Gears Tactics is a turn-based tactics video game created by Splash Damage and The Coalition. Xbox Game Studios published the game. It is part of the Gears of War series and comes before the first game in the series. The game was first released for Windows on April 28, 2020. Later, it was released for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, 2020.
Gameplay
The game is viewed from above and is a turn-based strategy game where players give orders to a group of soldiers to defeat enemies on a map. Depending on the mission, players may also complete extra tasks. Players can move freely across the map without being limited to a grid. Each character can take three actions, such as hiding behind cover, shooting enemies, or staying in overwatch to shoot any enemy that moves into their view. When an enemy loses most of its health, a friendly unit can move in to finish it off, giving all units an extra action point. Players must throw grenades to destroy Emergence Holes, which create more Locust enemies. If a friendly unit is defeated, players can revive them to return them to battle with less health. The game has five different character classes, each with special abilities. Characters can be customized with upgrades, armor, and new skills earned by leveling up. Except for important "hero" characters, other friendly units are randomly created, and if they are killed in battle, their deaths are permanent.
In addition to the main story, players can complete side missions. At certain points in the story, players must finish one or more side missions to continue. After completing the main campaign, players can unlock Veteran Mode, which lets them replay missions with changes like increased damage or reduced accuracy. The game does not include a multiplayer mode.
Synopsis
One year before the game, a group of creatures called the Locust Horde came out from underground and started a war to destroy all humans in Sera. The only government left, the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG), moved to Ephyra, a city on the Jacinto Plateau where the Locust could not dig through the hard rock. To stop the Locust from attacking and to prevent them from taking resources, COG leader Chairman Richard Prescott ordered all major cities outside the plateau to be burned using the Hammer of Dawn (HOD), a powerful satellite weapon that can fire lasers at the surface. Prescott also sent a group of soldiers to destroy any remaining Locust in key cities. In the city of Aldair, a group of soldiers called Alpha Squad, led by Sergeant Gabriel Diaz, was sent to clean up the Locust. Diaz had left his previous job after a difficult battle during the Pendulum Wars.
Before the HOD destroyed Aldair, Diaz and Major Sid Redburn were ordered to retrieve secret files from the CIC building. They found the files on a Locust scientist named Ukkon, who had created the creatures the Locust used in battle. The HOD destroyed Aldair, but Diaz and Redburn survived. However, Ukkon attacked and destroyed an army base, killing all members of Aloha Squad. Prescott ordered Diaz to kill Ukkon and gave him permission to use any method necessary. To find soldiers for the fight, Diaz and Redburn tried to rescue a group called Echo-Five but discovered that Ukkon had killed other cleanup teams. Alpha Squad later helped a group of civilians called Stranded, who had survived the HOD attacks. The leader of the Stranded, Doctor Mikayla Dorn, knew about Ukkon's plans and led Diaz and Redburn to where Ukkon was hiding. Mikayla shot Ukkon in the face, but he quickly healed. Diaz began to suspect the COG was hiding important information that could endanger them.
Diaz moved his squad to the Vasgari desert to train them for battle. There, they found an empty canister that Ukkon had used, which came from the Nedroma Health Institute, a place that studied a disease called Rustlung caused by Imulsion exposure. At Ukkon's hidden supplies, they discovered canisters filled with medicine that could help fight Rustlung but had dangerous side effects. Diaz realized Ukkon was dying from Rustlung and needed the canisters. He set a trap using the canisters to lure Ukkon. Alpha captured Ukkon but learned he had a past with Redburn. Redburn tried to take Ukkon back to Ephyra, but Mikayla stopped him. Ukkon escaped.
Diaz and Mikayla kept Redburn from being executed by Prescott, who wanted to punish him for betraying the COG. Redburn revealed he had worked at a lab called New Hope, where scientists tried to cure Rustlung. Instead, they used dangerous experiments that created the Locust. Most of the patients became violent, but Ukkon survived and gained immortality. When Prescott learned Alpha knew about New Hope, he tried to kill them with the HOD. After Alpha was no longer part of the COG, they continued their mission. Redburn shared information about a special gas grenade that could stop Ukkon's healing. Using the grenade, Alpha found Ukkon's base in Zenic Province, the only area not attacked. There, they rescued a civilian named Reyna Torres, who agreed to help them find Ukkon in exchange for the chance to kill him. Diaz and Reyna began working together.
With Mikayla's help, they weakened Ukkon using the gas grenade. Diaz, Redburn, Mikayla, and Reyna attacked Ukkon's lab. Ukkon brought his creatures to fight them, but Alpha defeated his forces. Reyna killed Ukkon and retrieved an amulet from him that had belonged to her mother, who was later revealed to be Queen Myrrah of the Locust Horde. After Ukkon's death, Alpha decided to destroy all of his remaining creations.
Development
The game was developed by Splash Damage, with help from The Coalition. The Coalition aimed to share the franchise with more people and noticed similarities between the franchise, which includes squad-based third-person shooters with cover-based combat, and turn-based strategy games. Alex Grimbley, the game's executive producer, said, "[the team] actually just took existing Gears and just moved the camera up." It took the team four and a half years to create the game. The game is not connected to Gears of War: Tactics, a canceled spin-off made by Epic Games.
The team wanted the game to move faster than other games in the genre. To achieve this, they gave each unit three action points instead of two, allowing players to perform multiple actions in one turn. The team focused heavily on the game's story, aiming to tell a "personal and emotional story." They spent many resources making cutscenes and hiring voice actors. They also worked with 343 Industries, the team behind Halo Wars, a strategy game from the Halo series. However, unlike Halo Wars, this game was made as a high-quality PC title rather than a console-focused strategy game.
Xbox Game Studios announced the game at E3 2018, along with Gears 5 and Gears Pop!. At The Game Awards 2019, Microsoft said the game would release for Windows on April 28, 2020. Rod Fergusson, founder of The Coalition, later confirmed an Xbox One version was being developed. Players who pre-ordered the game received the "Thrashball Cole" pack, letting them play as Augustus Cole. The game was also available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers at launch.
When the game released for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, it included new content: Jacked Mode, which adds Jack as a playable character; "Deviant" enemies, which are stronger versions of regular enemies; more powerful "Supreme" weapon upgrades; and 11 new achievements worth 400 gamerscore.
Reception
The game received mostly positive reviews when it was first released, according to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews. Another review site, OpenCritic, reported that the game was strongly approved by 85% of critics.
Destructoid said the game was "a great Gears game and a great tactics game," noting that the main gameplay, which involves careful planning on the battlefield, was very good. Game Informer pointed out that the game had slow or unexciting flow due to too many repetitive side missions, but still called it "a solid new front in the Gears theater of war."
GameSpot and GamesRadar+ praised the game's visuals, strong character customization, good character development, and creative changes to the modern RPG style. However, they criticized the uninteresting parts of the story and lack of variety in missions. IGN highlighted the game's excellent graphics and animations, saying the character models were highly detailed and the environments on the planet Sera were well-designed. However, they criticized the user interface for not giving enough information and noted that while the main story became tiring, it still had some clever ideas.
PC Gamer criticized the game's story, side missions, and bosses, saying that the three main boss battles in the game used the same mechanics and did not change during fights. However, they praised the combat, skill system, and high-quality visuals. PCGamesN wrote that the game lacked enough variety in environments, missions, and enemies to keep the story feeling fresh, adding that with more creativity, the game could have been much better.
The game was nominated for the Best Sim/Strategy Game category at The Game Awards 2020.