Gears of War continues to be an absolute sensation for Xbox 360. The alien-fragging blockbuster has already moved 2.7 million copies worldwide in less than two months thanks to a whack of stellar reviews, great gamer word-of-mouth, and the acclaimed TV spot featuring Gary Jules' haunting rendition of Mad World.

The Gears of War universe gets a little larger Jan. 10 when fans of the popular shooter can download two new exclusive multiplayer maps. Here's the best part - both map packs will be available free on Xbox Live Marketplace. Now there'll be even more terrain on which the COGs and Locust Horde can shred, annihilate and frag to their hearts' content (translation: expect to see gangs of bleary-eyed gamers shuffling the streets of your town later this week).

Microsoft is also releasing a patch update for Gears of War this week to fix a handful of minor housekeeping issues.

A Gears of War trilogy and movie deal are sure to follow at some point. Hopefully the cinematic treatment will be better than the collection of craptastic video game flicks on the market. I'm looking at you Doom.