The pre-orders for Gears of War: Judgment have officially opened and if you pre-order the game from participating retailers you’ll be able to secure the Classic Hammerburst, an exclusive in-game multiplayer weapon, at launch.

According to Major Nelson, the Classic Hammerburst “was the standard-issue assault rifle of the Locust Army during their E-Day onslaught. Highly accurate with a six-round burst, the Classic Hammerburst helped give the Locust a decisive advantage.”

You can see the Classic Hammerburst in action below:

If you pre-order Judgment you’ll also be able to get your hands on additional incentives from participating retailers. These include exclusive multiplayer skins Young Marcus, Young Dom, Anya and Alex Brand.

Your pre-orders of Judgment will also be adding to the already impressive sales figures of the Gears of War franchise. According to Microsoft (via Joystiq) the Gears of War series has surpassed 19 million, an additional one million since the 18 million sales figure was revealed in July.

The publisher would not give specific figures for Gears of War 3, but we know that the title sold 3 million in the first retail week while Gears 1 and Gears 2 have sold 12 million combined as of June 2012.

Gears of War: Judgment will be released on the 19th of March 2013. The game is set before the events of the previous Gears of War trilogy and centers on Kilo Squad, a troop of soldiers led by Damon Baird and Augustus Cole. Series newcomers Sofia Hendricks and Garron Paduk are also on the team as they set out to save the city of Halvo Bay from a terrifying new enemy.

Here’s the new official box art:

Tags: boxart, epicgames, gearsofwarjudgment, microsoft, preorder, sales