Gears of War: Judgment

The 2013 prequel in which Baird and Cole's Kilo Squad stand trial.

Gears of War: Judgment is a 2013 third-person shooter by People Can Fly and Epic Games, published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It was released on March 19, 2013 in North America and Australia and three days later in Europe.

A spin-off and prequel to the whole series, it follows Damon Baird, Augustus Cole and their Kilo Squad on trial for disobeying orders six weeks after Emergence Day.

Quick Facts

Developer

People Can Fly, Epic Games

Publisher

Microsoft Studios

Director

Adrian Chmielarz

Designer

Wojciech Mądry, Dave Nash

Producer

Piotr Krzywonosiuk
Alan Van Slyke
Chris Wynn

Programmer

Grzegorz Mocarski

Artist

Waylon Brinck, Wyeth Johnson

Writer

Rob Auten, Tom Bissell

Facts from the source article.

Background

Work began in 2011 after Gears of War 3, with Epic bringing in People Can Fly after the two studios made Bulletstorm. The developers chose to show Baird and Cole before they met Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Rob Auten and Tom Bissell wrote the story, and Steve Jablonsky composed the score with Jacob Shea.

The campaign is split into six chapters of self-contained missions, each scored with up to three stars. Earning 40 stars unlocks Aftermath, a separate chapter that follows on from the Gears of War 3 campaign.

Critics reacted positively but fans were mixed, and it sold only 1 million copies by August 2013.