Gears Of War: Aftermath Mini-Campaign Premiere

By Damian Tobias /

Announced yesterday, Gears of War: Judgement, the latest installment in the Epic Games smash hit series will include an unlockable mini-campaign that takes place during the events of Gears of War 3, serving as an epilogue to Judgement and as a tie up to the trilogy. Titled Gears of War: Aftermath, the campaign follows Baird and Cole as they go on a search to find transport, weapons and reinforcements for the attack on Azura. The story takes off after Marcus & Dom head off in one direction towards Azura and Baird & Cole are sent in another. The storyline will introduce new characters, in particular Paddock, a former UIR soldier who originally opposed the COG but came around to fight after Emergence Day. Paddock will actually feature in the main storyline too, but Aftermath will offer a sort of origin to the character and add to the back story. In the premier video for the campaign, Epic Games mentions some of the other new features in the game. Such as the 'Smart Spawn' system, which will supposedly track your current style of fighting and basically make life extremely difficult for you. If you're constantly behind cover, you might get a hoard of tickers and maulers attack you, but heading for a full frontal assault and you could be greeted with wretches and berserkers. Another addition is the declassified missions that are within the game, they offer an extra challenge and extra points for gamers willing to try their hand at something more difficult. The example shown in the premier, tells you that kilo team reported that dust in the area, "reduced combat efficiency", you're then given the choice to take on the battlefield with this heavy dust storm that looks like absolute havoc to fight in, forcing you to adapt to close-combat instead of shooting wildly into the distance. The Aftermath mini-campaign can be unlocked by completing the main campaign, as long as you've collected the right amount of stars to do so. Three stars can be unlocked during each level of the games campaign and are dependent on your progression, challenges you undertake, ribbons you achieve etc. Which personally, I think is awesome that something such as this is available when most developers might have held it back as a stand alone DLC expansion you'd pay for separately. Gears of war is set to be released 22nd March.