The series helped establish and popularize a distinct brand of gritty, grandiose shooters. Following the initial breakout hit of 2006, the franchise has seen a slew of releases, leading up to the recent tactical spinoff, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gears Tactics. With game designer Cliff Bleszinski at the helm, Epic Games laid the groundwork for this action-packed ride wrought with cinematic flair and a nuanced cover system. Since then, the series has dabbled in new styles on concepts after being handed to various other studios - to mixed results. Gears 5 brought a new 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:lead protagonist and introduced some open-world elements.
One of the more tepid examples of this experimentation is Gears of War: Judgment - a Baird-centric prequel that tweaked the mechanics and the experience. While the game is known for a few uniquely appealing elements, it's also been criticized in a number of are𓆉as. This list will try to make sense of it all, highlighting 5 areas that make this game worth revisiting, and 5 ways in which its critics prove justified.
10 Giv🐼e It A Second Look: Some Quick An🦋d Simple Achievements
Achievement junkie or no - one can't deny the ease and convenience in notching various Xbox achievements in Judgment. The game allows players to knock out much of its content and nab achievements at a rate that one would expect from a small indie. In fact, the main story can be knocked out in around 7 hours, and completionists can tackle all the essential content in 10 hours.
Simply get a friend and burn through the f♋airly brief campaign on Hardcore mode (a doable feat), and watch the achievement points roll in. Be sure to hit some of those Declassified Missiꦿons too.
9 Not Worth It: A Generally Slim, Shallow Experi🉐ence
One of the biggest critiques of Judgment is its apparent watering down of various mechanics and in-game elements. As mentioned, the campaign and extra content can both be knocked out in under a dozen hours. Extra challenges aside, there's really not much replay value ꦑon the single-player front.
And the stripping down of certain mechanics - to be covered in a bit more depth shortly - takes some of the nuance and strategy🦂 out of the multiplayer battles.
8 Give It A Second Look: Declassified Missions ෴
As it was touched on earlie🌜r, perhaps the most interesting addition to the revamped campaign mode is the Declassified Missions. These are essentially challenges interwoven into the story missions themselves - and offer a slew of optional modifications and conditions. Examples include Wretches being replaced by the explosive Lambent Wretches, and strong headwinds that impede the player.
The game will then rank the player according to performance. This is a neat little addition in that it mixes up the gameplay, and injects some much-needed replay value.
7 Not Worth It: No Perfect Acti🌟ve Reloads Or Grenade Plants
One of the biggest complaints surrounding Judgment is its altered mechanics, which can be jarring to seasoned Gears players. While the controls work well enough, many havಌe pointed to these tweaks as being downright watered 💫down.
Perhaps the most notable changes are the absence of perfect Active Reloads, as well as the lack of grenade tags on walls. Not only this, but executions are missing - with the exception of Execution mode. While they may seem minor, these were some of the distinguishing features that made the mainline Gears games so amusing. Fans have remarked༺ that the experience just doesn't quite feel the same♑ without them.
6 📖 Give It A Second Look: Focuses On The Likable Damon Baird𝓡
As is the case in films, a strong cast of characters can help elevate a story - and this is certainly the case with Judgment. Though Marcus and Dom tend to take center stage in the early Gears games, the t🧜ech whiz known as Baird is something of an underappreciated fan-favorite.
He definitely gets his time to shine in this prequel, as the campaign mod🥂e largely foc🍸uses on Baird and his Kilo Squad. He exudes much of his same charisma, sense of humor, and general badassery in this game. It's a refreshing change of pace from the more stern and cynical Marcus.
5 ཧ Not Worth It: (Almost) No Marcus?? 💯
The previous dig aside - it's tough not to appreciate the great 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Marcus Fenix. He's become something of a gaming icon for older gamers of the 2000s. There's🐼 a reason for his popularity - his heroism, physical prowess, and his tough, no-nonsense demeanor makes him quite an appealing character to play as. His cynicism tinged with sarcasm provides ample amusement during the game, as well.
Unfortunately, he's virtually absent in this game, as the story hones in specifically on Baird and Cole's own Kilo Squad. Oh - his voice is heard at o🎀ne point in the cam🧸paign, and players can unlock a "Young Marcus" avatar, but that's it.
4 Give It A Second Look: An Interesting Look At Past Events And Emergence Day ෴
Though the gameplay hasn't always been well-received by fans, many have regarded this prequel𓂃 for its interesting new look into the events that set the "gears in motion," as it were.
The campaign takes fans right into the action in the wake of the fateful Emergence Day, which saw the Locus launch a devastating assault on humanity from beneath the earth's surface. As such, fans also get to see a somewhat more lavish and colorful Sera, as it's only in the early stages of being ruined by the subterranean species. Players get a deeper look at the worldbuilding while learning more about characters like Baird and Cole and how their relationships developed.
3 ꦅ Not Worth It: Weaker🅷 Multiplayer
Of course, the multiplayer is where the meat of the gameplay is supposed to lie, as is the case with other Gears titles. Yet, by and large, it's noꦬt quite strong enough to hold up on this front either. Aside from one addition that'll be touched on shortly, there r🅺eally isn't much that stands out or proves very interesting.
The new Free-For-All mode has been criticized for being somewhat shallow and chaotic. Meanwhile, mainstays like Domination and Execution tend to feel like "more of the same," with cheaper mechanics to boot. There's also a notable lack of stages and new weapons.
2 🐠ꦫ Give It A Second Look: OverRun Is Actually A Lot Of Fun
Ultimately, the new multiplayer mode called "OverRun" is truly the saving grace of Judgment. Putting a fun twist on the Horde Mode formula, the game pits COG forces against the Locust, ಌin a battle to breach or defend a guarded ta🍸rget.
The experience takes on the feel of an RTS, shooter, and tower defense all in one measure, as each unit has a distinct build and unique role. The real charm of this mode has to be the Locust units, though. On this side of the battle, players get to control creatures like explosive Tickers and creeping Serapedes for the first time. There's something endlessly enjoyable about going nuts and bashing through COG barricades as൲ a mace-swinging Mauler.
1 Not Worꦿth It: Uninspired Campaign🐻 Mode
Outside of the Declassified Missions, there isn't much in terms of depth with the campaign mode, which is (quite literally) pretty straightforward. The aforementioned missions, varying conditions, and star ratings add some intrigue. Yet it also tends to cheapen the overall experience, giving more of a shallow and disjointed feel. This is exacerbated by the struc💫ture of shifting between various players.
And while aspects of the story and settings are interesting, People Can Fly h𒁏ave managed to dial up the cheese factor even more than Epic.