for them and you usually take the other team out in seconds once you get the weapon. The other item that ensures that you will be in constant battle, is that the map is surrounded by immulsion and it starts to rise and flood the map the longer you play meaning you are pushed towards the center of the map. Nice map, but the Mortar/Hammer of Dawn really unbalances it.
Anyway, I will have more on these in the coming days. Glad to see at least one of the better Gears of War for Windows maps made it over, Now if only we could get Fuel depot, Bullet Marsh, Old Bones and Raven Down added via another flash back map pack...