By: Robert Murphy
Hey everybody, just when you thought we’d seen the last of
the “Gears of War” games with the end of the Locust horde being beaten by
Marcus Fenix and his team but it turns out that there is more of the story to
tell in the latest game for “Gears of War”, “Gears of War Judgment”. This
prequel to the “Gears of War” games tells the story of what happened when the
Locust first emerged from underneath our feet. This time around the smart mouth
we all know and love, Baird, is coming out of the second string as a supporting
character and putting on his big boy pants, taking the main stage as the
protagonist of our story and of course his good buddy Cole Train is coming along
too. These familiar faces aside, this latest “Gears of War” has taken some bold
new changes for fans and new comers alike to the franchise and proves to add
some incredible new flavor to what we’ve known in past Gears games.
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| Young and cocky Baird |
Our two brotherly buffoons aren’t the battle hardened heroes
that players know from the old Gears games, Cole and Baird are young and
spirited soldiers with a finger to the authority type attitude about them and
boy are they going to show it. Along for the ride is the rest of Baird and
Cole’s squad, Kilo Squad, one a man by the name of Garron Paduk, who lost
during mankind’s last civil war (that is further explained in the “Gears of
War” books, which I recommend giving a read), aligns with his former enemies to
take down the Locust and a female character named Sofia Hendrick who has just
about as bad of an attitude as Baird but she desperately would like to further
her military success. And unlike the chummy atmosphere of Delta squad in the
previous games, the concept of being all buddy buddy isn’t really felt this
time with the various clashing egos of Kilo squad. But this has worked to the
benefit of the dialogue in the game between all the insults and sarcasm being
tossed around; it makes Kilo squad a highly enjoyable bunch of characters to
have this time around.
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| Kilo Squad |
Digging into the story, we begin the game at the end with
Kilo squad facing a military tribunal and being arrested for a crime that
players don’t know as of yet, the game plays all the action leading up till
this point. Like in previous games, the characters of Kilo squad will make
snide remarks at one another and comment on what’s happening around them and as
I mentioned earlier much of what hasn’t been said in the games but has been
revealed in the books is finally being revealed in the games. “Gears of War”
despite being branded as just a bloody third person shooter does have a rich
background to it and a great story which is finally shining through along with
the gore and guts. There is also a new element to the story this time around
with the new Declassified system which players can turn on before various
challenges, these will add a challenge for Kilo squad whether it be stronger
enemies or having you use a specific weapon type. This new variant also affects
the new scoring system in the game where killing Locust in various different
ways leads players towards getting a higher star ranking (activating a
Declassified mission also increases this as well).
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| Survival Mode |
Now going outside what the campaign has to offer, “Gears of
War: Judgment” as with all Gears games comes with multiplayer fun for you and
your friends. Survival mode is a new element to the party where you and your
friends are set to the task of guarding and E-hole’s and generators from waves
of Locust who try to destroy it. Now don’t worry you aren’t defending them all
at once, players start out defending one E-hole and work backwards to another
E-hole and then a generator if the Locust horde attacking you manages to
destroy them that is. Each player also must choose a character that has an
important role: engineers repair busted defenses and deploy sentries; medics
revive fallen teammates; snipers climb into high-up perches. Players will have
to make sure they work together in this mode because if somebody isn’t either
healing, fixing or supplying ammo, you and your team will quickly be overrun by
those grub bastards. Alongside Survival mode is Overrun mode which features
many of the same elements as Survival except your friends can play as Locust
and will try to attack and destroy your team’s defenses and try to open a new
spawn point while you try and stop them. If the Locust succeed, the COG fall
back and try again until the timer runs out or their third and final base is
destroyed.
If a few things could be said against “Gears of War:
Judgment” it would be the fact that players know what they are leading up to by
the end of the game, that is the way it is though when you have a prequel to a
game though. The game is solid all the way through but in the end you know what
is coming your way, it’s especially relevant when you once again see General
Karn from the first “Gears of War” come out as the terrifying leader of the
Locust. He’s definitely not as feared or as hated as he was in the original
game and players who have played the game know that he will lead to an
anti-climactic end to the game and it’s felt after you spent hours of enjoyment
playing the game only leading to this disappointing end.
In conclusion, “Gears of War: Judgment” is more than a
worthy addition the Gears games we all have played these past few years, the
game features all the same feel of its predecessors with a sleeker and more
defined package. Players move much faster and play more evenly than ever but
are placed in the same Gears environment that we have come to know but is even
more detailed and enjoyable to see and be a part of. And as I mentioned before,
for those of you haven’t read the “Gears of War” books, the game sheds light on
a part of the Gears story that players haven’t seen before and it is great to
finally see.
Good:
-Baird and Cole are still funny as hell and it’s nice to see
them step into the lime light
-Shedding light on a great part of the Gears story line
-Overrun and Survival mode are great fun for you and your
friends
Bad:
-The game suffers from prequel faults meaning you know what
you are leading up to long before the end