Gears Tactics has polished, stable gameplay. Nothing in the spinoff is going to make your head explode – though you will be exploding plenty of Locust heads. And that’s part of the fun, all things considered. Combat has a respectable amount of variance, but you can pretty much bulldoze your way through the Intermediate campaign like a bull in a china shop. Loading all your units up with Fragmentation Grenades and tossing them off as often as possible is an extremely viable strategy. Flanks are important, yes, and the Scout class can cloak, sure – but you really can explode, chainsaw, and Bayonet Charge your way to victory in most ca
XCOM wins this category easily – mainly because Gears Tactics doesn’t feature a base building aspect. Anyone who has played the rebooted XCOM series, then started playing Gears Tactics will immediately notice the lack of a base building SLG game tips-mechanic. The base building in XCOM adds a secondary strategic layer to the game. Players need to add new rooms to their base in advance of needs, and the rooms help increase the effectiveness of XCOM soldiers and staff. It will probably not surprise gamers if future Gears Tactics games include a base building aspect – it will probably be expec
Since the levels are made to seem more organic and realistic, the stealth opportunities will be more different than before. Mainly, there are open areas, so sneaking up effectively will be about getting to know your terrain and keeping a distance. Fortunately, the presence of buddies serves to make you aware of enemies more easily. On the bright side, an open area also means that running away or repositioning when you are spotted is much easier. On the other hand, an enemy’s pursuit is harder to lose when there are less corridors and walls between you and them. Being spotted will likely be noticeably harder than before, at least starting out. For those who get caught often, the feature from Ground Zeroes where time slows down and you are able to fire a few quick rounds upon being noticed is back. Players will likely get more and more accustomed to the maps available, as well as how to take full advantage of Snake’s increased range of movement and aiming. There does not seem to be a penalty to using buddies, or really any reason not to since you can tell them to hold position somewhere or come to you. Even if they get taken out, buddies are automatically extracted, so for the first time, Snake may not be consistently alone on the missions.
Class customization is satisfactory. There are five classes, each featuring four branches of subclasses. I found the amount of skill-tree variety to be just right – nothing overly complex nor dumbed-down. The selection of weapon mods and armor perks brought me the experience I just about expected. You can build each of your units to be adaptable and well-rounded or have them specialize. I personally enjoyed building up Cole Train as a beefy tank and Mikayla as a critical hit-machine, for exam
There is plenty of personality in every turn, Quiet hops, D-Dog pees, and the D-Walker can lay some smack-down on an unaware enemy. The areas are dense with content and dense with detail. The codex calls do not seem to be present, at least not yet, but intel is fed to you by request to fill up the audio void. Since Snake seems to be making more sounds during gameplay than the cutscenes preceding it, it is also nice to have the option to play the songs you collected along the way. Snake lends an extra bit of subtle personality in how you pass time by smoking a cigar while he waits. Fortunately, it does not look like you can be spotted while smoking either, at least at a distance.
Once deployed, players may notice that there is no mini-map or radar. Instead, players will need to go into the menu to view the map, which is also where mission start points will be marked and where the side ops zones are laid out. The selected buddy will also accompany you and aid you in general and specific ways. D-Dog, for example, can spot out and mark enemies for you and attack or distract someone at your command. If he has the stealth suit on, D-Dog can even mount the targeted enemy’s shoulders and stick a stun rod into his face. Meanwhile, D-Walker, a ride-able smaller-sized mech, can be a mode of loud or silent transportation, but also a mobile turret. On the map, missions and side ops are indicated differently; side ops are a general area while missions have specific start points. Side ops range from a variety of things and can hold more than just an asset. A side op to capture a soldier with a specific skill can also contain a hostage with another special skill which can aid in your R&D back at Mother Base. Along the way, resources, blueprints, music tracks, and many other things can be collected to benefit the player and Mother Base, encouraging the player to explore. Speaking of, there are many development trees for different weapons and tools, including the attachments that go with them. Getting a blueprint, be it from some scared soldier or on a table, could mean unlocking the next upgrade for your favorite rifle.
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