14 DAY TRIAL // 
Roadie run still looks ridiculous, the characters should feel the effects of steroid use, weapons are not so much killing tools as carnival effect dispensers and many elements of the game feel lifted straight out of the space marine mythology.
But Gears of War remains one of the most important shooter franchises of the current console generation and Judgment, the game created by People Can Fly and Epic Games, feels like a solid final chapter in the universes’ evolution on the Xbox 360.
Story
I don’t think that there’s any way to inject new life into the story side of Gears of War, but People Can Fly should at least get credit for trying to do something different.
We all know that there are human heroes, the Gears, big hunks of armors and muscle that carry big guns, who need to do their best to take out the Locust, the arachnid and monstrous mix of enemies that threaten humanity with extinction.
Judgment is a prequel, which makes it instantly less appealing than the rest of the series, and the game also suffers from the chronic lack of charisma of protagonists Baird and Cole, who cannot make the shift from supporting cast to the front of the stage.
There are some moments where People Can Fly aims for depth and tries to stir feelings deep inside the player, but the story of Gears of War is just a slim reason to keep pushing forward to take out grubs.
But the only story element that truly works in Judgment is the framing device of the trial, which allows characters to seamlessly step back into their memories and narrate the adventures of the player.
With enough points earned during gameplay, players can also unlock the Aftermath campaign, which sees the crew return to areas already explored during the Gears of War 3 timeline.
Gameplay
The core of Gears of War remains the same in Judgment: movement is mainly done by Roadie run, shooting is executed from cover, melee combat is infrequent but highly satisfying.
It would be suicidal for the core elements of the game to change in any way and the entirety of the new game is designed to show off their best aspects, with plenty of corridors and arenas that players need to first clear of enemies and then defend from waves that seem to follow them around.
The cast of enemies is also known to fans and suitably varied, offering interesting challenges to the player and forcing him to adapt both his weapon loadout and his tactics to the way the various levels are built and staffed with opponents.
Apparently, soldiers in the past of the Gears series have less muscle, which means that the player is limited to two weapons, but the limited capacity makes sense given the new arena style battles, which always give the characters time to resupply and find a good spot from where to start the fight.
The biggest gameplay twist in Gears of War: Judgment is the Declassified concept, which allows players to get through any missions with a modifier and get extra information about the story while facing a tougher challenge.
One mission floods the level with gas that messes with the player’s vision, another allows only some weapons to be used and others change the way enemies attack or the targets they choose.
The twists are all interesting, even if the actual difficulty they introduce varies wildly, and the development team at People Can Fly uses them very well to change up the traditional gameplay of the series and introduce some sorely needed innovation.
Graphics and audio
Gears of War: Judgment looks as good as a game can on the Xbox 360 this late in the console generation and the team at People Can Fly manages to create some truly impressive city areas for the player to look at from vantage points, filled with both beauty and destruction.
The levels are also well designed and the team has managed to brighten the traditional gray and brown look of former Gears of War titles, with splashes of color popping up both in outdoor areas and inside buildings.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that Microsoft and Epic Games will ever launch Gears of War: Judgment on the PC, so the level of quality offered by the aging console must suffice.
Sadly, the sound design is less solid, with voice actors that never manage to instill any sort of true emotion to the lines they are given and with music that soars appropriately during combat moments, but fails to make any sort of long-term impression.
Multiplayer
Gears of War: Judgment introduces two new multiplayer modes: OverRun and Survival, which include fine ideas for players who want to spend time working with other human players.
OverRun mixes the best ideas seen in Beat and Horde and allows for teams to face one another, with solid choice of classes and collaboration key to success.
Survival is a variation of OverRun where players only need to worry about playing as humans and the A.I. waves sometimes offer a stiffer challenge than other humans.
Players who are looking for a more traditional experience can play the Domination mode, built around objective capture, the old Free for All Deathmatch and its variation, Team Deathmatch.
As Gears 3 before it, Judgment has a lot of ribbons and awards for players and there are plenty of skins that gamers can unlock via gameplay or by using real-world money, which can also be used to pick up Double XP bonuses.
Dedicated players will also find plenty of features to enjoy in the multiplayer mode and there’s enough content here to keep a gamer occupied for a few weeks when playing OverRun. I also like the idea of Declassified, taking a normal game level and twisting it in ways that surprise the player and change some core elements of the genre. The problem is that the modifiers seem badly matched with this prequel campaign. People Can Fly, who have shown their development skills with Bulletstorm, should instead get to use the Declassified idea on the entire Gears trilogy, taking all those classic Epic Games levels and delivering innovative takes on them. It will be interesting to see what Epic Games does with the Gears of War franchise on the next console from Microsoft, whether the team aims for a revolution in terms of design or once again settles for evolution.
The Good
The Bad
Conclusion
