Mortismal Gaming reviewed the tactical RPG Gears Tactics:

Gears Tactics - Review After 100%

Mortismal Gaming checked out Gears Tactics:

Gears Tactics - First Impressions

Destructoid reports that Gears Tactics is set to get its first content update soon as it heads to consoles.

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The fight is about to get a lot feistier. Gears Tactics is coming to consoles on November 10, that much we already knew. That's when Splash Damages' surprisingly good Gears strategy game gets its first major content update.

There are a few different talking points regarding the November 10 update, but the eye-catcher is the introduction of Jack the robot as a playable character. Jack isn't some repurposed unit jammed into another class either. He's his own class and he's equipped with more than 20 new skills. Jack's most notable ability is hijacking and controlling Locust units.

Jack has been a Gears mainstay but this is only the second time he'll be playable. In Gears 5, Jack was a third co-op option that offered a lighter and lower-stakes alternative to the usual COG characters. Gears Tactics looks as though it uses Jack's model from Gears 5, but Tactics took place more than a decade before the original Gears of War. Jack was iterated upon several times over the course of the series. If you want to get knee-deep in the lore, you can try to figure out which one is Tactics Jack.

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TechRaptor compared and contrasted Gears Tactics with XCOM: Chimera Squad and found somethings to recommend for XCOM.

Classes and Skills in Gears Tactics

XCOM: Chimera Squad does one thing very well, and that is making every soldier feel different from one another. They all have unique skills and abilities; for example, one unit has mind control while another can place shields on himself or squad mates, soaking up some damage. Then you realize that XCOM: Chimera Squad is more of a one-off and not a direct sequel, so these elements aren't likely to make it over to the third entry of the series. Gears Tactics might not have as many characters as the XCOM: Chimera Squad, but it certainly feels like there's more to each unit you receive.

There are five classes in Gears Tactics: Support, Vanguard, Sniper, Scout, and Heavy. Each class has their own weapon type and a skill tree that puts XCOM to shame. For example, the Support class sounds like your typical healer. You can go down that route and make them a healer, but you might also want them to be competent in combat; in this case, going down the strategist route on the skill tree is ideal.

You see, each class' skill tree features four different routes, each emphasizing different styles of play. In XCOM, you'd typically be restricted to choosing one ability over the other as you level up. Gears Tactics' four different paths allow you to focus on one side in particular, or make your soldiers a generalist. I particularly enjoyed creating a Heavy—a class that uses the Mulcher minigun—who does more damage the longer he stays in cover and also excelled when using overwatch. But if that's not your thing, the demolitionist tree is perfect for those who want to cause tons of explosions. You end up with more than five classes since there are so many different routes to take, so class diversity feels more robust than XCOM.

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Gears Tactics has been released:

Gears Tactics

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Gears Tactics is the fast-paced, turn-based strategy game set 12 years before the first Gears of War. Cities on the planet Sera are beginning to fall to the monstrous threat rising from underground – the Locust Horde. With the government in disarray, a squad of survivors emerge as humanity's last hope. Play as Gabe Diaz, recruiting, developing and commanding your squads on a desperate mission to hunt down the relentless and powerful leader of the Locust army: Ukkon, the mastermind monster who makes monsters. Against all odds and fighting for survival, outsmart your enemy in uniquely brutal, turn-based tactical combat. Experience the intensity of one of the most-acclaimed video game sagas in an exciting new way.

• Immersive and character-driven story: Play as the defiant soldier Gabe Diaz, rescuing and building your troops in a journey of leadership, survival and sacrifice.
• Customizable squad and equipment: Prepare your troops to face tough enemies, upgrading their skills and outfitting them with loot collected in challenging missions.
• Aggressive gameplay: Command your squad in fast paced, turn-based battles, advancing and surviving intense and visceral encounters with the unstoppable, swarming enemy.
• Massive boss battles: Defeat towering deadly bosses that defy your strategies and completely change the scale of the battle.

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Gears Tactics has been reviewed favourably by TechRaptor.

The developers also tried to include the same types of epic boss encounters you'd see in the shooter games, which may or may not have been such a great idea. In theory, I love seeing the huge Brumak and Corpser terrorize my troops, but the limited movement options in these scenarios stretch the gameplay to its limits. This is especially true if you're playing on anything but the lowest difficulty since you're forced into using named characters that need to survive in order to continue. If I could use actual military tactics and throw more expendable troops into the fire, these fights might make more sense, but that's not the case. As is, these moments are the only points where the fun turned into frustration.

This attention to detail even extends to the presentation. None of it is crazy-impressive, but it does look exactly like you'd want a Gears game to look. Special shots zoom in to the same angles as the shooters, locations feel like bombed-out warzones, and that old guitar riff plays whenever you clear an enemy encampment. If you're looking for something, anything new out of the franchise, you may be disappointed, but that's not me. I'm happy to find a new way to enjoy the old tricks of 2006. The only thing that's different is the perspective, and that's a huge accomplishment in my eyes.

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Learn more about Gears Tactics:

Gears Tactics Launch Trailer

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Rise up and Fight! Pre-install on PC now and get ready to play April 28 on Steam, Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta) & Windows 10.

Gamespot has collected some info about the upcoming strategy RPG Gears Tactics:

What You Need To Know About Gears Tactics, The New PC Strategy Game

Microsoft's popular shooter series extends to a new genre with Gears Tactics.

Xbox's iconic cover-based shooter is switching gears for its next big release. Developers The Coalition and Splash Damage are launching a new strategy game set in the Gears of War universe called Gears Tactics. It arrives at the end of April for PC (and eventually on Xbox One), and is a canonical entry in the series. This is the first non-shooter release in the Gears series since the mobile game Gears Pop. It's a big change of pace for the franchise, and GameSpot recently had the opportunity to check out some gameplay and speak with one of the lead developers to find out more.

What It's All About

Gears Tactics is a turn-based strategy game developed by Gears 5 multiplayer studio Splash Damage in collaboration with main series developer The Coalition. The game was conceived as a way for Microsoft to extend the Gears franchise beyond its traditional home on console, and try to break into a new market by entering the strategy genre. The studio tells GameSpot that it understands PC is the platform of choice for many, and launching Gears Tactics as a PC-first game (featuring robust graphical and accessibility options) is an effort to address this gap.

Gears Tactics is a single-player only game that describes itself as "faster, more open, and intense" than other strategy games on the market. There is no grid, and you don't move square-to-square. Instead, players can freely navigate the map each turn using three actions--moving, shooting, or executing a skill. The Coalition describes Gears Tactics as a more action-oriented title than other strategy offerings, which is fitting for the traditionally action-heavy Gears series. There are numerous enemies per encounter, and this is meant to hearken back to the main Gears franchise where enemies come at you relentlessly. There are plenty of enemies you may remember, including Wretches and Brumaks who act and attack like series fans would expect, as well as at least one enemy that is brand-new to the Gears universe--the Disciple.

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Thanks henriquejr!

Gears Tactics will be released on April 28:

Gears Tactics

Gears Tactics is the fast-paced, turn-based strategy game set 12 years before the first Gears of War. Cities on the planet Sera are beginning to fall to the monstrous threat rising from underground – the Locust Horde. With the government in disarray, a squad of survivors emerge as humanity's last hope. Play as Gabe Diaz, recruiting, developing and commanding your squads on a desperate mission to hunt down the relentless and powerful leader of the Locust army: Ukkon, the mastermind monster who makes monsters. Against all odds and fighting for survival, outsmart your enemy in uniquely brutal, turn-based tactical combat. Experience the intensity of one of the most-acclaimed video game sagas in an exciting new way.

• Immersive and character-driven story: Play as the defiant soldier Gabe Diaz, rescuing and building your troops in a journey of leadership, survival and sacrifice.
• Customizable squad and equipment: Prepare your troops to face tough enemies, upgrading their skills and outfitting them with loot collected in challenging missions.
• Aggressive gameplay: Command your squad in fast paced, turn-based battles, advancing and surviving intense and visceral encounters with the unstoppable, swarming enemy.
• Massive boss battles: Defeat towering deadly bosses that defy your strategies and completely change the scale of the battle.

Xbox Profile Required. Sign in with your existing profile or create one for free.

PC Gamer went hands on with tactical turn-based strategy game Gears Tactics. The game is due to release April 28th on Steam.

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Gears Tactics was announced at E3 two minutes after a Gears Funko Pop mobile game, which automatically made me skeptical. Spin-offs can be a bad even when they aren't playing second fiddle to Funko Pops. I didn't expect Gears Tactics to be bad so much as I didn't expect much at all. But after playing Tactics for three hours, I was taking it seriously.

What I found was really fun strategy combat, a bit breezier than XCOM but a far better adaptation of Gears than I thought possible. Even in the context of an XCOM-inspired strategy game, chainsawing baddies in a shower of ludicrous gore is still the good stuff. 

Gears Tactics brings several surprising and thoughtful new ideas to what could've been a very derivative game, and the developers at The Coalition and Splash Damage really wanted to get across how serious they're taking this as a game built first and foremost for the PC. "From day one we wanted to write a love letter to PC gaming, care of the Gears brand," said design director Tyler Bielman. "It was really always in our minds that we wanted a deep enough experience, with compelling enough gameplay to really hold a PC gamer's attention."

That commitment to the PC also extends to the tech powering Gears Tactics, from its detailed cutscenes to its embarrassment of graphics settings. But first, we had to talk about executions.

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