The next addition to Epic Games' successful alien-stomping franchise has been revealed ahead of this week's E3 Xbox media briefing as Gears of War: Judgement, a prequel to the now-concluded adventures of Marcus Fenix that will chronicle the exploits of squad-mates, Damon Baird and Augustus "Cole Train" Cole.

The game is yet to be officially announced by Epic of Microsoft, but Game Informer are teasing two alternative cover shots of the aforementioned COG marines in chains and as usual, internet sleuths have uncovered a bunch of extra information (via: epicgames forums):

Judgement begins 15 years before Gears of War, with Baird and the rest of Killo Squad standing trial for transgression against the Coalition of Governments. The testimonies are being over seen by Colonel Loomis, a by the-books COG leader who accused the team of desertion, cowardice, trespassing, theft of experiment military tech and treason.

Judgement is being developed collaboratively by both Epic HQ and their Polish subsidiary People Can Fly (Painkiller, Bulletstorm)

People can fly is heavily involved in both the campaign and multiplayer, but especially the campaign. This is something we have initiated. We proposed the story and the gameplay hooks. Basically everything about campaign was initiated by People Can Fly. Obviously there is heavy involvement from Epic. I like to think about as the best of both worlds. On one hand we bring something fresh to the franchise, but on the other hand we have the original creators making sure it's still Gears.

The game will reportedly feature a class-based multiplayer mode with engineer, solider, media and scout archetypes.

The full reveal of the game is expected at the Xbox Media Briefing tomorrow.