Judgement is Upon Us

Gears of War has never really held a large place in my heart.  I mean, I have always enjoyed the games, but not the the extent that garnered its immeasurable success and adoring fans.  To me, it had always been an enjoyable action title that could steal a few hours of my day.  I had never been a huge fan of the multiplayer, and I definitely didn't care for the characters.  They seemed to be throw away action heroes that had little impact on the world of gaming.  Gears may be a staple in the industry, but Marcus really shouldn't be. 

Either way, I was surprised to find out the latest entry was going to be a prequel, and not feature Marcus as the main lead.  It seemed that Gears was willing to go somewhere else with it's story, so I was willing to give it a try.  What lies beneath the box art isn't quite what I expected, I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.

Mission briefing:

Gears of War: Judgement is a prequel tale featuring Baird, one of the main 4 protagonists from the Gears franchise most known for his sarcastic wise cracks and his shinny goggles.  This story is told in a sort of recollection manner.  Baird and his squad are being court marshaled mid-fight for crimes committed on the battlefield.  You experience the telling of this campaign through the eyes and words of all 4 squad members as they spread light on the mysterious circumstances.  Its not really different from many other war stories of its kind, and most certainly is no different from a Gears story, but it still holds together the campaign well enough.  The gist is that a big baddy named Karn is laying waste to the city and it's up to Baird's merry band of men and a woman to stop him via any means necessary, even if it means disobeying direct commands.  The trial hearing is under constant fire and there are many instances where they are interrupted by incoming enemies.  Its a hectic environment to tell a hectic tale.  Its cool to play out the events as the respective characters narrate the battle, and "declassifying" missions via an optional red insignia that you can toggle with reveal additional details as well as upping the difficulty level by requiring various objectives to be cleared; these can range from limited weapons or time limits.  A Gears game has never really been known for its story, they tend to be shallow, and expectedly so.  So the fact that this one doesn't break the mold isn't surprising or a bad thing, however, it is still an entertaining romp throughout the universe, even if it is a bit disappointing.  Still, you don't play Gears for it's storyline hopefully, you play it because you love cover based third-person shooters.  There is a continuation campaign called the aftermath that I have yet to play, but it could create a better setting/closure for the group, can't say, but here's to hoping.

Get a feel for combat:

Gears still plays like Gears, almost nothing differs from any previous installment as far as controls and the overall feel of combat.  A few new enemies and weapons are laying in wait, but those are the fun parts that you'll need to play the game to see.  From the cool micro-game reloads, to the frantic evasion, you will feel right at home playing this title coming from any of the gears games to date.  Multiplayer is still in full effect as well, though the beloved hoard mode is gone, instead we have it replaced by the new Survival and Overrun mode. Overrun is a decently fun mode that has you choose classes with specific abilities for either side.  The cogs play defense and must protect a point while the locus play offense and try to blow that shit sky high.  The classes feel unbalanced, turrets are powerful and sniping is weak, but ultimately there is a time and place for each class.  The locus have up to 8 different classes while the Cogs stick to a basic set of 4.  In survival you choose classes to defend against an oncoming wave of locus, but instead of normal horde style you have to protect points of interest, respawning until a conclusion is reached.  These are fine distractions from just chainsawing douches in deathmatch.  Multiplayer is basically as strong as ever, BUT, and a very big but, you are extremely limited on maps for the time being.  Their is promise of DLC (some of which is free) but currently there is little to do in the world of Gears multiplayer.  Its unfortunate, but not game breaking, pardon the pun.

Even with dirt in your eyes:

Gears still looks like gears, I mean it was never a terrible looking game as each one was released getting better and better, but the graphical leaps are hardly note worthy.  Heads exploding and body parts flying are still a pretty as ever, and the entire game has a gritty wartime feel due to lots of dirt, dust, and smoke filling the air.  As it isn't a numbered entry to the series, I suppose the fact that the graphics have barely improved can be forgiven, and since it wasn't an ugly game to begin with, I suppose we will just have to work with what we got.  The sound track is pretty appropriate with all the war time jingles you'd expect, with a bit of metal mixed in.  The voice acting and script is bland and boring, but it was never great to begin with.  Aside from the colorful language of Cole and a few snide remarks from Baird, the writing may as well have been done by a high school drama teacher. 

Final Judgement:

So what do we have in the end?  A lack-luster but competent story with poor scripting, fun and engaging combat, great yet limited multiplayer, and a Gears of War logo on the box.  Scrounging up everything and putting it into a pile, I'd say its definitely passable.  You aren't going to be blown away by the entry to the series, but it wouldn't necessarily be the worst use of your time to give it a go.

82% 

+ Gearsie combat = good combat
+ Fun multiplayer
+ Challenging with declassify turned on
+ New characters are way more interesting than Dominic and Marcus were
-  Mediocre story
-  Limited multiplayer maps
-  Weapon skins etc. = expensive DLC
-  Not a huge improvement on any systems from previous title

There isn't anything to hate about the title, but not much to love either.  But its still worth checking out if you have money, time, and an itchy trigger finger.

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