XBox 360
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Product Features

Genre
Action and Shooter
Publisher
Microsoft
Release Date
March 22, 2013
Available Platforms
XBox 360

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Gears of War Judgement

Emergence Day. Before the rise of the Lambent. Before the sinking of Jacinto. Before the Lightmass Bomb detonated. This was the day it all changed, the day the Locust Horde burst from the ground and started Sera on a path to near-destruction. Gears of War: Judgement takes the action back to the events following E-Day, focussing on Damon Baird, Augustus ''Cole Train'' Cole and the rest of Kilo Squad as they battle to save Halvo Bay from the Locust siege. The campaign is playable in both single-player and co-operative modes, with up to four-players taking part through Xbox LIVE. Told in flashback by Damon Baird as he stands trial, this is not just the early days of the Sera/Locust conflict, but the early days of Kilo Squad itself. Journalist and author Tom Bissell and partner Rob Auten have written...

  • Dan Grainger May 16, 2013 360
    ****

    Gears of War: Judgement is the latest entry in the best-selling Gears of War series, which has long been one of the Xbox 360's most enviable exclusive franchises.

    Following on from the previous trilogy (comprising Gears of War 1, 2 and 3), this fourth game is a prequel that steps back from the pretty conclusive ending of Gears of War 3 (all the way back to Emergence Day from the first game) to tell an earlier tale about a squad of soldiers who are facing a military tribunal for treason, and the path that led them there.

    Whilst that might sound a bit low-key compared to the epicness of the earlier games, it actually manages to still be a lot of fun to play, even if it isn't quite up there with the greatness of Gears of War 3.

    The structure of the game is interesting, with each level being the recollection of a different member of the team which is being given as evidence at the tribunal. So as you get to play as more and more of the squad, and see things from their perspective, you begin to get a wider understanding of the story and a more balanced view of each character.

    But that's pretty much where the surprises end, because Gears of War: Judgement is otherwise a very straightforward third-person shooter that doesn't stray too far from the conventions established in Gears of War 1-3. You have objectives to complete, you have Locust baddies to despatch, and you have a Big Badguy villain to battle over the course of the game, until you manage to see him off too.

    However, that doesn't mean that the game isn't fun to play, and anyone who enjoyed the previous entries in the series will probably feel the same about this one. The action comes thick and fast, with just as many stressful hair-raising moments as in the previous games, even if it doesn't feel like there's quite as much at stake here as in the original epic story.

    The graphics are also really good, with some slight improvements over the third game that help to give the action the brutal, weighty quality that has always been the hallmark of the franchise.

    Also, if you complete the game, you can unlock a cool "Aftermath" campaign that's set during Gears of War 3. It's a nice add-on bonus, especially as the main campaign is a bit on the short side, and it's nice to revisit the world of Gears of War 3 again even if only briefly.

    Luckily, though, the fun doesn't end there, because as with so many shooters, a big part of the game's appeal lies in the online multiplayer modes. I particularly enjoyed the "OverRun" mode that pits attacking Locust players against defending humans, whilst "Survival" is also pretty cool, although fairly similar to OverRun, just with the Locusts as computer-controlled baddies. And don't worry, there's all the usual deathmatch modes to enjoy too.

    If this is the last Gears of War game on the current generation of consoles, then it's not a bad send-off for the franchise, even if it feels a bit on the light side compared to Gears of War 3. In its own right, though, it's an enjoyable shooter that makes good use of the series' heavy action, brutal violence and cool sci-fi world, and which features plenty of decent multiplayer modes for you to enjoy long after you've finished the main campaign.