Disclaimer: I am a big Gears of War fan, so anything that is said in the coming review may be seen as bias opinion. However, that being said, since the announcement of GOW: Judgment, I’ve been concerned that it may be one Gears too far, or that they should have held out and launched as a release title on the next console, or that the announced changes will have a harmful effect on a series of games that is nearing the top of my favourite list for the Xbox 360.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. This is Gears of War, despite not being fully made by Epic (People Can Fly have thrown their development weight behind the game this time too), anyone familiar with previous Gears titles will feel right at home. And it become quickly apparent that this slots in comfortably with the trilogy before it, and holds its own at the same time.
Judgment is set before the events of the first game, and focuses on Damon Baird’s time as a Lieutenant in Kilo Squad, and what happened to strip him of that rank. Alongside Baird is fan favourite Augustus Cole, and completing the team are series newbies Sofia Hendrik and Garron Paduk. The team find themselves at a COG military tribunal with harsher that harsh Colonel Ezra Loomis playing the role of judge, jury and executioner. Through flashbacks you unravel the reason they are in the situation, as Kilo Squad try to defend their actions.
The campaign doesn’t play out as it has in the past. This time each act is split into a lot more shorter sections. At the end of each section you are given a star rating and are continuously reminded of how well you are doing compared to your friends with thanks to stat pop ups recording things from general kills, to headshots. At first, I just wanted to get stuck in to a normal Gears campaign, but after a while I found that this new system is actually very clever. I quickly found myself wanting to get all 3 stars, and was cursing if I just missed out, and getting that 1 extra headshot to move in front of Mr X on my friends list put a smile on my face every time. Horde style survive the waves have been introduced to the campaign as well, which actually fit quite well. Splitting the campaign up the way they have, has made the single player as accessible as multiplayer. A lot of casual gamers will pick up a shooter game, and play a game or two on multiplayer, before going about their day again. Gears has introduced the same concept into its campaign mode – and it’s a breath of fresh air.
Declassify missions are available in each sections. Turning these on will put certain handicaps in place for the level, making it tougher to complete, but rewarding you with being able to accrue stars quicker. Handicaps range from limited ammo, types of weapon available, impaired vision etc. Even without being able to get the stars, declassify missions allow you to play through the game for a second or third time and have a completely different experience. Replaying a Gears campaign has never felt so fresh. Having played through it all on Hardcore mode, I can tell you that the Declassify missions can really get tough, in particular the time limit ones. If that wasn’t enough, I’ve noticed that when I had to reload a checkpoint, enemies in the area that I’ve just played are prone to change from what they were before. So I may think I know what I need to do to succeed, and the game will throw new enemies into the mix to keep my thinking. It’s great to see a developer willing to randomise enemies this way.
Co-op as always is a blast. More than ever some tactics need to be considered before plowing into a horde of Locust. Team mates need to be willing to revive others, and decisions such as ‘who wants the Boomshot this time?’ need to be made. I had great fun playing through with 3 friends, and they made trying to complete certain Declassify missions a bit easier too. I’m still looking forward to playing through the game on Insane difficulty, and maybe again with the Declassify missions active.
The story itself is entertaining enough, with the classic Gears humour and banter between squad mates present again. But I didn’t feel the connection with the characters as I once did with Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. I also feel they could have made me want to kill main Locust Karn a bit more. There wasn’t a huge amount of build up to the finale, and the end itself was underwhelming, but I had a blast getting there.
If one campaign wasn’t enough, a second shorter mode called Aftermath has been included, which is unlocked after gaining a certain amount of stars from the main campaign. It again follows Baird and Cole, this time during the events of Gears 3. The 1-2 hours of gameplay plays out a lot more like a classic Gears campaign, and it’s interesting to see what the two got up to when Marcus ask them to find reinforcements. You return to Halvo Bay (the setting of the main campaign), and see what the effects of war have had on it.
Multiplayer plays a prominent role again. Gone is Horde mode, in is Overrun, a defend/attack the objective mode where you take turns being Locust and COG in defending or attacking emergence hole covers and finally a generator. This is a class based affair, with each class being able to affect the game in different ways. As the COG you are able to heal squad mates, give them ammo, repair fortifications, drop turrets and throw sensor grenades with the different classes, along with a variety of weapons for each. Locusts have more choice of class, but half of them are locked until you earn a certain amount of points. Overrun is great fun, but if you don’t work as a team, and the other team do, you’ll lose easily. Communication can be the difference between success and failure; I found playing with people in a party chat to be the most successful route.
Survival mode, is essentially Overrun but the AI control the other team. I think this is where Horde should have been included instead. While I enjoy Overrun, the challenge of surviving wave after wave of AI controlled character is more appealing to me. Other multiplayer modes include the usual deathmatch options along with a domination game mode. A new mode Execution has just been released. I think a couple more maps should have been included, 4 maps for Overrun and another 4 for the other multiplayer modes feels a bit light to me, despite some of them being brilliantly designed.
Levelling up on Gears of War doesn’t unlock anything to make you more powerful. Instead you get a number which is used for bragging rights. Every mode contributes to your rank, and you get to unlock new weapon and armour skins along the way – some are very strange to say the least, but it’s nice to at least have the options of having your gun look like it has got and animation of the matrix code running down the outside of it I guess. Other skins are available to purchase if you really want to stand out.
Gears of War: Judgment has surprised me. It somehow feels new, but still feels like same old Gears. There’s no looting, weapon upgrades etc. here, as has been the case with many AAA titles in recent memory. It’s good old fashioned pick your gun and shoot things with it. And even with it being the 4th Gears game, I struggle to find a shooter that gives the same satisfying feeling of hearing the crunch as you watch your enemies head disappear of their shoulders after a perfectly timed snipe, or hitting the active reload just before blasting someone into pieces with your overpowered shotgun.
If you’re a Gears fan, get on this. If you haven’t played Gears before and you’re a shooter fan, this is a prequel, so you don’t need to play the other 3 first (although you definitely should regardless). I went into this with the lowest expectations, and came out grinning on the other side.
