New defense scenarios are just one of the fresh mechanics to be found in Judgment. |
The result of this focus is an experience that can be very satisfying in short bursts, with each of the sections working perfectly as snappy, isolated encounters. There's no fat on the bones of the campaign, with every sequence having been pored over and refined. It's a noticeable change of pace when compared to the previous Gears titles and makes for a refreshing take on games which have sometimes succumbed to some rather long winded, repetitive sections. The designers have also included a couple of different enemy waves for each level, meaning that you will get a noticeably different challenge on your first replay of any given area.
The lighting is just superb. |
Judgment also marks a fundamental shift where multiplayer is concerned. Previous Gears titles have primarily revolved around playlists based on rounds with one life per player and while other modes still featured, they were not the primary influence on map construction. The end result was levels that are often symmetrical, based primarily around a small number of basic cover constructions. There was very little utilisation of verticality and the designs were kept simple with a strong focus on additional weaponry pickups. With Judgment, however, team deathmatch steps up to the plate as the primary method of traditional versus play and this has heralded a massive change in the map design philosophy.
"B" gun's dry... Twenty on "A"... |
When Gears of War 3 added Beast Mode, a multiplayer offering where players took on the role of the Locust arrayed against AI humans, there was always that nagging question – what would it be like to play it against real humans? With Judgment that question has now been answered in the form of Overrun, a game type where two teams face off against each other, one human and one Locust. The Locust are tasked with breaking through a series of barriers and destroying three objectives in sequence. As each one is destroyed the level seamlessly moves forward to the next in a very slick manner, ensuring there are no loading times between each one, and the winners are the team who make it the furthest in the fastest time. The human side is class based, each sporting different weapons and a unique ability, be it supplying ammunition to friendlies, reviving them, tossing out radar-like grenades or deploying automated sentry turrets. On the Locust front an initial batch of basic types are available with more powerful units opening up as the player earns points from kills and the destruction of human defences.
Gears of War:Judgment screenshot.
"She's just a girl..."
Overrun truly is the best multiplayer experience to come out of the franchise to date. The Locust types are all varied, each with viable battlefield roles. Some can access different areas, others can provide direct buffs to each other and, out of the eight classes on offer, there's no one type the dominates – the team that succeeds is the one that uses a variety of unit types in conjunction to defeat the opposition. In stark contrast to the popular Team Fortress games, each objective has two approaches, plus a few side passages that certain Locust can access, ensuring that proceedings never degenerate into a mindless battle of attrition down a single path. Success is as much based on the rapid outmanoeuvring of the enemy and playing mind games, as it is as the ability to purely deal out damage. Players on both sides will vary their chosen classes on the fly to adapt to the changing layout of the frontlines, the enemy patterns and the behaviour of their team mates. Long term strategy across the three rounds also results in careful utilisation of the points earned by the Locust players, resulting in some fairly massive battles come the final objective.
The points system for the human players greatly encourages co-operative behaviour and the HUD setup keeps things simple, ensuring that you are always kept aware of how your abilities can be used to help your allies. Again, the team that wins is the one that has a mixture of classes in use and no one unit type gains experience points noticeably faster than another, which means that players will actually choose the types that benefit the team the most, rather than just trying to game the experience system. All of these factors combine to make for one of the most genuinely co-operative game types out there, there isn't a single element that leads to players placing their own progression beyond that of the team's success. Judgment shipped with four Overrun-specific maps on launch, with others available through downloadable content, and each provides a long-form style of gameplay that makes for epic encounters and enough variety to keep players coming back. There's a huge range of different tactics to explore and there's enough variable elements to ensure that every game plays a little bit differently, keeping things fresh each time. Pleasingly, the title also pads out unbalanced teams with pretty capable bots, ensuring that all but the most lopsided games remain fair. Overrun mode was what Horde and Survival were always building towards, and it succeeds on every level.
Gears of War:Judgment screenshot.
It's actually a requirement for the player to utter "Screeee!" whenever playing as a Ticker.
Marketed as a spin off release, Judgment demonstrates that the Gears of War series has a promising life beyond the original trilogy. The developers have taken the previous model and built up a thoroughly original take on both the solo, co-operative and competitive modes. For some this will mark the best Gears game to date, but even for those who prefer the approach of the earlier titles, it will still provide an interesting and engaging experience, complemented by an enjoyable story that builds nicely on the series' mythos.
Score: 8/10
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