the first spin-off of Gears of War game franchise is pretty good
Judgment is the first spin-off in Gears of War series, developed by Epic and People Can Fly. While it retain the same awesome third person shooting mechanics the series known for, Judgment brings something new to the old formula, some works and some doesn't. But overall, the game is pretty good.
The Story
Set before the event in Gears of War, GoW: Judgment tells the story of Kilo squad, lead by Lt. Damon Baird, during the attack of Halvo Bay by one of the most feared Locust's Leader, Karn. The story is told through each member of the Kilo Squad's testimony in their military tribunal for treason. The story is pretty simple (too simple maybe) so i can't tell it without spoiled it. But let's be honest, story is never a strong side of Gears of War. One thing that i like is you will play as all member of the Kilo Squad. 7/10
The Gameplay
Judgment brings something new to the franchise. First thing you'll notice is the control. On Judgment, you switch weapon by pressing Y, the d-pad is use for Tac Com, while the LB button are use for grenades. This changes may take sometimes to get used to and it comes with sacrifice, you can no longer carry 3 weapons.
Second, the missions are separated into small sections where you need to be as 'awesome' as you can be to earn stars that later can be use to unlock new multiplayer character or weapon skin. To be awesome means headshot, finisher move, and gibs kill. To get full star on each section, you'll need to activate Declassified Mission, this is a feature that activate certain conditions that -mostly- make the game harder, for example limiting your weapon to handgun or shotgun or give you a limited time to finish the mission. Declassified Mission is really fun and the best new thing in Judgment.
Third, survivor and overrun mode. Survivor replace the Hordes mode from Gears of War 2 and 3. On this mode, you and Kilo Squad must defend an E-hole from 10 waves of Locust attack. If you lost the first E-hole, you will be forced to go back and defend the second one, if you fail that too, you will make a last stand to defend the generator. No economy mechanics in this mode but you can choose from 4 classes of COG, Soldier, Medic, Engineer, and Scout, each with their own unique ability. My only complaint with this new mode is that you can't change the preset weapons for each class. The same concept is brought to OverRun mode, only this time, two teams will alternately change between COG and Locust team. The COG will defend while the Locust attack. Each game last for 10 minutes.
Fourth, new weaponry. Markza, a semi automatic sniper rifle, Breechshot, Markza without the scope and Tripwire Crossbow. The sawed-off shotgun is now can shoot two shells, you can also take boomshield while using primary weapon now. The only bad thing on this new weaponry is the single shot Hammerburst and the lack of iron sights on it.
The cover-based 3rd person shooter mechanic is still the best in video game history and each firefight is intense and packed with action, although it still lack of creative set pieces from the first Gears of War. The campaign lasts for 5-7 hours depending of the difficulty level. 9/10
The Graphics
Although this is a part of Gears of War series, i can sense the 'not made fully by Epic' effect on this game. All this time, Gears of War is always the best looking game using the Unreal Engine 3 while the other games simply, not as good, even on Bulletstorm which developed by People Can Fly, a studio owned by Epic. This not-fully-made-by-Epic games usually have more vibrant color tones and looks a bit like cartoon or cell shading. The same things happens on Gears of War: Judgment, it's vibrant colors make it look a bit cartoony compare to the more realistic looking Gears of War 3. I don't say that Judgment looks bad, it's still one of the best looking game in 2013 but i hope it could surpass Gears of War 3. The characters looks great and detail, the textures, the effects, and of course the lightning looks spectacular, and it runs in steady framerate (so it outperform the console version of Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, and Sniper 2 but on par with Dead Space 3) 9/10
The Sound
As usual, Gears of War have great and epic scores, also a descent sound effects. The casts are doing great job voicing old and new characters too. 9/10
Verdict
Except for the standard story, Gears of War: Judgment is still an awesome third person shooter with great graphics and sound design and fun combat. A must buy for Gears of War and 3rd person shooter fans 8.3/10