Zadzooks: Gears of War: Judgment review

The start of Emergence Day and the exploits of Kilo Squad come to heroic light in the third-person, sci-fi shooter Gears of War: Judgment  (Microsoft Studios and Epic Games, Rated Mature, reviewed for the Xbox 360, $59.99).

After three popular adventures tied to Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad’s struggles against the Locust Horde, gamers get a prequel to that epic story starring less grizzled versions of COG (Coalition of Ordered Governments) soldiers Lt. Damon Baird and Augustus Cole while introducing new warriors Garron Paduk and Sophia Hendrick.

As standard to the Gears of War franchise, up to four friends can work through the evolving campaign on the besieged planet Sera.

The plot ties to saving the crumpled resort town of Halvo Bay from being overrun by an aggressive and dunderheaded enemy packed with firepower.

Taking part in an extended series of episodic flashbacks during the ad hoc court marshal trial of Lt. Baird, the testimony of each Kilo squad mate transforms into the action as a player or players take control of the principal soldiers.

Fans will be happy to know that the war against such ferocious, Orc-like foes is as gritty, nasty and gross as ever with plenty of reason to take cover or run and get followed by that signature shaky camera.

Some of the rogue’s gallery to attack across the battlefield include creatures such as Boomers (wielding grenade launchers), massive flying insectoid Reavers (with a drone gunner mounted on top of them), shrieking Kantus (spewing poison ink) Serapedes (really big, acid-spitting centipedes), exploding Tickers (with jets of flame shooting from their backs before they blow up), enraged Ragers (that transform into horned red bullies) and Corpsers (large, spider-like creepy crawlers).

Characters have access to dozens of weapons culled from either side of the conflict, readily switched from squad mates or picked up from fallen foes. Some have enough power to literally blow apart Locusts into pieces one might find in a local butcher shop.

The cleverly named arsenal includes a Scorcher (blacken grubs like marshmallows over a fire pit), a Tripwire Crossbow (blue beacons shot in place and set to explode when getting too near), a Mulcher (gatling gun), Booshka (grenade launcher), Gnasher Shotgun, Markza, Breechshot (high caliber rifle), Scorcher and Butcher Cleaver, to name a few.

Of course, the Lancer Assault Rifle, a COG’s best friend, is back to inflict its sadistic damage through a chainsaw attachment on its end to literally cut through an enemy.

The violent onscreen spectacle is heart pounding at every turn, punctuated by a more colorful landscape and high-speed action. So much so that the lesser player will find himself stopped in panic mode as the hordes of foes attack from all sides.

The twist to the constant barrage of overtly violent, frenetic firefights is not only collecting a possible three stars for fighting Gears of War-style but a choice to make life even more difficult by choosing Declassified Missions to discover facts omitted from official record. Look for the Gears glowing red skull logo on a wall before entering a battle and choose wisely before taking that mutated assignment.

Examples of these mission extras include evacuating an area in under 4 minutes (before a Hammer of Dawn strike occurs), fighting unknown Locust variants (giggle), protecting ancient armor in a museum, restrictive use of weapons, destroying all Locust egg sacks and having a soldier’s vision impaired by toxic gas during the assault.

It’s always worth taking the Declassified Missions because players are rewarded stars quicker for efforts at the end of each micro mission. Accumulating stars leads to helping unlock weapon skins and characters for the various modes.

More importantly, the quicker you accumulate 40 stars, the quicker a player can take part in the unlockable campaign called Aftermath.

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