Gears of War Judgment - The official GSA review

**KENT HAMMER** Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:14 pm

Gears of War: Judgment
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developers: Epic Games, People Can Fly
Reviewer: Kent Hammer

Gears of War: Judgment is set many years before the original trilogy and this time the action centres around Kilo Squad. A rag tag group of soldiers led by Damon Baird and Augustus Cole plus newcomers Sofia Hendrick and Garron Paduk.

The story this time has them trying to save the city of Halvo Bay from an overwhelming number of bad ass motherfucking grubs!

We meet the protagonists in a military courtroom and the impending drama all unfolds from here. The action is in the form of flashbacks of their testimonies and you get to play through the each act and begin to piece the stories together.

We have to usual Casual, Normal, Hardcore and Insane difficulties but the twist this time is the declassified missions. These are an optional challenge you can select at the start of each mission, by doing so you enable the easier acclumation of stars with a max of three each time. Bronze on Casual, Silver on Normal, Gold on Hardcore and Onyx on Insane. I felt this really added a great new addition to the action and it also adds great re-playability of the campaign and provides a fun and satisfying challenge.
Although getting every star on Insane will only be possible for me by making a few of you horrible scrotes play along with me whilst I hang back and snipe and revive!

Examples of declassified mission might be completing the chapter using only sawn off shotty's or all the grubs are equipped with one-shots (you barely feel death coming this way). The ones I found most challenging were either the “You have 4 minutes before the area gets Napalmed” or “The thick smoke where visibility is really challenging” but all were very rewarding and made me want to keep trying again to get that damn third star!

Most of the weapons will be familiar too fans of the series with a couple of exciting heavy duty new additions. Also the grenades are now mapped to the LB button and don't need to be selected first and the two weapons you can now hold are instantly and easily swapped by tapping Y, which I think had really made me enjoy the whole experience a lot more. Ammo and weapon drops are in abundance and this does encourage you to try out the whole armoury as you work through the campaigns. Plus the new Onyx ammo caches that refill all weapons to their maximum capacity, which is nice.

Gears of War Judgment - The official GSA review Gears-11

Right now for the genius bit, once you get to around 40 stars in the courtroom campaigns you unlock the hidden campaign “Aftermath”. This is a lost chapter from Gears 3 that takes place in that same time line and really adds great value to the overall package on offer here. I am being very careful not to add any story related spoilers here as its so much better when you get to break some virgin territory yourself right? *-)

Oh and I must finally add that for the campaigns and multi player Judgment introduces a new smart spawn system. This ensures that each set piece and encounter is 100% unique, because each time you play the timing, types and even the starting locations of all grubs will be changed up. This again ramps up the fun and re playability.

Now onto the multi player side of things, includes are many new and challenging maps but this time you get to jump on unsuspecting enemies from above! This is a great new addition and it really adds to the tactics being able to jump off the edges and not feel so walled in any more, Nice!

The modes included this time around include-

OverRun: A class based mode that wages the Locust against the COG in an objective-oriented mode. This is basically 5 on 5 but with new class based, competitive action. So someone will be the Medic where you can throw health stims and revive your team mates from distance or the scout who can climb to loftier heights and tag the enemies for all to see. Then we have the soldier who can throw ammo to team mates and finally the engineer who can repair all your barricades with his handy blow torch and also place sentry turrets to help kick some ass!

Domination: Again 5 Vs 5 combat where teams compete to control three rings placed throughout the maps. The first team to hit the magic 250 point mark is the winner here!

Survival: A nice new twist that kinda combines Horde and OverRun. Using the same class system as OverRun you battle against ever more mental and evil waves of grubs with the objective to survive ten waves. Flipping difficult this was with the mutes I played with online! So I truly can't wait for some series Gamerscore Addicts style 5 in a bed action!

Free for all: No not more 5 in a bed action you bloody pervs! This mode throws team tactics out the window and is a full on battle for survival against up to nine other players or bots. This is a first for the Gears series pitting COG against COG.

Team Deathmatch: This mode is a fan favourite and pits five against with a shared pool of respawns. So its a race to take them out before they deplete your own pool.

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Achievements coming in a steady stream and you are of course rewarded for playing on insane. Plus play thru the campaign with your buddies or your mum. The more sticky grenade ones involve getting to level 50 three times over and unlocking all the ribbons but they will come in time and you can even get permanent double XP if you buy the season pass VIP thingy (oooooooh controversial!)

I can thoroughly recommend Gears of War: Judgment to both fans of the series and newcomers alike. Its great fun and offers good re-playability both alone or with friends and you cannot ask for more than that.

9/10 almost perfect!

**Tricky34** Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:29 pm

Nice review mate, I have to admit I was a bit worried when I noticed you had reviewed it, since you have been quite vocal of the Gear of Bore series before.

I will be picking up my copy on Friday morning, probably from Sainsbury, as I've currently got £40 on my Nectar card.

Definitely looking forward to some GSA nights on this.

**minkey_monkey** Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:33 pm

I was totally prepared for you to call this gears of snore! Glad you didn't as I'm really looking forward to playing this when mine arrives.

Good review.

**KENT HAMMER** Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:48 pm

Thanks guys. It really is a great game where the action keeps on coming.

I am playing it again tonight even though my work is done, so that tells you everything about how much I like it Very Happy

Waggly Bean Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:54 pm

Looking forward to this one, even though Baird is a dick. Razz

Guest Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:00 pm

Great review. Really looking forward to a great campaign with no stupid vehicles or large worms or riding reavers, just none stop combat!

chrism1066 Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:29 pm

Great review mate, deffinately gonna pick it up next week!!

stubbymite Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:08 am

good review mate will pick this up at somepoint no doubt

just with so much to play through i cant add another to the dust pile Rolling Eyes

Guest Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:15 am

Gears of War Judgment - The official GSA review Dispat10

On its way, woohoo!

Ninja Yaro Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:36 am

Nice review mate, looking forward to playing this on Friday.

**KENT HAMMER** Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:38 am

This is not a game to sit in the dust pile.

You will really want to play online with friends as its more fun with others.

The campaigns have many horde like sections and the declassified options really add tension and fun restrictions.

Tenlo Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:57 am

Great review, looking forward to GSA sessions on this, finally be able to join the GEars and Beers nights!

Stee01 Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:38 pm

Nice review KentHammer. As you know how much I love playing games. I won't be getting this till later in the year cause I am broke at the mo Sad

Its this or Bioshock Infinite, so I am getting Bioshock first. I am glad Gears getting top reviews, was bit worried since Cliff Bleszinski left. I am glad they pulled it off. Not huge fan of Baird anyways.

Guest Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:06 pm

Just remembered I am taking Mrs Markav to see phantom of the opera on Friday night. That was bad planning, Doh!

Gabhlan Wed Mar 20, 2013 4:46 pm

Been hearing good things about this. Just in case anyone missed it the BETA is available for anyone who wants to give it a try now and can be downloaded from the dashboard. It only has access to the Overrun game type but will give you a flavour of what it's like.

I downloaded last night and had fun with a few friends on it. I always loved Beast mode on Gears-3 so was really enjoying taking on some decent human competition in Overrun and chowing down on some COG scum. Playing as the COG was some fun too I suppose Very Happy

I haven't pre-ordered but will be picking it up in a couple of weeks. I'm not in a major rush to get my hands on it so don't mind waiting for the price drop.

Colne Crusader Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:32 pm

Damn!!! Why are there so many good games!! Not enough money and time!!! Grrrrrrrrrrr!! Doesn't help that i'm a massive retro fan too! HELP!!!!!!

Kev Lar 1 Wed Mar 20, 2013 10:18 pm

Great review Kent. May seriously consider getting this as I have only really played the campaign in the previous games and not been interested in the multiplayer, but reading your review is tempting me to buy this and try the multiplayer.

**KENT HAMMER** Thu Mar 21, 2013 12:04 am

Kev Lar 1 wrote:Great review Kent. May seriously consider getting this as I have only really played the campaign in the previous games and not been interested in the multiplayer, but reading your review is tempting me to buy this and try the multiplayer.

Hope you do get it mate as your a good shot and I need your help!

Guest Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:14 pm

Got my copy bounce

Kev Lar 1 Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:54 pm

KENT HAMMER wrote:
Kev Lar 1 wrote:Great review Kent. May seriously consider getting this as I have only really played the campaign in the previous games and not been interested in the multiplayer, but reading your review is tempting me to buy this and try the multiplayer.

Hope you do get it mate as your a good shot and I need your help!

I try my best. Pre-ordered my copy today so hope to have it tomorrow or Saturday.

Guest Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:35 am

The multiplayer maps are a breath of fresh air full of new ideas. I was impressed with"the rig" where there is a raven stationed ready to take off. You jump in and man the troika turret as the raven flies you around the perimeter of the map.

Gabhlan Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:59 am

Picked up my copy yesterday too after some cajoling from a few friends. The raven is cool, I've not gotten to try it out yet though, but have seen friends using it while dead LOL. I like the other things too like the secret passages in the library level.

Favourite mode I've played has to be overrun. I love the tactics and also get to play locust.

I REALLY dislike the fact that all the multiplayer modes are COG Vs COG, as I find it quite difficult to tell friend from foe at times with all the skins etc.. and it hard to tell when someone's sneaking up on you.

Another annoyance is that left bumper is grenade instead of ghost view, as I never even realised how much I use that to keep track of team mates etc.. until playing this. Though I'm also needing it more as I try and figure out the maps and where the power weapon are.

**Tricky34** Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:43 am

Glad your enjoying it Gabs, the ghost view is now down on the Dpad and it stays on for a couple of seconds after you press it.

I'll admit I've only played a few bits of multiplayer so far but I've enjoyed what I've seen. Managed to get on the Raven gun, before being sniped with a Breachshot.

RabidHellBunny Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:26 pm

Nice review Kent - I've read it now I've played the game!

Guest Mon Mar 25, 2013 3:04 pm

great review matey

glad everyone is enjoying the game

added to my buy list

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