As if this year’s most dominant shooters weren’t already loaded with content, January is shaping up to be quite a good month for new DLC. Epic has just announced that on January 17, they’ll be dropping the “Fenix Rising” map pack DLC for Gears of War 3. Five new maps make up the bulk of the content included in 800 MSP pack. Anvil, Escalation, and The Slab should be a bit familiar to longtime Gears fans. Anvil Gate was once a stronghold where Marcus and Hoffman meet up in the opening of the very first game, but now it’s overrun and dilapidated. Escalation takes place at the Fenix estate, and should bring back some not-so-fond memories for both Marcus and fans alike. The Slab is where Marcus was imprisoned at the beginning of the first game, and should provide players with plenty of dangerous choke points in its confined spaces. Depths and Academy are newer maps that round out the pack.

Additionally, the DLC will come with new character skins, including a new Thrashball Cole, two Savage Locust variants, and newcomer Recruit Clayton. The most surprising inclusion though is the new experience system, Re-Up. Now players who reach level 100 can have the choice of re-upping, which will start them completely over at level count. Players can re-up three different times for some new exclusive weapon skins. Though the level count will start over, all other progression (including TrueSkill) and unlocks will remain unchanged. All in all, it’s quite an impressive DLC pack, and we can’t wait to jump back into some of these classic locales.

SOURCE: Gears of War 3 Kicks off the New Year in Explosive Fashion [Press Release]