Perhaps best of all, however, is the cosmetics selection. Equipment and appearances (limited on certain heroes) are each highly-customizable, more so than I expected from a turn-based strategy game – and without any microtransactions in sight! Almost immediately, I turned Sid Redburn into Uncle

Keep in mind that allies can only go for one mission every chapter. If they are sent on a certain mission, they will not be useful in the next mission, until there is progress. Similarly, there are some missions that give optional goals that reward fans with some classes. So pick missions wisely and do not be scared of abandoning a mission and retrying it later with a different squared if the current one cannot handle

If there is one aspect of Gears Tactics that is obviously better than the XCOM games, it’s the boss battles. XCOM doesn’t really have boss battles; there is a final engagement against stronger enemies than those normally encountered, but that’s not really a "boss battle". Occasionally, players in Gears Tactics will find themselves facing an enormous creature that towers over the battlefield. Defeating these gigantic boss creatures gives players an immediate sense of accomplishment that is sometimes lacking in the XCOM games. These boss battles also really help break up the monotony of fighting the same alien soldiers over and over – which is a problem from which the XCOM games suffer on occas

Overall, it leaves the campaign feeling about two-thirds baked. Adding in more mission variety (or even trimming the side mission fat) to minimize repetition would undoubtedly solve attention-loss issues towards the ending stre

No one can put out focused damage like the Sniper. Given the proper space (and ideally elevation) to work, the ranged specialist can inflict heavy damage on any foe, softening up hard targets and mopping up damaged enemies in a single deadly sweep. The skills of the class allow the player to choose their particular flavor of deadly at a dista

In most squads, the Vanguard is going to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting. A multipurpose fighter comfortable anywhere from middle to relatively close range, players are likely to keep them on the front lines at all times. Conveniently, Vanguards happen to have a well-rounded skill tree that allows them to adapt to fill in any holes in a team composit

Gears Tactics is the latest game in the Gears (or Gears of War , as boomers may call it) franchise. A radical departure for the third-person shooter series, Gears Tactics is instead a tactical, turn-based RPG similar to XCOM or the recently released John Wick Hex . So far, it’s also only available on PC, not the Xbox

Emergence Holes are equal parts terrifying and wonderful. Sure, they spawn enemies that can attack the player right away. But if the player has a Heavy with a knock-back perk or even just explosives, they can force a Locust back down the hole, killing it instantly, even if it has full hea

The two opening skills for the support are both incredibly useful in their own right. Empower essentially hands an action Point Economy point off to an ally, delegating the damage-doing to a more specialized soldier for a net increase in hurt thrown the enemy's way. Stim is simple and direct healing, a nice pop of 100 points at the skill's first level. While not exactly overly impressive, that little boost can be game-changing - 100 points of health can mean the difference between a soldier making it out of a crossfire alive or d

These missions often have specific parameters, such as a limit on the number of characters that can be deployed, or specific buffs for enemies like increased movement or damage. Also, Gears sent on one mission cannot be sent on anot

The ultra-violent third-person shooter franchise Gears of War just made its return in a weird way. The newest entry in the series, Gears Tactics , uses the iconic universe as a setting for a squad-centric strategy g

There is something almost soothing in the brutal simplicity of the Heavy. A fortress on two truly hefty legs, the Heavy is the champion of stalwart defense through carefully applied explosions. Every team needs an anchor, and having an ability literally called Anchor alongside a wide range of area controlling abilities make the Heavy the prime candidate for the

Messing around with customization between missions sucked up way too much of my time – and that’s not particularly a bad thing. The equipment menus could’ve been redesigned for more convenient loadout swaps, sure, but the high volume of tweakables was pleasantly surpris

In terms of specialization, the Support can easily adopt the roles of effective healer or battlefield commander. For building a Support who is meant to keep people alive, Recovery Patch from and Group Therapy from the Surgeon and Combat Medic branches, respectively, are more or less indispensable. Fitting in with the Surgeon specialization's focus on passive and continuous healing, Recovery Patch grants a chosen unit healing at the end of each of the next three turns, great for orchestrating the takeover of a specific location or aiding a team mate in a narrow escape. Group therapy, like Stim, is simple but effective, healing the whole party at once. For those more interested in keeping a team in peak fighting form, the Paragon branch's Lock and Load and Strategist Branch's Surge are exceedingly beneficial. Lock and Load saves the entire team the hassle of reloading, meaning that an entire turn can be focused on putting down fire, while Surge completely recharges the targets skills and abilities, granting them back their full toolkit immediat