Newsflash:

New Annex Multiplayer Mode

Don't let the lull in gunfire and grenades fool you. Gears of War® is readying its next deadly onslaught with an upcoming title update, currently set to siege Xbox LIVE® on April 9 at 4:00 P.M. Pacific Time. In addition to the small-arms fire of a few adjustments to the title's multiplayer battles, the Gears of War update delivers an explosive and game-changing new multiplayer mode known as Annex.

In Annex Mode, control key objectives to win.

This free title update features a number of welcome features, such as better letterbox support when using VGA cables, various gameplay adjustments, and the ability to see the Kill Message Ticker while down-but-not-out. But the biggest news is the emergence of the new Annex game mode.

Annex Objective
Capture and hold key locations to collect enough points to win the round.

In Annex, you win by keeping control over key map locations, or objectives, long enough to collect a winning number of points. Every map has two to five identified objectives available for capture, with one objective active at a time. Objectives are based on map weapon-spawn locations and have a potential value of 60 points toward either team's score.

Take over objectives with your team.

Teams collect those points by maintaining ownership of an objective until all its 60 points have been distributed. Every second that a team controls an objective, the team gets one point. When an objective falls to zero points, the next objective is selected at random.

HUD Indicators
On the HUD, the current objective appears below the team scores at top left. This indicator contains several pieces of relevant information. The weapon icon inside the circle indicates which weapon-spawn location is being used as the objective. The compass along the outer edge of the circle shows the relative direction to the objective.

Get ready to start blasting.

The number inside the circle indicates how many points remain at that objective and the background icon color indicates which team currently controls it. No color means the objective awaits capture, a red icon means the Locust hold the objective and a blue icon means the COG hold it. When the icon in the indicator circle fills, the corresponding team's score also changes color, the team begins collecting points from the objective, and the point value of the objective drops.

Map Objectives
On the map, a projected ring marks the physical location and boundaries of the objective in the world. The ring's color indicates the current captor: White means neutral, blue COG, and red Locust. To capture an objective, stand inside the glowing ring uncontested for a short period of time. How long depends on how many teammates stand in the ring at once. One player can capture an objective in eight seconds, two players in four seconds, three players in two seconds, and four players in one second.

Once a team takes an objective, they are not required to remain inside of the ring to maintain ownership. The captured objective's points drain until an opposing team member enters the ring, or until its points fall to zero.

Round scores can be set as low as 120 points or as high as 480 points. The first team to reach the target score wins the round.

Respawns
Unlike previous Gears of War multiplayer game modes, Annex allows you to respawn back into the current round after you've been eliminated. Respawns happen in 15 second waves. This means players can get back into fight after as little as 1 second or as long as 15 seconds. Any teammates that died during that time will respawn together to continue fighting as a team. The introduction of infinite respawns means that kills in Annex don't count towards any of the kill-based achievements like "Seriously …" or "The Nuge."

Options:

• Selected Map: Which map or series of maps to use.
• Number of Rounds: Number of rounds required to win the match.
• Bleed-out Duration: Amount of time before a player dies while DBNO.
• Round Score: Number of points required to win a round.
• Friendly Fire: In a player match, determines whether teammates can damage each other.
• Private Slots: In a player match, number of player slots reserved for friend invites.
• Weapons Swapped: In a player match, lets the person who sets up the match determine whether weapons that appear in the maps are replaced or removed.