Gears of War Judgment is the fourth and probably last installment of the series for Xbox 360. This title took some small departures from the first three and introduced new controls and game modes. Being the first outing of the Gears series by People Can Fly all I have to say is it's a mixed bag for sure whether this is the best of the series. I know some people loved it and some people (my wife) hated on it a soon as it was known that they would change a few things.
In the beginning we see Damon Baird and company in hand cuffs being hauled into a COG courthouse among the wreckage of a city we can only assume was steamrolled by the grubs. Kilo squad messed up for sure and bad enough that a death sentence is being considered. The story plays out as each member of Kilo tell their story of what happened and why they chose to use the light mass missile against strict orders not to. It starts with Baird's testimony and moves to each member in turn.
Gears of War Judgement at it's core is much like the rest of the series: intense gun fights, amazing visuals, tight controls and sound that is expected from the guys at Epic Games. There are some changes to the controls, however, that I feel were for the best. No longer do you switch between weapons with the d-pad clearing up some of the "Whoops, wrong gun" moments in previous games. The Y button swaps between the two weapons you can carry.This is a nice change but not at the expense of no longer carrying a side arm as a third weapon.
My favorite change to the control is no longer having to equip a grenade as a weapon before you can aim and throw. This is now done by holding LB and releasing after proffered targeting is achieved. A quick tap will blind throw the grenade to great effect if used on large groups in close proximity to your character. Also you can grenade tag walls and enemies by holding the button and pressing B. It merits to note that the tac/com is now the D-pad.
The visuals as I said are about on par for the series with a few smoother textures and characters models that look sharp. I have noticed that the overall character design is slightly different from Gears 3 but not much to complain about. It's nice to see the continuation of more vibrant colors and vastly different set pieces from scene to scene. But coming from Unreal Engine how wrong could they go with the leaders of gaming engines. The sound is great in Judgment, from the fowl mouthed shouts to gun fire. Everything sounds believable and the louder the better. I will say I did not enjoy the soundtrack as much as in previous titles.
In my tour of Judgment I fought chaotic battles that really made you think on the fly and use tactics that vary from shoot and run, cover your butt and adapt to unconventional battles as far as the norm for the series. You fight from roof tops to city streets and everywhere between. I was relieved to not find myself underground in this title feeling like they have fully explored that before extensively. In the game you will come across declassified missions that you can opt to challenge or avoid. Accepting these game changers award you with higher scores for your kills unlocking characters and weapon skins to use in multiplayer. I felt like the game shined during these parts when it was utilized to it's fullest. One particular Declassified mission had you fight mostly melee class grubs while the room was filled with sight limiting smoke. Forget shooting and break out those chainsaw bayonets. The blood will fly and fun will be had. I died a lot at parts like this.
This leads me to my next favorite thing about Gears of War Judgment: the spawn system for enemies. No longer will you be fighting the same group of enemies at each encounter. This is done similarily to the Director from Left 4 Dead. Enemy types will change each time whether you are reloading from death or playing through again. I think this type of game play should be the norm from now on in the series, keeping things fresh and changing up tactics every time you play. The only time the same adversary will pop up is if it's scripted or specific to the Declassified.
Gears of War Judgment is far from a bad title or even mediocre, but there is something to be desired from this newest outing. Where is the vehicle segment, the on rails segment and why is there no horde mode? These things held the title back from the excellence the series has achieved. This was also reflected in the sales of the series, the game selling far less than it's predecessors. All in all though, there is fun to be had with Judgment, the minor hiccups of story or depth shouldn't turn you away if you like shooters or if you are a long time fan. I give this game an 8 out of ten.
Multiplayer review to come. Happy gaming my friends.
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