IGN: First Gears of War Judgment Story Details

Baird, Cole, Garron, and Sofia -- the four members of Gears of War: Judgment's Kilo Squad -- have been "charged for treason because they didn't follow orders, stole equipment, and their actions could end up killing millions of people they swore to protect," an anonymous source told IGN.

This is the premise of Judgment, and the crux of the trailer debuting at Microsoft's E3 press conference on Monday, June 4, where we'll learn officially that the next Gears of War is a prequel to the first game.

[Croash]

Huh, weird, I thought GameInformer didn't reveal anything about the game on purpose in their cover reveal article so that there would still be some kind of surprise during Microsoft's conference.

Anyway, this is just like Halo. A trilogy followed by a prequel. Since I haven't played Gears of War 3, I can't know if a sequel can happen and if it could involve Fenix but I'm sure we will still see Gears of War games on the next Xbox. Epic has created a universe which can easily be expanded.

Let's hope Judgment's trailer will be satisfying.

[mugoldeneagle03]

I really don't like the fact that both MS & Sony have been shoveling out the same franchises left and right last year and now this.

Maybe you can blame Activision and the COD cycle since obviously others are trying it, but I wish they didn't give up on this gen so quickly. Feels like they know this is it so why not do something that appeals to more fans even if its oversaturated.

Makes me want to not spend a lot of money and just wait for new consoles as opposed to being excited.

[Lucretia]

with the exception that SOny keeps making new ip's aswell i think you forget to mention. Last guardian, Last of us, are on the way. StarHawk just came out. Soony has tons of variety atleast

not to sound one sided

but ms only has halo, gears, forza and fable, if they had more variety i wouldn't mind the releasing of the same franchises

[pixelsword]

Of course I'm probably wrong, but I gotta funny feeling that judgement is going to be a multiplatform game.

They effectively ended the "Gears" storyline at the moment, and Epic made a point to do so. Gears could be picked back up at an exclusive, of course, but with a prequel (a possible trilogy at that) and a "mix" of the two in a Gears 4 on next gens consoles from then on out as multiplatform seems to be what Epic is planning.

Again, I could be wrong, but I can't see Epic using this "start-over" to remain exclusive.

[Patriots_Pride]

Honest question: What wrong with giving people what they want? I love GOW and God of War and many people do too.

Yeah they could stop at 2 or 3 but if people still want more then why not give it to them.

Can you imagine if Nintendo stopped at Mario 2 or Zelda stopped at A Link to the Past.

[Patriots_Pride]

@ Pixelsword that would not make any sense to release it on the PS3 since its more thank lickly a prequal - PS3 only gamers did not play Gears 1,2, or 3 so they would not get the tie in experiance - that would be like watching Star War from Episode one and never watch the forst 2 start wars movies.

Now if this did not have anything to do with Cole or Baird then maybe it would have a chance to go multi.

[Lilioups]

huh? what r u smoking?
sony ALWAYS brings new IP'S every year

unlike m$ who always announce every e3 gears and halos and forza

[mugoldeneagle03]

I've had a PS3 since launch, I'm simply referring to the last year or two and potentially this coming (and final) year.

Obviously there are tons of new info we'll get in a few days, but for now it's been Halo x2, Gears x2, 5th AC game, GoW Ascension (which I'll hold judgement till I see more gameplay at E3), another infamous. On top of your annual CoD and BF/MoH

And no there's nothing wrong with giving people what they want. But the longer this happens the more likely this layout is going to continue into next gen. And I'd rather be playing a newer installment every 2-3 years than 1-2.

Just a thought

[Megaton]

IGN got scooped by a magazine cover, so they're spouting off "anonymous tips" in order to not look so out of the loop.

[ABizzel1]

I love how they cropped the Game Informer image for their site. LOL.

[DeadlyFire]

Well if People Can Fly is making Gears then what is Epic working on?

[Freak of Nature]

I would quess a "Gears spinoff" to come on the NextBOX...?

[Bobby Kotex]

This prequel crap is starting to get annoying. It's basically what you do when you run out of ideas.

[Croash]

Well you can never know for sure.
Devil May Cry 3 & Metal Gear Solid 3 were both prequels, but they were fuelled by fresh ideas and were worthy additions to their respective franchise's main canon.

It's all about knowing why you're doing it and what you're aiming for. If it was done because ideas were running short, then what you'll get will either be forgettable or ruin the entire franchise.

People Can Fly being the developers of Judgment means that this Gears of War has a chance of being slightly different than previous iterations as new ideas will come from another team.

[Silly gameAr]

I honestly can't wait to see what this is about. Just gave me a reason to watch MS's E3 revel that's for damn sure. On blackout til then.

[Hufandpuf]

IDK why they just didn't make an add on DLC for this. Gears 3 played just fine.

[ginsunuva]

Because if it was dlc they could only charge up to $20 for it without being yelled at. If they pitch it as a whole game they can sell it for $60 instead. Profit = tripled. duh

[Lucretia]

thats what they did with halo odst. it was priced at 30 originally (i worked at game crazy at the time) then 2 weeks before release the pre-order price jumped to 60 and everyone was like wtf?

[Bobby Kotex]

Not sure why you're downvoted. People must be butthurt by the truth.

[from the beach]

Hopefully because they're planning to introduce a major new mechanic to the series, such as a degree of Kinect support.

By the way.. did anyone else enjoy the Raam's Shadow DLC more than the actual Gears of War 3 campaign?

[TekoIie]

RAAM's shadow contained A LOT of variation between each chapter of the whole act compared to the main campaign which is what made it fun.

Also reminded me of the Gears 1 campaign which on level design is the best :)

[Kingdom Come]

A prequel naturally makes sense and to have Baird and Cole as the protagonists makes even stronger sense due to their chemistry. Also, setting the game in the two years following Emergence Day allows for us to really witness the downfall of Sera. If Baird was a smug, witty guy in the original trilogy, I can't wait to see what he was like more than a decade earlier, same goes for a Cole.

Anyone who knows me know that I've been a massive obsessive of the franchise since day one, I purchased all collectors/Epic Editions day one and when my old Xbox 360 broke 2 weeks prior to the release of Gears of War 3, I went to the midnight launch and purchased the Limited Edition Gears of War 3 Console as well as my Epic Edition that I'd Pre-Ordered just to play the game at launch (that and I intended to buy the console anyway and I'd been told that my old Xbox 360 that I'd had from launch had essentially melted due to overheating).

I really hope care is taken with this, I'm actually quite apprehensive with this title, I hadn't wanted a new installment until the launch of a new console and to hear that People Can Fly may be the lead developers is quite worrying, they don't have the connection that Epic built with the Gears community over the franchises 6 years and don't have that same dedication we've come to love, but the fanboy (sorry) inside me just wants more Gears. Cant Wait!

[Kingdom Come]

I have been e-mailed some scans of the Game Informer Article by a very good friend and will gladly discuss the details with fellow Gears fans, there's too much to post in a message so just PM me.

PS. It sounds and looks amazing.

[OmegaSlayer]

No one is mentioning XBOX 360 exclusivity on this one...hm...

[Silly gameAr]

True. MS got an exclusive I'm interested in finally other then my curiosity about Halo 4. Looking forward to it.

[Sizzon]

I wanna hear and see more! :)

[camel_toad]

*spoiler* This one will have huge sweaty men as the main characters.

[strauser360]

What gave it away?

[etownthree]

Good to be an Xbox owner.

[MariaHelFutura]

Going into E3 its good to own them all.