Epic Announces Gears of War: Judgement Season Pass

[Steven Bogos]

Epic Announces Gears of War: Judgement Season Pass

The pass will cost 1600 Microsoft Points and include two scheduled Add-on Packs along with some exclusive content.

Season passes seem to have become the norm for new releases these days, and Epic's upcoming Gears of War: Judgement is no different. While most season passes simply include a collection of scheduled DLC, Epic Games will be giving out some extra goodies to those of you willing to invest the 1600 Microsoft Points. Purchasers of the pass will receive early access to Game Add-on multiplayer maps, a permanent double XP boost, five exclusive weapon skins, and four exclusive armor skins, on top of all the content included in the two upcoming Add-on Packs.

Epic claims that purchasing the Season Pass saves you "more than 20 percent" compared to purchasing the Add-on Packs separately. It also clearly states that the Season Pass is the "only" way to get a double XP boost, so we can assume that Gears of War: Judgement won't be running any double XP weekends in the way that Call of Duty and Battlefield games have been known to in the past.

The Season Pass will be available for purchase on the game's March 19 release date. There's currently no word on how long the pass, along with it's exclusive content, will be available. The two Add-on Packs currently scheduled for the game will each include six multiplayer maps, two new modes, and new weapon and armor skins.

Gears of War: Judgement is a prequel to the original Gears of War trilogy. The Xbox 360 exclusive will follow Damon Baird, the leader of Kilo Squad, along with his best friend Augustus "The Cole Train" Cole as they deal with events leading up to the first Gears of War game. Cliff Bleszinski recently talked about why the game won't cover [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117799-Why-Gears-of-War-Judgment-Doesnt-Cover-the-Series-Most-Iconic-Events] some of the most iconic moments in Gears of War history, reasoning that anything in the "pre-chainsaw bayonet" time period doesn't really fit the Gears of War feel.

Gears of War: Judgement will be the first Gears of War game released since Cliff Bleszinski, the lead designer of the original trilogy, left Epic Games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119936-Cliff-Bleszinski-Leaves-Epic-Games] in October last year. It is unknown how large his role was in Gears of War: Judgement prior to his departure.

Source: Epic Games [http://epicgames.com/community/2013/02/judgment-vip-season-pass-big-savings-exclusive-content/]

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[Legion]

*yawns*

I was a really large Gears fan, but to be honest this one just feels like they have nothing to say, but want to keep the money rolling in. It's also worth noting that this game isn't being made by Epic alone. The studio working on it is People Can Fly, who made Bulletstorm.

As a season pass, I think they have a much better idea that normal though. Usually a "season pass" just means a pre-order on DLC. This one actually has benefits to doing so.

 

[UberPubert]

One of my favorite things about Gears of War was the enemy variety: By the third game, with the inclusion of the fully-realized lambent, the series was boasting a huge roster of ugly to shoot at. With the franchise taking a step back from that, and the lambent forces being chronologically impossible, they've advertised the only new enemy that's coming (the rager, which just looks like a drone with a gimmick). That and just a handful of new features being all they have to show to us for now makes me wary of this new title.