 A bit of a sham. Lieutenant Baird is in serious trouble. He decided it would be a great idea to detonate a lightmass missile to try and take out a single enemy. Now his tale must be told scene by scene so that the truth can be known before his execution.
1. Gameplay
I love Gears of War. I played through all three of the first Gears games multiple times with different friends. One of my friends and I beat the first two gears on Insane difficulty (anyone who has tried to kill RAAM on insane knows how difficult that is). Gears of War is one of my favorite video game series of all time. But something irked me about Judgment when I first saw it presented at E3.  Who are the two on the ends and why do I care about them? As awesome as it was to have the game presented to me by Rod Fergusson, I was skeptical about Judgment. It really came down to the choice of making Baird the main character. I don’t really like Baird. I find him whiny useless, and usually the one running straight into the middle of the strongest enemies. So here’s the good news, the campaign is pretty good. It isn’t great, but it’s at least fun. There were design choices that I would have changed if I were in charge of the game, like removing the arcade elements and keeping them as an option before the start of the campaign, but it was still the entertaining Gears package that I know and love.  Gears used to be about the ashes, not the fire. Unfortunately, the multiplayer made no sense to me. There were fewer maps and modes than what came out when Gears 3 was released, only one or two new weapons, and fewer Locust types to select. Part of the problem is that this game is a prequel, so things like Armored Kantuses haven’t really been discovered yet. But if the game can include serapedes, why can’t it include Berserkers or Boomers or Grinders? The thing that hurt the most was the lack of the traditional Horde and Beast modes. I loved Beast mode. And while there is a new mode that essentially mashes both Horde and Beast modes together, it’s not the same. The humans are forced into certain classes which limits their weapons and equipment choices, and the locusts have to deal with only a handful of character choices most of which are very weak.  Let the bodies hit the floor. If you love the Gears campaigns and stories, I could see recommending this game. But you have to understand that this game is basically an expansion pack to Gears 3. I wouldn’t pay full price for this game and definitely wouldn’t recommend that anyone else pay full price, but it’s worth it for fans of the series.
The campaign of this game was decently long. It lasted around 8 hours and the cooperative nature definitely adds some replay value. There’s even more replay value if the player didn’t complete all of the “declassified” options in each section. Unfortunately, the multiplayer was extremely disappointing. While some of the modes were interesting, such as the versus Horde mode, everything felt like it had been watered down from Gears of War 3. If I were going to play a Gears multiplayer, I would go back to Gears 3 rather than playing Judgment.
While some of the extra declassified options were more difficult than others, the only frustrating part came with certain bugs that I encountered. For example, the player can pick up a huge cleaver and use it as a sword. If the player gets downed while holding the cleaver, he will get back up weaponless but the game will still act like he’s down. His friends won’t be able to come and save him since he’s technically already up. This made a couple of the sections extremely frustrating. The tickers were the most frustrating enemy, which is surprising because they’re the weakest on the field. The problem was that they were extremely fast and always in small swarms. A single ticker explosion can knock a player down on the Hardcore difficulty level, and if there’s a second one nearby it can kill a downed player instantly. This means that a player can be easily downed and killed within 3 seconds with little warning. 2. Parental Notices
Gears of War is one of the most violent video game series I have ever played. The signature weapon of the game is an automatic rifle with a chainsaw fixed to the front, which the players can use to chainsaw through opponents. This animation is one of many different execution animations that the player can perform over the course of the game.  Oh, is the blood blocking your view? I'm sorry. Normal shots will result in some blood. The player will have to fire a good number of shots from most projectile weapons in order to take down enemies at range.  Noticeably less blood. There are some weapons that cause more blood and gore depending on how their used. For example, headshots with a sniper rifle will pop the head clean off of most enemies, leaving a spurt of blood and a ragged neck.  BOOM! Headshot! The one-shot, a charged projectile weapon, can “gib” any enemy in a single shot. This causes them to explode into a shower of blood and bits.  BOOM! Oneshot! In certain sections the player can equip a flamethrower that can light enemies on fire. However, there are many other short-ranged weapons that are much more effective against enemies. The player will only ever be forced to use a flamethrower once.  Who wants toast?! The player will make use of some of the above weapons in the campaign, but there are only a few weapons that the player will commonly use. The short-ranged power weapons, such as the sawed-off shotgun, are extremely useful for quickly dispatching large enemies. Since it has a tendency to gib an enemy in a single shot, it can turn the tides in favor of a player even when surrounded by a group of powerful opponents.  Let's play "Find the limbs." The lancer and the retro lancer are the other two weapons the player will use most often. Since the game encourages the player to gain points, and the point system rewards executions, the lancer’s chainsaw execution and the retro lancer’s charging attack were what I used throughout the campaign to quickly gain a large number of points. These attacks are both very bloody and brutal in nature.  It will probably take a moment to figure out where the blood ends and the characters begin. There are a number of other executions the player can use against enemies (most of which are holdovers from Gears of War 3), but these were extremely difficult to use. The game has increased in pace, which means taking the time to execute an enemy can be extremely costly. As a result, I only ever used special executions sparingly over the course of the campaign.  Because, really, why bother choking him when you can saw him in half with a chainsaw?
Sexuality is not a factor in this game.
The only real substance in this game comes in a certain type of grenade. These hypo grenades release a cloud of healing substance. Any friendly player that goes into the cloud is healed almost instantly. They’re extremely useful in certain parts of the campaign, especially if the player chooses to do the “declassified” options of each chapter.  Ah, healing fog.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Religion is not a factor in this game.
The main characters disobey direct orders given by a superior officer. This is a serious crime in the military, especially during wartime, and it results in the main characters all being brought up for trial while combat is still going on. While they are found guilty and punishment is enforced, it isn’t particularly impactful in its delivery.
The online community for this game is significantly smaller than that for Gears of War 3. The few people who have decided to play through this game’s multiplayer modes are a set of hardcore fans that enjoy the faster nature and know how to exploit the games weaponry. New players will likely find the new versus horde mode to be a bit confusing and the limited number of Locusts difficult to use effectively.  If I had a dollar for every time I stayed alive more than 30 seconds, I'd be very, very poor. The game seems to almost assume that you know about the advantages and disadvantages of using maulers, serapedes, and other old enemies and gives you little time or opportunity to figure out how to use ragers (the only new enemy type available). Trying to learn all of the creatures in a multiplayer match will be frustrating at best, especially when most of the community online right now knows what they’re doing.
For the most part, extreme sports were not a factor in this game. The player tends to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground. There was one brief section where this changed. In the extra chapter, the player engages in a quick zip-line section where he glides along a line from skyscraper to skyscraper. It’s a pretty dangerous and unrealistic concept, but is only a very brief portion of the game.
Magic is not a factor in this game.
Weapons of Mass Destruction A significant portion of the game has to do with the main characters’ search for the lightmass missile. This missile basically deals devastating damage to any area it hits, just like a normal missile. It’s a bit like a nuclear missile, but seems to have significantly less fallout. The missile is used towards the end of the campaign, but doesn’t seem to be particularly effective. Human Disfigurement
In one section of the extra chapter, the player encounters humans who have succumb to an imulsion sickness. They’re basically like yellow glowing zombies.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Like what we do? Want to see more? Donate to the site using the button below!
Not sure what a term means? Read the definitions!
Not sure what a review section is about? Find out more information!
|
RSS Feed