Specifically, you can teach them new skills or tweak their armour and weapons using upgrades. The only tweaks you can perform are to Gears themselves. Unlike pretty much every other turn-based tactical shooter, you don’t get to customise your base or invest in new research projects to improve your weapons and armour. The signs start the moment you finish the opening tutorial/first three missions and realise, there’s no base building in Gears Tactics. The hole’s constant threat is a great mechanic that can completely change the flow of a battle and ruin even the best-laid plans in seconds if you’re not careful.īut after the first few missions, XCOM fans will begin to spot a few weird omissions and changes to the classic formula that aren’t necessarily for the better. Like other Gears games, you can close them, and stop more enemies appearing, by throwing a grenade into them. Early on, clever level design and intelligent use of grub “emergence holes” offers enough differentiation and requires tactical planning to entertain even the most diehard of gamers.Įmergence holes are sinkholes that appear and act as an entry point for enemy grubs. Gears’ heavy armour and weaponry gives the combat weight and makes each kill wonderfully satisfying. The attention to detail is great with each moving and acting exactly as you’d expect. Enemies also line up with the existing monsters we’ve seen in previous titles. The animations are gloriously bloody and totally in-keeping with past Gears games. For example, the chainsaw bayonet makes a return and can be used to perform executions. This is no bad thing in the early stages, as some minor tweaks Microsoft has made to the format are excellent. They are vaguely divided into heavy, support, sniper and assault, each of which can be specialised using skill points, which are earned post-mission when the unit earns enough experience to level up, again like XCOM. All the genre tropes are here, including a focus on using cover to protect your soldiers and establishing overwatch zones – where your allies sets up a parameter and shoots any enemy that wanders into it during their turn.Įven the classes of COG are almost identical to the soldiers in XCOM. The game’s turn-based so once you’ve spent your actions the enemy AI controlled grubs do the same. Each soldier has a set number of action points each turn that are used for movement, shooting, and activating skills. The squad control system is at first glance a carbon copy of XCOM. Tactics features a top-down view that tasks you to take control of a squad of up to four Gears and guide them through various missions. Once through the fairly long tutorial, any XCOM gamer will automatically feel at home. It also serves as a nice stepping stone that eases players into the game’s new tactical focus by introducing the mechanics one at a time. Not giving any spoilers away but the plot nails Gear’s beloved over-the-top tone and features a great cast of new and returning characters that any fan of the franchise will love. Tactics is a prequel to the original Gears of War, that focuses on a Gabriel “Gabe” Diaz as he tries to put together and command a squad of soldiers for a rogue COG (government) operation. But sadly, hardcore fans of the genre will find the experience a little too lightweight to fully scratch their tactical itch, while waiting for the fabled XCOM 3. This is a great game for fans of the franchise and an ideal entry point into an under-served genre of gaming for console gamers. All of the genre hallmarks are there and begging to be used, which is why on paper the side-ways move makes sense.Īnd for the most part, Tactics totally delivers on its promise of Gears-themed-XCOM. Badass future marines with over the top weapons, check. Dystopian sci-fi setting with scary-looking monster enemies, check. If ever there was a franchise that screamed to be turned into a tactical, turn-based strategy game it’s Gears. Instead, it’s a turn-based strategy game in the same vein as XCOM 2 or Phoenix Point. But unlike its predecessors, Tactics is not a third-person tactical shooter. Gears Tactics is the latest entry into Microsoft’s iconic shooter series.
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