Gears of War Judgement

The first details from the upcoming Game Informer article about Gears of War: Judgement leaked out on Saturday and reveals that the upcoming Xbox 360 shooter is indeed a prequel set 15 years earlier starring Damon Baird and Augustus Cole.

Gears of War: Judgement is being handled by Bulletstorm developer People Can Fly who is trying to freshen the narrative of the Gears of War series up a little while returning the combat back to its roots. That means trying to make the Locust scary again and blowing up Emergence Holes with grenades.

The story of Judgement focuses on Damon Baird this time around and not Marcus Fenix. Both Baird, Cole and the two other members of Kilo Squad - Sofia and Garron Paduk - find themselves in trouble after disobeying orders. Don't expect to spend much time in the courtroom though as the game is described as non-stop action as players relive Kilo's adventures in the form of flashbacks.

Baird was chosen as the focus of the game after surveys showed that he is a fan favorite and Epic wanted to explore the smart-mouthed engineer's background more than it was able to previously. While there will be some cut-scenes, they won't be as plentiful as the 90 minutes worth of cut-scenes found in Gears of War 3. Instead, the story will be delivered in part by the testimony that Baid and the others give during the trial and also through the environment.

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People Can Fly and Epic are also introducing a new Smart Spawn System, or S3. This new spawn system will look at how the level is being played, if it has been played before and will provide a new mix of where and what enemies spawn. The AI will adjust as well by taking into account player movement, position and difficulty setting when sending enemies after players. This time it won't affect player and enemy health but the amount of Locust that is sent into battle.

There will be multiplayer with Gears of War: Judgement of course but it will introduce a class-based system for the first time and breaks down like this.

Baird (Engineer) - Equipped with Gnasher and Blowtorch. Special abilities include sentry turret, blowtorch repairs and damaged fortifications.
Cole (Soldier) - Equipped with Lancer and Boomshot can deploy ammo crates, toss ammo to Engineer to give him infinite blowtorch ammo.
Sofia (Medic) - Equipped with Lancer and Snub Pistol and has a "stim gas gernade" that revives downed allies when tossed around them.
Garron (Scout) - Equipped with Longshot and Snub as well as a beacon gernade. Can climb perches for better sniping leverage.
There will also be a new multiplayer mode called "Overrun" that currently sounds like a mix of Horde mode and Beast mode. So instead of playing co-op as either C.O.G. or Locust, you play a competitive multiplayer match based on the rules from the other two modes.

The Locusts available in the OverRun mode are.

Wretch
Role: Leap over hazards, clim perches.
Special Ability: Stunning scream.
Tip: Travel in packs and stagger screams for maximum stunnig power.

Ticker
Role: Eat fortifications, eat grenades, detonate.
Special Ability: Speed boost.
Tip: Can be kicked over barriers by grenadiers.

Kantus
Role: Hammerburst rifle, heal friendly units, ride bloodmounts.
Special Ability: Chain heal.
Tip: Support valuable units like Corpser and Mauler with healing.

Grenadier
Role: Lancer rifle, ride Bloodmounts.
Special Ability: Frag Grenade.
Tip: Throw grenade at COG turret to cause deadly explosion near enemies.

Bloodmount
Role: Melee enemies/fortifications, be ridden by Grenadier and Kantus.
Special Ability: Halve the cooldown time on rider's special ability (passive)
Tip: Carry a mounted Kantus behind cover while his heal recharges.

Mauler
Role: Devastate fortifications and COG soldiers with flail and shield.
Special Ability: Spinning spike shield.
Tip: Aim the reticle at enemies while shield spins to deflect bullets back at COGs.

Serapede
Role: Eat through barriers, destory COGs, ranged support.
Special Ability: Spit poison.
Tip: Have two Serapedes overlap to protect one another's vulnerable rears.

Corpser
Role: Demolish fortifications and COGs with heavy melee.
Special Ability: Burrow and move underground.
Tip: Armored legs reduce damage from the front.

Check out this video over at joystiq

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/05/gears-of-war-judgment-gameplay-trailer-smirks-in-the-face-of-da/

I'm not gonna lie i'm pretty pumped about this one after seeing overrun

I also agree I am pretty excited about this as well, cant wait to get a feel for some new gears again... I am just 1 COG in a well organized opK machine..