Gears of War: Judgment

[Swarley]

March 19, 2013 Release Date

[IamMedellin]

[IamMedellin]

[IamMedellin]

[Handleit_44]

Gears of War: Judgment writers on what makes the series special and how to improve it

In the past, the Gears of War series hasn't been particularly lauded for its writing.

Dead Space story producer Chuck Beaver called it, "literally the worst writing in games," and Gears of War 3 scribe Karen Traviss didn't instil much confidence when she called herself "a writer who doesn't read novels."

Epic Games seems to have taken these criticisms to heart and has brought on Extra Lives: Why Videogames Matter author and New Yorker contributor Tom Bissell along with his writing partner Rob Auten - a consultant at 20th Century Fox who worked on Avatar - to pen the upcoming prequel Gears of War: Judgment.

"We really tried to make this a character driven game," says Bissell. "We really worked hard to make Cole and Baird's friendship actually feel like something that's not stated. It's not told to you. 'These guys are best pals, watch them go.' We actually tried to give them more moments to actually see them relate to each other as guys that really love each other and we worked really hard on making that connection something that's actually real."

That's right, Bissell used the L word to talk about two dudes from Gears of War. And he means it too. This won't be Brokeback Platoon, but it's important to the team that these characters' friendship feels real, deep and authentic.

Besides fleshing out Baird and Cole, the new writers are thrilled at the opportunity to create two new major characters. "It's exciting that we're allowed to bring characters this substantial to a franchise that's so established," says Auten. "We've already plotted out their backstories and what happened and why and maybe someone will explore some of that material as well."

"We're kind of in love with [the new characters] and we really hope people will love [them] too," says Bissell.

Perhaps the biggest change the writers are bringing to Gears of War: Judgment is its unique narration that alters based on what Classifications - Gears parlance for "additional challenges" - you accept. Since the game is told in flashback by a squad giving testimony before a judge, there's plenty of wiggle room for how these recollections can be told.

"The outcome is the same; it's not a Choose Your Own Adventure," says Bissell clarifying that there won't be branching paths. "What does change is the narration itself. You're never going to hear the same game narrated."

"When you pick them [classifications] the narration changes. And when you succeed at them the narration changes. And so what's cool about it is that it's going to be very hard to play through the game and hear the same narration... It's the same event from slightly different perspectives.

"I'm calling it quietly, sneakily innovative in that it I'm not entirely sure a game has been told quite in this way before. Other games have done aspects of it, but we've been really committed to this aspect of the testimony and I think it really works," proclaimed Bissell.

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Traviss has penned about 4 books now ? Seems like people think her writing is good. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book.
I stand by my statement that Ortegas awful decisions in GOW2 with the lambent was almost irreversibly bad. It was awful and unnecessary and a blatant Halo ripoff. Traviss did "ok" for part 3. Doms climax was great despite the annoyance of the lambent story arch. She completely missed an opportunity in the last act which was just bizarre. Marcus and his dads relationship was cardboard. They havent seen each other for how long ? ...can a fella get a hug ? Do we have to have Adam tell me a paragraph worth of information only to say "i ..i ...ill tell you when youre here" leading up to an anti climactic reveal ?

I think Chuck Beaver needs to clarify if he means dialogue or plot.

[IamMedellin]

Blasphemy...

You could get Bill Shakespear, Tolstoy, Faulkner AND Acesuper in a room and give them 20 years to finish this project and They STILL couldn't write a better story than Gears 3..

Without a Doubt, the Greatest Story not only of This Generation, Not Only in All of Gaming.....But in the HIstory of All Entertainment...

 

If this Doesnt move you, you're just Dead inside

[Swarley]

[DoubleDeuce]

A mod should change the thread title to Gears of War: Judgement.

Judgment*

And I'm fucking excited for this game. I love Gears 3, and it's definitely the most polished of all three, but neither the third nor the second instilled in me the fear of the locust like the original. Scary ass locust in numbers never seen before? Count me in!

[Handleit_44]

[Swarley]

[Champ]

We now have 4 more videos. One of them shows you the new Free For All gametype. Next is the Mansion map of the campaign. Then Overun's "Junkyard" map. Then finally "Museum" from the campaign.

http://epicgames.com/community/2012/12/new-extended-gameplay-gears-of-war-judgment-videos/

[Swarley]

Just announced that this game will come with a code to download Gears of War 1.

[jms493]

Just announced that this game will come with a code to download Gears of War 1.

I wonder how much I can sell that code for?

[Twigg4075]

I wonder how much I can sell that code for?

I can't imagine much considering the triple pack sells for like $20.

I would much rather them include a free season pass with pre-orders or something. This is a pretty dumb incentive.