July 2009 = National Downloadable Content Awareness Month
The month of July 2009 shall forever be known as National Downloadable Content Awareness Month. This is easily one of the top months this platform lifecycle to feature some of the most wanted DLC. It has been such a star studded month that it would come as no surprise to accidentally overlook one or two of these awesome game add-ons. So without further ado, here is a list of some of the highlighted DLC packs to hit PSN and Xbox Live this month.
Rock Band/Rock Band 2 – Mayhem Pack – 1080 Microsoft Points/$13.50 PSN or 160 Microsoft Points/200 Wii Points/$2.00 PSN per song
Rock Band has seen an occasional metal song from time to time since its release, but never has there been as big a metal release as the Mayhem Pack. It is a collection of the following eight tracks, with many of these bands making their Rock Band debut –
Behemoth “Conquer All”
Black Dahlia Murder “What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse”
Cannibal Corpse “Hammer Smashed Face”
God Forbid “Empire of the Gun”
Job for a Cowboy “Embedded”
Marilyn Manson “Disposable Teens”
Slayer “Black Magic”
Whitechapel “This Is Exile”
Gears of War 2 – All Fronts Collection/Dark Corners – 1600/1200 Microsoft Points
Over the last few months I finally have succumbed to getting addicted to an online shooter in Gears of War 2. I blame the ever-so-smartly marketed double XP weekend luring me in for “just one more match.” However, I never have caved to paying for individual map packs…yet. $10 a pop for each of the three map packs already out for Gears 2 is a bit too much than I desire. Epic Games is making a great offer for those who have waited with the new All Fronts Collection. It introduces seven new multiplayer maps and a “deleted scene” from the Gears 2 campaign that Epic is promising to deliver an additional hour and a half of gameplay in single player or co-op. The new campaign content gives players two paths to play the level in – all out guns blazing or stealth mode where Marcus and Dom disguise themselves as Locust as they make their infiltration.
For the hardcore that have already downloaded the previous packs the seven new maps and deleted scene can be purchased separately as the “Dark Corners” add-on for 1200 Microsoft Points. For those of us who waited however, for only 400 points more (that’s $20 all together), the All Fronts Collection will throw in the three map packs already available for Gears. Compare that to the $45 one would have paid if they bought all the add-ons individually and you would be insane to pass up on this good a deal.
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift – Adrenaline & Speed Packs – $9.99 each
After several straight weeks of free vehicle skin downloads, Pacific Rift finally rolls out two premium content downloads with the Adrenaline & Speed Packs. The Speed Pack introduces three new tracks that take place in the beaches and sandbars of the Pacific. There are also three new “Volcanic Remixes” of older tracks that add lava pits and other obstacles to avoid. The Speed Pack also introduces 32 Speed Events, a series of challenges where players can race through obstacles and obstructions for time bonuses and top leaderboard placement.
The Adrenaline Pack does not contain any Speed Events, but it still offers up three new tracks that contain more death-defying jumps than the Speed tracks. In addition to the new tracks there are also four Volcanic Remixes and one other all new remix to older Pacific Rift tracks in the Adrenaline Pack. I have already purchased both track packs, and the new tracks are well worth the investment after spending many hours online with them, and if you are crash prone like me than those Volcanic Remix tracks will easily help you earn the “200 Wrecks” trophy in no time.
KillZone 2 – Napalm & Cordite – $5.99
The third map pack for KillZone 2 boasts two new maps – “Arctower Landing” and “Suljeva Cliffside.” Worth noting in this map pack is that players can use two new weapons exclusively in these maps online that were previously only playable in the campaign – Players will get a chance to get their hands on the Boltgun 4400 on Arctower Landing and the VC1 Flamethrower while on Suljeva Cliffside. VC1 Flamethrower will appear for use on Suljeva Cliffside. With this being the third map pack already out for KillZone 2, Sony made a great offer for those who have yet to purchase any DLC with the option of getting all three map pack packs for $11.99, which is essentially giving away one map pack for free!
Halo Wars – Historical Battle Map Pack – 800 Microsoft Points
Halo Wars is hands down the best RTS to ever grace a console. While that may not be saying much compared to its competitors do not let that get in the way that Halo Wars is still a fantastic RTS experience that actually works really good on a console for once. One of the things I still would prefer from the PC side of an RTS experience is a map editor where the community could create and share as many of their own maps for free, but on the 360 side of things users have to pay $10 for four maps. Of them, two are designed for one vs. one play (Blood River & Barrens), a two vs. two map (Memorial Basin) and a three vs. three map (Glacial Ravine). I really like Halo Wars and have played a lot online, but I am just too adapted to the aforementioned model of downloadable maps in RTS games to shell out $10 for only four maps. I am all for new maps, but unless you really crave Halo Wars I would recommend holding out for the eventual $5 deal of the week special.
Downloadable Games – Holy Crap!
I originally went into this article wanting to highlight key game add-on packs this month, but I would be remiss to exclude and not touch on the highly anticipated PSN and XBLA games that went up for download this month. Xbox Live Arcade started its annual “Summer of Arcade” promotion this month with Splosion Man and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 being the first two games to kickoff the promotion, the latter is also hitting PSN. I had many countless nights of intense Marvel vs. Capcom 2 tournaments with my old roommates and it is one of the few games that keeps my Dreamcast still hooked up to this day. By adding online play and automatically unlocking all of the games’ 56 characters from the get go. Fighting fans would be foolish to pass on this $15 download instead of nabbing it for the $100+ it goes for on eBay today.
On PSN, the brick-breaker meets bullet hell shmup that is Shatter went up for download this month, and it has been receiving an incredible reception thus far. Also hitting PSN is one of the year’s most anticipated PSN games with Fat Princess! The adventure games genre has received a swift kick in the pants lately on the download front with Sam & Max tearing up downloads last month and The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition remake being released this month.
Prep Your Online Wallets!!
So while there may not be that many must-have disc based games being released lately, the advent of game add-on packs and downloadable content is a new reason to keep plugging away and breathe new life into old favorites. After seeing this list hopefully there is at least a couple of items that will peak you interest. If you’re like me, I usually end up buying one $20 points card every few months, but this month alone I had to get three this months DLC lineup. If you want to save a few bucks on points cards, hold off on impulse buying points over PSN and Xbox Live and check online retailers like Amazon and Buy.com as they frequently run sales on PSN and Microsoft Points cards.
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Tags: gears of war 2, Halo Wars, killzone 2, Marvel vs Capcom 2, motorstorm, Pacific Rift, rock band 2, Shatter
July 28th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I guess it did come out last month, but did anyone else download the recent add-on for Burnout Paradise – Big Surf Island? I’ve had boatloads of fun driving around on that island. The place is crawling with jumps (even a really huge ski jump)!
July 28th, 2009 at 9:00 am
@damo – Yeah, I picked it up, too. I’ve been waiting for Hilden to talk about it on the podcast, but I really like it. I haven’t gotten into it too much yet, as all this other stuff came out, but I plan on hopping back on in the next month.
Great article, Gruel! I realize XBLA has their “Summer of Arcade” promotion going, but let’s not forget that PSN has Fat Princess coming out this Thursday, and Trine should be coming out for PSN either this week or next week. Also, Wipeout Fury came out last week and I’m loving those new game modes (specifically Detonator…it’s basically a Wipeout shmup on a long, windy track…)
Anyway, I’m perfectly fine with this trend. If the publishers are going to drop all their AAA games in the Fall, then plan to release DLC for them in June/July. That would entice people to hang onto the games for longer, and keep you happy playing games all through the summer, without having to drop $60 on a brand new game that you know you’ll stop playing by October, when everything else starts coming out!
July 28th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Sorry, Moe…that last sentence of mine was an atrocity… I’m sure you’re experiencing facial ticks reading it…
July 28th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I had a bunch of fun with Shatter. I started playing and an hour later I blinked. I made it through the game using only one continue, but hopefully I can 1CC it at some point.
July 28th, 2009 at 10:57 am
I’ve also been waiting for Hilden to talk about it! Are you forgetting your Burnout Paradise heritage? I keep meaning to write an email to the mailbag, but then forgetting.
July 28th, 2009 at 11:15 am
The WipeOut pack is freaking awesome! I sorta forgot to talk about it on the upcoming podcast (you’ll figure out why I forgot once you take a listen), but it’s really, really good and definitely worth the $10.
Great article Dale!
July 28th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Man, Dale. Why the hell did you write this “article of temptation”. I’m going to go and get the Killzone 2 DLC for sure. I’ve been so addicted to this game since the (as with your Gears experience) the Double XP weekend happened. Now I can’t stop thinking about this game. I also checked out the Battle Replay system on Killzone.com and it’s just too much for me not to grab it.
Sadly, I have yet to purchase Big Surf Island. I’ll get on that one this week at some point and try and give some impressions on the show. I’m sure it’s all fucking bad ass, however.
I’m pretty fresh into Pacific Rift, so I’ll wait a bit before downloading that DLC but damn the though of new tracks makes that one a hard one to resist.
July 28th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I am going to stay up all night playing the new Gears maps and MvC2 tonight, just a spectacular month for DLC! When I was nearly done writing this I saw on the news feeds the announcement of Fat Princess coming out tomorrow and had to another addition. Thanks John for mentioning the WipeOut pack, I knew was forgetting one key release somewhere.
July 28th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I like all the DLC maps on Killzone, but I kinda wish it were easier to get the special weapons (e.g. nail gun or flame thrower) in the Napalm & Cordite Pack, as only having one per level makes it difficult to pick up before someone else grabs it.
But yeah, Guerrilla has done a great job supporting their game. I’m all about dropping the cash on more DLC from them!
July 29th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Hilden — if you’re looking for players on Killzone 2, the VGEVO community, myself included have plenty of nights of Killzowning. If you ever see Torgo playing, hop on and follow him and it will usually lead you to one of our beefy rooms.
Failing that, you can add me (PSN: BleakHarvest)… but I’m guessing you’re popular arse is already at 100.