Gears of War: Judgment

Gears of War 3 was still a great little game, but represented the kind of step down indicative of a series that's running out of steam. Gears of War: Judgment puts paid to that impression, proving there's plenty of vitality in Epic's flagship yet; provided it's willing to try some new spins on its established formula. OverRun alone is worthy of praise, but there's just so much stuff going on in this package, there's something for all followers of the series.

Gears of War: Judgment is a solid effort from People Can Fly that makes interesting changes to the Gears of War formula that we’ve come to love over the years. These changes aren’t groundbreaking, but natural progressions that one would expect from the fourth installment of the franchise. The core of Gears of War is still very much intact with its shocking brutality and solid shooting and cover mechanics; this permeates across a number of interesting new modes to play the game in, as well as fan-favorites.

There are a ton of things that could have gone wrong with a prequel to a series like Gears of War. Judgment embraced these issues and delivered. I praised Gears of War 3 for all it accomplished and Judgment continues that level of excellence. There’s also a little surprise for you when you complete Judgment that fans of the series will truly love. While I may not be able to predict the direction of the series from this point, I can definitely say I hope this is not the last we see of these characters.