Gears of War: Judgement Wiki

Gears of War: Judgement is a new Gears of War game for the Xbox 360.

The game is a prequel and features characters we saw in the previous games in the series. The game was released on March 19th, 2013.

It was announced at E3 2012 by Microsoft with much fanfare, and it was also revealed that Epic Games are not developing the game but Bulletstorm’s developer People Can Fly is behind the project.

The game runs on the same engine that powered Gears of War 3. The game will feature Baird and Cole as the main protagonist, and we won’t see Marcus Fenix here. The game contains 50 achievements. [reference]

It went gold on 6th February 2013 and a celebratory picture was posted on Facebook. [reference]

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Characters
• 4. Weapons
• 5. Multiplayer
• 6. Marketing

Development

The game borrows a lot from Gears of War 3, the entire structure is identical and it also features a multiplayer with some new modes. The game looks just like Gears of War 3, and presumably contains all the modifications to the Unreal Engine 3 that Epic Games did on the Gears game they released in 2012.

The game’s design is that they want to make the main enemies, the Locusts, scary again. They want to give gamers sweaty palms. [reference]

“One of our design principles was the idea of sweaty palms. When you play you’ve got to have sweaty palms or we’re not doing it right. So far in all of our playtests we’ve all got sweaty palms so that’s good,” Rod Fergusson of Epic Games revealed.

“And it’s about making the Locusts scary again,” Fergusson added, “when you spend eight years with the Locusts it feels a bit like Germans in a WWII game, after a while they just become a known enemy.

“We wanted to bring back the terror of year one, and that’s what we’re trying to do in Judgement – it’s only a few weeks after E Day, these things are all new to us and we’re really scared of them, what does this all mean?”

Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszenski has mentioned that Gears of War: Judgement will be a difficult game. [reference]

“Games have become more linear and easier, so it feels like a lot of quick-time-events,” he said. “The more I play games like that the more I turned off to them and just want to get back to systems interacting with systems. When was the last time a game really challenged you and asked something of you, right?

“There’s a reason why Demon Souls and Dark Souls have taken off lately. It’s because they really require you actually try. Casual mode will still be casual, whatever, if you just want to see graphics and you don’t want to die, but every other mode will be hard in this game and you will die,” he added. ”If this game doesn’t make you sweat, we haven’t done our jobs.”

New videos were releasing showing off every aspect of the game. [reference]

Story

Gears of War: Judgment’s Kilo Squad consists of four members and they are: Baird, Cole, Garron, and Sofia. So the story is about these guys and what’s going to happen to that isn’t going to be pretty.

They are charged for treason because they didn’t follow orders, stole equipment, and their actions could end up killing millions of people they swore to protect.

People can Fly released a new video showing how the game’s set right after E-Day, why Baird is the protagonist, what kind of multiplayer modes the game will have and what new experiences the single player will bring to the trailer.

Characters

There are new and returning characters in Gears of War: Judgement. Here are the details on some of them. [reference]

Lt. Damon Baird as the leader of Kilo Squad: Private Damon Baird is a dedicated tech-head and professional skeptic. In Baird’s world, if something can go wrong, it probably already has. His sarcasm can keep people at a distance, which is why Baird prefers the company of machines. He believes in the Coalition’s cause, but he’s often frustrated with command decisions, and took offense when Hoffman promoted Marcus Fenix to lead Delta Squad instead of him.

Pvt. Augustus “The Cole Train” Cole or Gus: Private Augustus “Cole Train” Cole was once a successful Thrashball player known for his hard-hitting and flamboyant style. After Emergence Day, Cole joined the military and brought that same grit and intensity to the battlefield.

Sofia Hendrik: A Gear soldier in the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) army who served in Kilo Squad. During the Pendulum Wars, Sofia was a journalist, but joined the army after Emergence Day, and was sent to the Onyx Guard Academy in Halvo Bay.

Garron Paduk: A Gear soldier in the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) army and a member of Kilo Squad. During the Pendulum Wars he served as a Major in a militia unit for the Union of Independent Republics in his homeland of Gorasnaya.

Col. Ezra Loomis: A stern, by the book COG commander, Loomis is a career soldier who has little regard for the lives of civilians. A veteran of the Pendulum Wars, Loomis has had a difficult time adjusting his tactics to deal with the inhuman Locust theat, and disapproves of Kilo Squad’s unorthodox tactics.

Karn: A Kantus monk who serves as one of the main antagonists. He attacked Halvo Bay 30 days after Emergence Day, and also laid siege to Gorasnaya, effectively destroying it despite their military’s best efforts to repel him.

Weapons

• Beacon Grenade

• Boltok Pistol

• Boomshot Grenade Launcher

• Booshka

• Breechshot

• Butcher’s Cleaver

• Digger Launcher

• Frag Grenade

• Gnasher Shotgun

• Gorgon Burst Pistol

• Hammerburst Assault Rifle

• Hammerburst II

• Ink Grenade

• Longshot Sniper Rifle

• Markza 
  

• Mk 1 Lancer Assault Rifle

• Mk 2 Lancer Assault Rifle

• Mortar

• Mulcher

• OneShot

• Sawed-Off Shotgun

• Stim-Gas Grenade

• Vulcan Cannon

Multiplayer

The multiplayer is identical to Gears of War 3, but the game has a bunch of new modes and new characters as well.

Here is an interesting comic-con footage of Gears of War: Judgement which shows the Island map and a lot of gore, as you would expect. The game still runs on the same engine and not the latest Unreal Engine 4, so the visuals are a lot similar to Gears of War 3. [reference]

Island takes place on an archipelago of islands off the coast of Halvo Bay, which serves as a supply and refueling depot that feeds the larger military machine along the coast.  The individual islands are connected by a series of bridges and tunnels, forming a network of unknown size and security.  This is restricted territory, and civilians are not permitted on, or even near, any of the islands.

The multiplayer is also influenced by eSports. [reference] A multiplayer demo will be released on the same day as the game comes out. [reference]

Marketing

Pre-orders for Gears of War Judgment has begun. Players who pre-order the game at select outlets  will receive an exclusive in-game multiplayer weapon at launch:the Classic Hammerburst. This will also come along with the usual retailer-specific content. [reference]

Major Nelson describes the The Classic Hammerburst as following:

The Classic Hammerburst was the standard-issue assault rifle of the Locust Army during their E-Day onslaught. Highly accurate with a six-round burst, the Classic Hammerburst helped give the Locust a decisive advantage.

You can pre-order Gears of War: Judgement at Amazon.

Epic Games have also released a new gameplay footage showing The Classic Hammerburst in action. You can check out the video below.

This wiki was last updated on 1st, January 2015.