A stripped-down Gears of War

User Rating: 6 | Gears of War: Judgment X360

Gears of War: Judgement is a prequel to the Gears of War trilogy. In this game, Lieutenant Baird and Kilo Squad are on trial for disobeying orders. The story is delivered through a series of flash-backs as each character recalls the events leading to their arrest.

True to the series, the plot isn't anything special and simply gives you a reason to shoot the Locust armies. However, the game-play has changed in structure, and is more of a merging of the usual campaign and horde mode. What you get is very short levels, often just a few rooms joined together and you will have to defend your position, or break enemy lines.

As you kill enemies, statistics will pop up about how many kills, headshots, executions you have accomplished and this will be compared to your friends on a leaderboard. Although it seems like they are doing something new, all it really does is break up the pacing and ruin the immersion. Instead of feeling like you are part of a war, it just feels like you are shooting enemies for points which was what horde mode was all about.

A three-star ranking is on display at all times. This is then filled depending on kills and the ways that you kill them. You are penalised for being knocked down. At the start of every zone, a large red COG symbol will be painted on the wall. Activating this will give you an optional challenge which will accumulate stars at a faster rate. These 'Declassified' missions change the difficulty by restricting the weapons you have, increasing the amount of enemies, the types of enemies, or giving you a handicap such as extreme fog.

You are now limited to carrying two guns of any type (rather than 3 with restrictions). There are a few new weapons too, such as the Breechshot (a Locust long-range rifle) and the Markza (semi-automatic sniper rifle). There's a few new grenades, one of which regenerates health and revives allies.

There is an extra mode called Aftermath, which is set at the end of Gears of War 3. This has the standard game-pacing and feels much more entertaining. However, it's not very long and adds even less to the story.

I felt Judgment seemed like a cash-in. Three games is more than enough for the series, and this version seems more of a stripped-down game. It's not bad, but it doesn't add anything to the franchise.