I've been battling the Locust Horde in Gears of War: Judgment, the prequel to the popular Gears of War franchise. Here are some thoughts on the game.

I'm not a big fan of the campaign setup. The story is told through flashbacks and separated into numerous sections for each member of the Kilo Squad. There's no fluidity to it like in past games, and each section takes up to 10 minutes to complete. I don't think I learned anything from a story standpoint, either, so that was disappointing.

Two new modes in the multiplayer are fun, although they are essentially the same thing. Survival mode teams you up with others to stop 10 waves of Locust enemies trying to destroy E-Hole covers and a generator you're protecting. OverRun is the same thing, except you can play as the aliens destroying these bases. It's hectic fun, but unfortunately there's only four different maps at launch to play with.

Check out my full review at www.theoaklandpress.com.

Get even tinier thoughts at www.twitter.com/JeffHoard921.