Review: Gears Tactics

While the term Knight might conjure up chivalry or grace, the ones in Divinity Original Sin 2 are much more brute shock troops. They will prioritize a large heavy or long-reaching weapon, a bit of armor, and nothing much else. A first-level Knight probably won’t have any form of magic. But, one can work towards more combat-focused schools like death spells or metamorphosis at high levels. Still, the Knight’s role is to charge into the thick of battle, chop up enemies, and withstand enough damage to keep go

Instead of concentrating on low impact shots at enemies in cover, render them immobile or stop them from doing anything that will harm allies through Overwatch. Cover them with overlapping Overwatch sections from various units. Keep in mind that Gear's Artificial Intelligence feature with explosive ticker enemies, is very good at countering Overwa

Speaking of enemies, a highlight of the Gears Tactics experience is definitely its boss fights, which play out like sort of puzzles and feel a little different than the standard combat encounters. Some players may find initial boss fights in Gears Tactics frustrating, but there are often ways that players can make the battle much easier. It's just a matter of figuring out the appropriate squad composition and where they need to send the characters on the battlefi

Gears Tactics rewinds the clock twelve years before the events of Gears of War and centers around a new squad led by Lt. Col. Gabriel Diaz. Sera is overrun with Locust and the threat is only deepening thanks to Ukkon, the Locust scientist responsible for creating monstrosities like the Brumak and Corpser. Out of options and with little time left, Diaz must raise an army of COG and Stranded to track down and assassinate Ukkon before he unleashes new terrors.

Despite some stumbles, Splash Damage has successfully taken the essence of the Gears franchise and transferred it into a turn-based strategy game. Gears Tactics is a true Gears title with a campaign that builds and expands the franchise’s lore, all while introducing new characters and adding new wrinkles to old ones. The turn-based gameplay fits well within the universe, providing plenty of strategy both on and off the field. Combined with some genuinely excellent main missions, Gears Tactics comes together nicely. It does frequently stumble thanks to the repetitive and frequent side quests that vastly hurt the pacing, but remains a joy to play throughout its many hours. Gears Tactics is a solid turn-based game that’ll make Gears and tactics fans happy.

Gears Tactics’ structure crumbles around the side missions due to a lack of variety. The game features four types of side missions: Rescue, Sabotage, Scavenger Run and Control. In Rescue, you need to save two soldiers from torture pods. Sabotage sees the squad attack a Locust stronghold and destroy its Imulsion supply. Scavenger Run tasks players with grabbing equipment as Nemacyst bombings inch closer each turn. Finally, Control has the squad holding two positions to collect supplies. There’s nothing inherently wrong with these types of objectives, but Gears Tactics overly relies on them to its detriment. It regularly sidelines its own story and main missions to task players with these side missions. It’s not bad until you realize that the SLG Game story guide interrupts the flow of the campaign after nearly every main mission and completely throw off the pacing of the entire game. One mission you could be laying a trap for Ukkon, and the next, rather than springing it, you must complete two side quests. In an effort to increase the length, Gears Tactics actively sabotages the pacing of its campaign. Considering the campaign makes up the entirety of the Gears Tactics experience, the amount of required side missions to continue the story is just too much.

One of the best aspects of the XCOM games, going back to the first title, is the ability to salvage and examine alien technology.