Gears of War: Judgment Gets First Gameplay Video and Details

Gears of War: Judgment may have been revealed last week, but yesterday, during Microsoft’s E3 2012 press conference, the first video and details of the game were presented to the world.

The Gears of War franchise seemed to end with last year’s third installment but now, with Judgment, developers Epic Games and People Can Fly are returning to the past, focusing on two secondary characters - Damon Baird and Augustus “Cole Train” Cole - and their previous exploits before joining Delta Squad in the first game of the series.

We already learned some more details yesterday, but now the first actual pieces of information have arrived about the game that takes place right in the aftermath of Emergence Day, one of the biggest events in the Gears of War universe.

“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,” the game’s description reads.

As a first for the series, a special Mission Declassification system is in place that allows players to “experience more challenging gameplay scenarios and achievements by uncovering critical information during the course of the campaign.”

Combat in Judgment has been refined thanks to the addition of a new Smart Spawn System, according to Epic Games.

“Gears of War: Judgment 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.”

What’s more, a brand new multiplayer mode called OverRun, which is based on classes, has been added to the game’s variety of online features.

“Gears of War: Judgment introduces brand-new multiplayer experiences, including 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,” the modes description says.

“An objective-oriented mode that lets five-player teams alternate between playing as Locusts and COG soldiers, OverRun marks the first time that a class-based, competitive multiplayer experience has been introduced in the Gears of War series and amps up the addictive gameplay with a deep player progression system layered on top of the experience.”

More gameplay modes for Gears of War: Judgment will be revealed in the near future, ahead of its release in early 2013, exclusively for the Xbox 360.

Until then, check out the first video of the game below.