The Gears of War franchise is one of the unquestionable successes of this generation of interactive entertainment. The first title in the franchise came in late 2006, unheralded from a PC-centric development studio and it simply destroyed its competition. It became the killer app for the Xbox 360, arguably pushing even the vaunted Halo franchise to the wings with its combination of simple yet fluid controls, great pick-up-and-play co-op, and what was at-the-time an innovative design and look; the ‘Destroyed Beauty’ visual archetype and its under-saturated palette was such a striking combination that it quite nearly became a default choice for designers of this generation.
Seven years later, Epic Game satellite studio People Can Fly has released upon the world the fourth title in the now-titanic franchise, Gears of War: Judgement, a prequel of sorts and definitely a departure in form and tone from its predecessors. The lateral movements in Judgement don’t stop there, but are these changes in service or opposition for the now-beloved franchise? Find out here!
The Gears of War franchise has always straddled the line of good taste, spending as much time across the line as it does inside it. The dark humor, the bromance, the absurdly heavy-metal sensibilities and over-the-top violence that defines the franchise is still present, but with the exception of the violence, simply not to the same degree. Gears of War: Judgement feels like a one-off of a beloved TV show, focusing on the background characters, playing with format, and written as a place-holder while the ultimate direction of the story is being decided. It’s certainly not bad, and if it hadn’t immediately followed not only what was easily the best game in the franchise, and one of the best games of the decade, it would shine the brighter. Unfortunately for Judgement, it’s not just the shadow of Gears of War III that looms large, but a group of sterling competitors released in the last six months, including the absolutely masterful Tomb Raider.
None of this is to say that Judgementisn’t impressive. It’s an excellent effort, and it certainly does a good job of quantifying Epic Games acquisition of the studio. The minor hiccups are momentary distractions at best, and the choice to further explore the background and world of the franchise are definitely welcome.
The biggest issue stems from the multiplayer portion of Judgement. The title lifts most of its content wholesale from Gears of War III, and if multi-player is your focus, there just isn’t enough new content to really satisfy the purchase. The limited number of maps, the scant additions of game-modes, and the iffy-at-best balance of the relatively small number of weapons are just a few of the concerns surrounding this iteration’s multi-player.
Thanks for checking this out, and make sure to swing back by for our forthcoming review!