- "Uh... Razorhail?! Not so good for my life expectancy."
- —Damon Baird
Razorhail breaks through a ceiling window at New Hope.
Razorhail was a deadly weather phenomenon unique to Sera. As its name implies, it was sharp, blade-like hail. Ice and Carbon Fragments ranged from tiny chips barely an inch across to shards half a foot or more in length. Razorhail chunks were often sharp, large, heavy chunks of ice that pummel, lacerate, and could cause death to those caught out in the storm. While short exposure is survivable, inflicting damage at an ever-increasing rate, rushing out into a Razorhail storm is fatal. Appearances of Razorhail were usually brief, occurring only during violent storms. If a player is caught in a Razorhail storm, a player's only options are to take shelter or die, although a Boom Shield can be used as an umbrella against the deadly shards.
History[]
During Delta Squad's investigation into the New Hope Research Facility, Baird remarked that it looked like Razorhail was about to strike. While Marcus and Dom went inside, Baird and Cole stayed behind to guard the Centaur tank they had arrived in.
When Marcus and Dom killed the Sires that they had accidentally awakened and shut down the AI Niles, they encountered Locust waiting for them. While fighting their way out of the facility, Baird informed Marcus that the Razorhail storm had come, and that he and Cole had taken shelter. Marcus and Dom reached a large room with a circular glass ceiling, and Locust forces began attacking them. The Razorhail smashed through the glass and killed the Locust.
Still in the facility grounds, Marcus improvised various forms of cover to protect him and Dom from the Razorhail while they fought their way back to the Centaur tank. They later encountered two Maulers using their Boomshields to protect them from the razorhail, and killed them, taking their shields to use it as cover from the razorhail. When Marcus and Dom returned to the Centaur tank, the Razorhail storm had subsided.
Behind the scenes[]
Razorhail serves a similar function in Gears of War 2 to the one performed by the Kryll from Gears of War and Gears of War: Judgment; serving to block both friendly and enemy forces from entering them. It creates a gameplay mechanic limiting the player's movement and enemy movement to specific areas and forces the player into finding ways to create or find safe pathways through a completely inhospitable environment.
Razorhail makes a prominent appearance in Gears of War 2 in Act 3: Gathering Storm. Damon Baird and Augustus Cole are forced from their original position (guarding the Centaur Tank) by an oncoming Razorhail storm. The Razorhail proceeds to make for a difficult challenge for Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago as they move to regroup with the rest of the squad and causes minor damage to the Centaur, which Damon has to fix.
There is also a Multiplayer map in Gears of War 2 known as Hail, which features periodic Razorhail storms, unless playing on Horde Mode (which has no hail).
Appearances[]
- Gears of War 2 (First appearance)
- Gears 5