Gears Tactics In-Depth Game Review

What is Gears Tactics?

Gear Tactics is the new spin off game of the well known Gears of war series. However the Coalition decided to go a different route with this one. Most Would know gears as a fast paced third person shooter known for its gore and stylish executions. In their new game they are taking on a tactics strategy based game.

Go ahead and Pre-Order Gears Tactics on Microsoft!

Of course they will maintain their standard gears fashion with plenty of gore, executions, and large scale boss fights. Unlike the other games in the franchise gears tactics is going to be a completely single player game. In place of multiplayer they plan on having a full campaign including forty plus hours of gameplay. Along with cutscenes, character customization, and plenty of gore to make it feel like a real gears game.

Is Gears Tactics just XCOM with a Gears skin??

Gears tactic’s designers plan to make the genre their own.The first notable change I saw was that they will be getting rid of the standard grid movements system. When I saw this the first thing that came to mind was this was just an aesthetic change. Movement costs action points, as well as your abilities, firing, etc.

However, where this change really differs is that you can move the characters much more freely which gives you better opportunities to position your units in the most advantageous spot.  The next change they are bringing to the table is their take on the Overwatch mechanic. In XCOM and other tactics games the Overwatch skill is a skill where you place a unit to attack anything that comes within range. In gears they added a more tactical version where you set a firing zone.

In my opinion this adds a lot to the tactical aspect of the game where it allows you to create choke holds and gives the player more control over their units. The next change they intend to bring to the table is a more in depth character progression. In XCOM the player is only allowed to pick out of two options based on class for every character promotion. In Gears Tactics the player is given a web where you start in the center and branch into whichever skills you want from there.

As of right now the player would be able to fill two sections completely by max level for each character. This allows the player to bring his personalization to each individual character. On the topic of units another change they are bringing in is “hero units”. XCOM and other tactics games have used this before but it is still notable.

In Gears Tactics though these are units you always have and are the only units that need to stay alive during your missions. They do have their own special abilities. Unlike XCOM Gears tactics are getting rid of the more metagaming features such as resources but that doesn’t mean that they are getting rid of items. In Gears Tactics you will have to search throughout the missions for crates which contain items and upgrades for your units. Creating some difficult situations where the player would have to divert some of their forces to the collection of said upgrades.

Overall, I feel that Gears Tactics will develop into its own defining game. Taking some inspiration from similar titles and adding in their own creative flair I feel that The Coalition will be able to create a strong spin off title.

Is Gears Tactics worth it?

Right now I am pretty certain that this game will be worth the buy. This seems like a game where they add all my favorite things about the gears series in a well rounded tactics game. The developers add in their own flair and personality into this game.

However I do have some concerns. With no multiplayer that means there may not be a huge amount of replayability. However, with over forty hours of gameplay there is still plenty of content for the player to enjoy. The game seems to be a refreshing take on a genre that hasn’t received much appreciation in recent years and i look forward to it’s release on April 28th, 2020.

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T.J. Coutts
T.J. Couttshttps://weeklyreviewer.com/author/t-j-coutts/
Passionate game tester, game lover and game reviewer. Check out my Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/bewarethesnare

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