Announced by Epic Games’ Rod Ferguson over on the Gears of War forums, Gears of War 2 will be putting its foot forward this weekend in celebration of the US’s Independence day.

Starting Friday morning you’ll be receiving double XP as well as a 500 XP bonus awarded to the winning team. And to give a little extra bang to Horde we’re bringing the Ticker squad (a group of Tickers that all spawn at the same time) into full effect. They’ll be showing up a lot more throughout all the waves of Horde and they’ve completely infested every 10th wave with nothing but Tickers. So if you’ve been having trouble with Bloodmounts, this weekend is a good time to get your Horde on and get further than ever before. And don’t forget that TU4 will give you experience for every wave you beat.

If you haven’t played Gears 2 in a while this would be as good a time as any. Bungie Day will still be waiting for you on the 7th.

[Via Gears Forums]