JJ finally gets his hands on to play and review Gears of War: Judgment

I know this game came out a while ago but one couldn't really justify spending the money at the time with a new baby in the house. It's actually the first new game I've played since Halo 4 came out! Luckily, I spied it cheap on Trade Me and got it just in time for the New Year.

Opening with Kilo Squad being held to account in what appears to be a kangaroo Court for an unknown crime  it's quickly clear Sierra was only recently subject to the Infamous Emergence Day assault of the locust horde.

The colour palate is a delight, more bright than prior games, there seems to be more blue if that makes sense. The blue is important as it makes this tittle's's lead Baird appear more nuanced and realized than he has previously been. 

Until now Baird has been a smart ass journey man who accompanied Dom and Marcus through their travails. This time round he's the lead and one can immediately tell voice actor Frederick "Fred" Tatasciore has stepped up to bring a stronger character than in heard in prior outings.

A low key start sees Kilo Squad recounting their trip through the falling city to help defend certain points. It's the gears that has been before with a handful of new weapons to work out how to best use.

A programming bug in the Archives was infuriating. I spent a long time running round the area in which I had defeated a a litter of Serapedes trying to find a way out. Eventually I assumed there was a bug and had to commit suicide by way of grenade and fortunate possession of a Boomshot. The restart proved me right and I was able to progress to a thoroughly entertaining set piece in a haze of dust. This part was Gears of War at it's finest and any worries about Judgment being developed by People Can Fly rather than Cliff Bleszinski's team that did the prior three excellent games.

The game took a nice turn when Sofia Hendrik was asked to give witness rather than Baird. The character herself 'just happened' to have once been a research assistant to a Professor at Halvo Bay Military Academy who had built a light mass bomb. Deciding the bomb was necessary to take down a giant monster that's been confirmed as being able to destroy buildings with a single wriggle by, Kilo squad entertainingly find the original Jack robot who will be able to help them target the bomb on the Karn beast. 

The game play continues to be excellent, Sofia's voice acting by Ali Hillis is excellent (and that's what you would expect from Dr Liara T'Soni from Mass Effect!) The asides cast around by the Kilo squad are amusing and up their with that you'd find in a Halo game. I'm also still pleased that the Cole Train has been toned down just a tad.

It's a shame that you can't swap weapons with other Kilo squad members. Loading them up with Boomshots was kinda handy and fun!

The Seahorse Hills lead us on a merry adventure featuring Paduck's testimony. Gears has always picked on cliche's for it's characters and this time People Can Fly chose to go with the 'hardened Russian who used to be the enemy but lost the war and joined the winners side ' vibe.

I should comment on the new buttons lay out. It's fantastic. The game has adopted a Halo style approach. You can carry two weapons which are controlled by button B - you no longer use the D pad to change to grenades either, you can simply use the left bumper. I found this gives my gaming experience better flow.

I've also noticed I am not hiding behind cover as much as other games. I'm not sure why this is, possibly as I'm playing on Hardcore rather than insane. I do fear the run through on that mode however, some set pieces are horrifically fun but difficult!

Paduck's testimony ultimately proved a fan romp through rich people's back yards and mansions. The end of this mission featured a Kilo Squad vs a duo of flaming Beserkers which was most entertaining. We got mission codes for the mission but nothing of great import really happened.

And then it was onto the Cole Train's testimony. One would expect the bombastic player to up the ante in this segment. But maybe the developers realised there are only so many WAHHHHOOOOOS a game needs. Which is fine by me as I'm not a 13 year old boy from Texas.

Cole's testimony is a straight forward run through some place to get to the missile so it can be prepared ready for it's inevitable launch against the giant Karn. There was nothing too challenging on the stage suffice to say by now I'm fairly sure that this game's version of Hardcore difficult appears to be easier than other Gears games - perhaps the many man down rescues make it seem easier.

And finally it is now Damon Baird's turn to give testimony to this crazy bastard Loomis that insists on conducting the Tribunal whilst surrounded by attacking grubs. This run through was probably the most engaging part of the campaign.

Featuring some excellent set pieces this was great Gears in play. A fairly simple yet not too easy boss battle played out well. I was slight disappointed with how the judgement trial played out – Loomis grudgingly let Kilo Squad go free with a demotion for Baird.  I did enjoy how Loomis tagged onto Kilo Squad for the final run – in his heart he was a Soldier and perhaps not as big a ‘dick’ as Baird later recalls in the Aftermath section.

Despite the lack of critical or sales success for this game and while I had my fears about it being a prequel I found it to be a very enjoyable Gears game and would recommend it to anyone that enjoyed the prior games. Be wary though it is Gears light when compared to Gears 3 and it is no Halo Reach but give it ago, you should be able to find it pretty cheap thesedays which means it’s a good value game. 

Now that Microsoft has Gears in its back pocket, we'll expect a new Gears game to be of a higher standard than this one - at least G3 level and beyond given the resources they'll have for it.

Cliffy B mangles the english language, most Play Station users didn't get it.....

Cliff Bleszinski was musing on the future of the Playstation and came up with this beauty:

"I don’t know if we’ll ever see the same level of success that the PlayStation 2 saw, which is one of the number-one-selling consoles of all time."

I know Cliffy B runs at a different er gear from the rest of us but I'm pretty sure in the real world, there can only be one number one selling console of all time.... We all get what he was meaning but it was a pretty funny statement to make. 

Cliff actually has a lot of great things to say about the gaming industry so check out his blog. It's fairly clear his years of producing Gears of War has put him in a rare position of someone in the gaming universe actually knowing what they are talking about...

If you want to know what I mean, have a read of Your momma is so fat she got stuck in the Halo

Your momma is so fat she got stuck in the Halo

Cliffy B muses on this article about the levels of co-operation that are required in the game Monaco after a dude called Ryan posted his own musings in response. Here’s Ryan’s best thought:

"Multiplayer modes are excellent, computer AI blows in comparison. Nothing beats a game where you can legitimately outsmart someone as opposed to finding the non human “quirk” to defeat an AI. Yet, in this arena, you’re subjected to playing with absolute cretin’s who not only are total tremendous douchebro’s, but thrive off out douching each other at a rational person’s expense."

Cliffy B then mused that Xbox’s anonymity over the head sets is ‘one of its biggest limiting factors’ and I think he should know as his Gears of War franchise helped contribute to this problem, gosh knows Halo did too. I stopped using a headset years ago because of it.

Cliff didn’t offer any solutions other than to share an amusing anecdote about what happens when the lights go out in a cafeteria (which is basically what XBL is consistently light).

I’ve a solution. Xbox Live users should be able to select an option where they can play persons who are only 30 years plus age (and where those accounts have been in use for a couple of years with no issues).

I posit such a population would be free of griefers, racists, red necks, ignorant 14 year old Australian boys and otherwise un-suitable players.

Thoughts?

Clifford says "If you don’t like EA, don’t buy their games"

Cliffy Bleszinski weighs in on the recent micro transactions grumpathon by telling it how it is via his excellent blog post, Nickels, Dimes and Quarters:

“I remember when the rage was pointed at Epic when we allowed users to purchase weapon skins in Gears 3. I replied to an enraged fan on Twitter that “You’re more than welcome to not buy the optional cosmetic weapon skins that will make you more visible to the enemy.” And you know what? In spite of the uproar, people still bought plenty of them. (I’ve seen the numbers.) "
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It’s always a numbers game. Money doesn’t grow on trees, it comes from people’s bank accounts. And people want the money from your account to be transferred into theirs. Plain and simple.
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"If you don’t like EA, don’t buy their games. If you don’t like their microtransactions, don’t spend money on them. It’s that simple. EA has many smart people working for them (Hi, Frank, JR, and Patrick!) and they wouldn’t attempt these things if they didn’t work. Turns out, they do. I assure you there are teams of analysts studying the numbers behind consumer behavior over there that are studying how you, the gamer, spends his hard earned cash."
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Some common sense thoughts from the guy that made the Gears of War franchise so I guess he knows his stuff eh?

If you want to read more sane writing regards video piracy, gaming and other random things like problems with video game sequels, why not visit Cliff Bleszinski’s blog, Cliff Unchained.

Does Adam Fenix die in Gears 3?

Here's an interesting snippet from an interview with Gears of War 3's Clif Blezsinski which talks of the game's ending - is Cliff telegraphing that Adam Fenix dies at the end of Gears? This is of course my own speculation...

"CB: Absolutely. Personally, when the project really started, I was 29 and 30 and going through a split, as far as my first marriage. If you're ever going through a rough time in your life and you're a creative person, the best thing you can do is pour that into your work. You hear about artists who are going through a tough time and it's cathartic; it's therapy for them. And some of the things that came out of Gears 1 were the result of that. Coming full circle to the end of Gears 3, let's just say the ending is very personal for me. I don't want to spoil a lot of it, but in regards to what happens--and the final shot--it's not only personal to me, but also Rod Fergusson and Lee Perry, who also lost their dads at a young age. My advice to developers often is make your products personal. Take things from real life, names of friends, locations you've gone to, and do that. That's what makes it not feel like a manufactured product; it makes it feel real and tangible."

Or maybe Marcus and Adam hug it out and walk off into the sunset......

Update: As suspected, Adam Fenix dies in a most noble fashion.

Check out my Gears of War 3 review or how I think Gears of War 4 could play out. 

Gears 3 to have Easter Eggs

At the recent Game Developers Conference two things happened. Bungie's David Aldridge made a bad joke about their new  game being 'massive' and the news spread like wildfire that Bungie's game was an MMO. The other slightly interesting thing was Cliff Bleszinski had this too say about the new Gears game:

"The second after Bulletstorm came out, the front page of Kotaku and all these [gaming] websites was the Red Ring Of Death secret. That's your hidden X-factor to extend the launch of the game. So now I'm running into our office like, 'Dude. Easter Eggs, Easter Eggs. Pack 'em in, pack 'em deep."

OK it's hardly big news, but it's a slow news day at Gears of Halo.

So let the speculation begin, what kinds of things will Cliffy B and the rest of the Gears game developers throw in to the mix. While they be eggs that refer to the game itself or will they be crazy shit like what Bungie do such as throwing a secret disco into a level of Reach?

Does Clay Carmine live in Gears of War?

Clay Carmine must live!

Does Clay Carmine live in Gears of War? How did the Fate of Carmine campaign end up?

Those who played Gears of Wars 1 or 2 may have cottoned on to the running gag that one of Carmine brothers has dies in each game, each in slightly humorous circumstances.

In the first, Anthony Carmine poked his head out at an inopportune time and received a sharp sniper bullet for his troubles.  The second game saw his brother Ben’s guts liquidated inside a giant riftworm. Lame sauce!

The deaths of the Carmine brothers were casual affairs at best. Their deaths were not glorious; they did not turn any tide. If they were anything, they were examples of brutality of war. Soldiers are cannon fodder and their death of the battle field is simply grist to the slaughter mill.

Carmine must die!

Up for death’s charms in Gears 3 is Clay Carmine. Epic Games has played up this new character’s chances this time round, and last year hosted a charity event of sorts, where gamers could purchase a avatar tshirt which states whether Carmine should live or die. The shirt that had the most purchases is to determine Clay Carmine’s fate. Money raised was donated to a charity which from memory provided Xbox game and consoles to children’s hospitals. Check out Cliff Bleszinski's video about it.

So what do you think? Will Clay Carmine live or will he suffer a fate befitting the legacy of his inept brothers? Is this a Team Jacob versus Team Edward debate?

It’s clear that Epic have amped up the love for Carmine but do they love him enough, despite the vote? We’ll see this fall when Gears 3 is released.


Update: Carmine lives, and lives heroically! 


Check out my Gears of War 3 review or how I think Gears of War 4 could play out.