The brand new Gears of War has smashed into the Xbox 360. Here we have Gears of War: Judgment the brand new third person shooter from Epic Games and People Can Fly also some Microsoft Studios. But the question is can it live up to hype of this generations top third person shooter game.

Soundtrack: The music in this game is either re-used audio from previous titles or a few  new pieces. They fit the Gears universe theme of course but reusing old songs to frequent. As always you get to hear the classic sounds of the chainsaw from the Gears series. More seasoned veterans will also reminisce with the Insta-Gib sound heard from the gore and bone crunching explosion of killing enemies. This sound is nearly identical to the sound of the Insta-Gib effect used in the classic Epic Games franchise Unreal Tournament which released in sequence to the increments of their Unreal Engine.

Multiplayer: The multiplayer at the moment has very few modes. The new Free for All mode is simple and similar to other games so nothing new there. Team Death match has been changed to be more like other games and not the Gears 3 spin off version so that was a let down. Domination if you have played Call of Duty then you know what I’m talking already it was a good addition into Gears though.

Now Overrun is revolutionary game type, basically its Horde mode takes on Beast mode but it is awesome. It takes Gears to the next level with classes, more objectives, and so many other things. Overrun is most likely what will give this game its boost. The downside is that’s the only mode with Locust vs the COG since they made it all humans in multiplayer which was yet another let down. The customization is way better with character and weapon skins.

The down side is that you still have to buy skins of the marketplace but some of them are cool if that is for you. The weapons are not as balanced as they should be even though is there is more to choose from and you go into matches with a sidearm, choice of grenade, and a larger weapon. Maps are let you jump down on top of people so it makes it a lot of fun there now that they are bigger and better.

Survival: It is pretty much Horde mode but with a different name. Honestly  nothing really new expect for classes and its based off of Overrun a little but more as well. It is a fun thing to do with friends if you like CO OP. There’s not much more to say about it, Survival is like Gears of War 3′s horde mixed with Judgement’s Overrun mode. Gears of War 3 horde mode is preferable, since it has the most intense boss modes.

Judgment Campaign: The story is one of those go back and tell story like Battlefield 3 or Call of Duty: Black Ops. This game does it right though, Each character has a testimony which makes them the playable character for that act. It was not a bad story but at times parts felt not needed. The Declassified Missions add more bang to the missions which it made them more enjoyable for me to play. The final boss fight was really well done but could not match up to other final boss fights in series. Overall the campaign was enjoyable at times but got slow at other times as well.

Aftermath Campaign: Aftermath is a Gears of War 3 fill in Campaign (I expect to see more these for Gears games in the future). Aftermath fills in the spot where Baird, Cole, and Carmine go to find reinforcements. Aftermath felts more traditional and better than Judgment at times. It was short but it was a Gears 3 episode so to speak.

Graphics: Seem slightly improved from Gears of War 3 but Gears of War 3 pushed the Unreal 3 Engine so you should not expect to be surprised. It seems like there wasn’t much that Epic Games, Microsoft Game Studios, and People Can Fly could pull out of the Unreal Engine as their preceding comments from 2008 held true for the massive majority percent of the Xbox 360′s power already being pushed to the max by the Unreal Engine in previous titles like Gears of War 2 and 3. That being said the graphics do not look bad, they look good, just don’t expect them to outdo the past games in a significant way.

Final Verdict: Gears of War Judgment tries to mix new things into the formula which works at certain points of the game. Basically, it should have been a DLC for Gears of War 3 but has enough features to be a stand alone title. I review this game a solid 8 out of10. ‘Til next time Gearheads!

Overall Score: 8/10

Review Copy Info: Gears of War Judgment was purchased by RealGamerNewz.com for review purposes.

Available on: Xbox 360