Gears of War 3 Kicks off the New Year in Explosive Fashion with “Fenix Rising” Map Pack Featuring New Experience System Available Jan. 17.

Action-packed game add-on for the highest-rated shooter of 2011 introduces five new maps, four character skins, and a system that lets players “Re-up” through level 100 to unlock exclusive weapon skins.

On Jan. 17, the battle for Sera rages on as Microsoft and Epic mark the New Year with the release of “Fenix Rising,” the third major game add-on for the most critically-acclaimed shooter of 2011, “Gears of War 3.” Featuring five spectacular new multiplayer maps inspired by significant locales in the “Gears of War 3” campaign, “Fenix Rising” also introduces four new character skins and a new system that allows players to rank up through level 100 multiple times to unlock exclusive emblems and weapon skins.

With the purchase of the add-on, players who attain level 100 will have a choice to “Re-up” for another tour of duty to showcase their valor and dedication as elite “Gears of War” fans. Their experience and rank will be reset, but all other progression (including TrueSkill rating) will remain intact. Players can “Re-up” up to three times, earning a new rank icon color each time: Bronze (default level 100), Red, Green and Gold. Each “Re-up” level after Bronze also awards the player an exclusive, custom weapon skin that cannot be obtained by any other means:
Re-Up Plasma – Animated flowing plasma in gold | Re-Up Omen – Shiny, red Omen | Re-Up Electric – Animated, golden electric shocks.