DLC Chapter is kinda boring for me. The story and characters are faaaar weaker then this time around. The sense of brotherhood and humor is almost totally absent. Not to mention the drive behind the narrative is weak as shit so far, running around trying and mostly failing to save civies. I miss Marcus, Carmine, Sam, Baird, Cole, hell, even Dom.
The RAAM stuff is dull as dishwater. Once you get past the "aw sweet I'm RAAM and I have a cool Y execution", you're left with this extremely linear, challenge-free zone of walking forward and pointing at people. Neither hard enough to get intense, nor destructive enough to be chaotic fun. Yawn.
We're never told how long Zeta squad was together. Marcus and Dom had been friends for years before E-Day. By the end of Gears 3, the members of Delta had known each other for nearly three years. I doubt that Barrick, Kim, Tai and Valera knew each other that well. I get the impression that their squad was formed temporarily to aid in the evacuation effort. Plus, you have to remember, the events of RAAM's Shadow take place mere days after E-Day. Not enough time had passed for any deep bond to establish between the characters. You can't deny that there was some chemistry and a few good quips though.
And yeah, RAAM's sections were little underwhelming. At first it was cool, but from checkpoint to checkpoint, controlling him just became more of a predicable chore. I never really got that sense that I was really fucking shit up and slowly destroying Ilima. However, I will say they did do a good job illustrating the gradual deteriation of the city, especially at the end at the
. The player just never truly felt a part of it, at least while playing as RAAM. Compare how bright everything was in the beginning compared to the start of chapter 5. All in all, Zeta's sections were more enjoyable.
I liked DLC, and would love to see Epic do more.
Remember: refer to Gears 1. Most of the series' brilliance lies in that game. Use it as inspiration.