Gears of War: Judgment
Producer: Epic
Release Date: March 19, 2013
Platform: Xbox 360
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Judgment Night
Written by Jesse Seilhan
Spin-offs can be a dangerous thing. Veer too far away from what makes the original great and you’ll have fanboys and girls up and arms. Stick too close to the original and many will wonder why the stopgap title was ever released in the first place. With Gears of War: Judgment, developers People Can Fly were taking over the reins from Epic, a studio that built the Gears franchise into something monstrous. Microsoft basically has this series to thank for its current success, as the two-headed beast that is Gears of War and Halo has propelled them to dominance in a post-Call of Duty universe. With Judgment, players are taking a prequel approach to the story, spending all of their time with B-characters Baird and Cole, as opposed to the beloved Marcus Fenix and Dom. The story puts our heroes on trial, having to explain their actions to a military person who is not too happy with their decisions. While the war is raging on the outside, each piece of the story is told and then played in flashback style, all leading to a thrilling conclusion and boss battle fit for the franchise.
The campaign has a few additions that make this a worthwhile journey. First, the “Declassified” missions are fantastic. Akin to the skulls in Halo 3 and 4, these optional modifiers mutate each level into something more challenging. From restricting ammo and weapon selection, to giving strict time limits on completion, this minor twist of fate is not only more fun to play, it is contextualized in a way that makes the whole thing make sense. Secondly, a few controller changes are a welcome sight, including a quick grenade button and a faster weapon-swapping animation. Both keep the game from ever slowing down and allow the player more diversity in battle. The story mode is quite long, and performing well within it unlocks a playable epilogue, a story that takes place concurrent to Gears or War 3.
Multiplayer is where most Gearheads go for fun and they might find that this is where the game is lacking. Gone is the beloved Horde mode and in its place is Survival, a wave-based mode much like Horde, but instead of building fortifications and calling down artillery strikes, five people must collectively use four distinct classes to keep the Locust from destroying a generator. The mode is certainly stressful like Horde, but nowhere nearly as fun or as experimental. As for standard versus modes, Team Deathmatch, Free-for-All, and Domination are back, but gone is Execution and Capture the Leader. Even worse, there are only four maps to play these three modes in, meaning you better learn to love each one or your online experience will suffer. The community is still deeply addicted and the unlockables flow like wine, so time spent online will be met with great reward, but there just seems to be less to do online than in past games. Having to buy the season pass just to keep the proper amount of modes and levels seems like a rip-off. With the right group of friends and a few free nights, I am sure there will be plenty of replay value between both multiplayer versus and the co-op campaign, but the lack of innovation and dearth of multiplayer maps keep this from being a classic. If you want more Gears of War and have grown tired of the last output, this will definitely keep you happy.