Reviews// Gears of War: Judgment

Before I go into detail about these other game types, we’re going to revisit the gameplay aspect of Judgment. Earlier, I said that the campaign felt a lot like GoW3: very cover-based, very slick. The multiplayer is a whole different kettle of fish. It feels much more bulky than the campaign, very similar to how the first Gears game felt. There are also some missing aspects. Throughout the GoW games, we’ve grown to know that hitting RB a second time with the correct timing after reloading will reward you with an Active Reload – stronger bullets, basically. Well, that’s absent from Judgment’s multiplayer modes.

Another feature that we’ve always known is DBNO (Down but not out). If you lose enough health, you’ll find yourself in DBNO. You’re able to crawl away from enemies or towards teammates, but other than that you can’t do very much. This feature gives you a second wind, a chance for teammates to save you from your attackers and revive you. Again, it’s missing from the multiplayer games.

Personally, I’m quite happy that DBNO and Active Reloads are absent. You always found that one guy who would fire out a full shotgun clip and 'Pre-Active' before entering a fight with you, or you’d get a couple of DBNOs and find that your greedy teammates have fired a few bullets in to steal your kill while you’re fending off any other attackers.

As for the other modes, Team Deathmatch is pretty straightforward: two teams fight it out kill for kill. The first team to reach 50 kills wins the round. Simple. Free for all... well, it’s a free for all… every man for himself! Now, I presume most of you will have played at least one of the CoD games? Domination is pretty much the same. Each map has three rings. You capture a ring by standing in it. Rings earn points, points win the game.

Survival and overrun are where the multiplayer gets a little bit more complicated – only a little bit though. Survival is very similar to Horde mode, except rather than fighting to stay alive, you’re fighting to defend your objective. As you lose an objective, you’re pushed back to the next one. Once you’ve lost both objectives, you have to defend your generator. Essentially, if you manage to survive all ten waves of enemies, the generator will power up and wipe out any remaining Locust.

Overrun is a similar concept, but there are two teams of players. One team plays as the COG, and the other plays as Locust. The aim for the COG again, is to defend their objectives from the attacking Locust until the time runs out and the generator powers up, wiping out the attackers.

What’s interesting about these two modes is the class system that’s been integrated for the COG team. There are four classes to choose from; Engineer, Medic, Soldier and Scout. Each class has a different attribute that they can use to contribute to the battle. An Engineer has a repair tool, which he can use to repair fortifications. The medic is packing Stim Grenades, which can be thrown to heal her allies. The soldier can drop ammo for his team, and the Scout has a beacon grenade to reveal the location of the Locust.

Overall, I feel that the Judgment campaign is nothing ground-breaking. It feels more like an extended DLC than a new game altogether. Nonetheless, it has a very interesting story and plenty of things to keep you occupied. I feel that Overrun and Survival are great ideas and have been executed much better than the previous game types (Horde+Beast). Here we have a welcome twist on an old favourite, and I look forward to getting my teeth into some co-op play with some mates.

Pros:
+ Interesting story
+ Overrun and Survival are great ideas and have been executed well
+ New twist on GoW

Cons:
- Campaign feels more like an extended DLC than a new game
- Baird’s a shit character, Epic could’ve picked a better protagonist

SPOnG Score: 8/10