Gears of War Judgment Announced As Prequel

Epic Games and Microsoft have announced the People Can Fly-developed Gears of War: Judgment exclusively for Xbox 360 at E3 2012. The third-person shooter will arrive worldwide in early 2013.

Gears of War: Judgment’s campaign is a prequel to the original Gears of War that takes you back to the immediate aftermath of Emergence Day — the defining event of the Gears of War universe — for the very first time and tests your mettle in highly competitive new multiplayer modes.

Set years before the events of the previous Gears of War trilogy, Judgment centers on Kilo Squad, a troop of soldiers led by Damon Baird and Augustus “The Cole Train” Cole. They are joined by newcomers to the Gears series, Sofia Hendricks and Garron Paduk, as they attempt to save the besieged city of Halvo Bay from a terrifying new enemy. Gears of War: Judgment depicts the planet Sera on the brink of annihilation by an unstoppable new Locust menace, giving you a new vantage point into one of the richest and most acclaimed sagas in gaming.

As with all Gears of War games, Judgment delivers intense co-op gameplay. You can play cooperatively with up to three friends on Xbox LIVE (four players total) and experience more challenging gameplay scenarios and achievements by uncovering critical information during the course of the campaign with Judgement’s all new “Mission Declassification” system.

Watch the Gears of War: Judgment announcement trailer from E3 2012:

Gears of War: Judgment also introduces a new Smart Spawn System [S3] for both campaign and multiplayer action. This new system ensures that each encounter is unique and new because types, timing and locations of enemies change with each new encounter.

Finally, Gears of War: Judgment introduces Gears players to brand-new multiplayer experiences like OverRun, a thrilling new class-based competitive mode that pits Locust and COG soldiers in a head-to-head battle unlike anything Gears fans have experienced yet. OverRun is an objective-oriented mode that lets five-player teams alternate between playing as Locusts and COG soldiers, and marks the first time that a class-based, competitive multiplayer experience has been introduced in the Gears of War series, amping up the addictive gameplay with a deep player progression system layered on top of the experience.

See the first Gears Of War: Judgment multiplayer gameplay here:

Additional game modes will be announced at a later time.

Are you looking forward to the prequel Gears of War: Judgment?