Gears Tactics

Synopsis

A year before the events of the game, the Locust Horde, a race of creatures living underground, surfaced and started a war aimed at wiping out humanity on the planet Sera. The only government left, the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG), retreated to its capital, Ephyra, located on the Jacinto Plateau. The Locust could not tunnel through the plateau's solid granite bedrock. To keep the Locust from reaching the plateau and to stop them from seizing any resources, COG Chairman Richard Prescott ordered the destruction of every major city outside the plateau.

This was done using the Hammer of Dawn, a satellite-based weapon that fires powerful laser strikes, in a scorched earth tactic. Prescott also sent cleanup squads to key cities to finish off any remaining Locust. In the city of Aldair, Sergeant Gabriel Diaz led one such squad, Alpha Squad. Diaz had previously demoted himself to working in the motor pool after a traumatic experience during the Pendulum Wars.

Just hours before the Hammer strikes, Diaz got orders from Prescott and Major Sid Redburn to recover secret intelligence files from Aldair's CIC building. Inside, Diaz and Redburn found documents about a Locust scientist named Ukkon, who was responsible for creating the various monsters the Locust used as weapons. The Hammer destroyed Aldair, but Diaz and Redburn survived. Ukkon then destroyed the army base and killed everyone in Aloha Squad.

Prescott ordered Diaz to kill Ukkon by any method necessary. To find soldiers, Diaz and Redburn went to rescue another cleanup squad, Echo-Five, but learned Ukkon had been killing these crews. Alpha Squad later recruited a group of Stranded, civilian survivors of the Hammer strikes, after saving them from a Locust attack. Their leader, Doctor Mikayla Dorn, a skilled civilian engineer, knew about Ukkon's activities and guided Diaz and Redburn to Claybourne.

Mikayla shot Ukkon in the face, but he healed instantly. This made Diaz realize the COG was hiding information, and he feared this secrecy would get them all killed.

Development

Splash Damage led development on Gears Tactics, with The Coalition offering support. The Coalition aimed to broaden the franchise's appeal, and the team saw clear parallels between the cover-based, squad-focused third-person shooters of the main series and turn-based strategy games. Executive producer Alex Grimbley explained that the team essentially took the existing Gears formula and simply shifted the camera perspective upward. The project took four and a half years to complete.

This game is separate from Gears of War: Tactics, a cancelled spin-off from Epic Games. To keep the pace quicker than other strategy titles, each unit was given three action points instead of the usual two, letting players execute more actions per turn. The narrative was a major focus, with the team aiming for a personal, emotional story and investing significantly in cutscenes and voice acting. They consulted 343 Industries, the studio behind Halo Wars, though unlike that console-focused spin-off, Gears Tactics was positioned as a premium PC title.

Xbox Game Studios announced the game at E3 2018 alongside Gears 5 and Gears Pop!. At The Game Awards 2019, Microsoft set a Windows release for April 28, 2020, and Rod Fergusson later confirmed an Xbox One version was in the works. Pre-orders included the Thrashball Cole pack, letting players control Augustus Cole. The game also launched on Xbox Game Pass.

When it arrived on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 10, new content arrived: Jacked Mode added Jack as a playable character, tougher Deviant enemies appeared, Supreme weapon modifications became available, and 11 new achievements worth 400 gamerscore were added.

Reception

The game received generally positive reviews upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic. OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 85% of critics. Destructoid called it a great Gears game and a great tactics game, praising the core gameplay. Game Informer criticized the stilted pacing caused by an excess of repetitive side missions but concluded it was a solid new front in the Gears theater of war.

GameSpot and GamesRadar+ praised the Gears aesthetics, strong character customization, meaningful character progression, and innovative tweaks to the modern RPG formula, while criticizing the filler story and lack of mission diversity. IGN praised the graphics and animations but criticized the user interface for not providing enough information, concluding the campaign was strong with clever Gears-appropriate ideas. PC Gamer criticized the narrative, side missions, and bosses for using essentially the same mechanics across all three boss fights, while praising the combat, skill system, and presentation.

PCGamesN wrote that the game lacked variety in environments, missions, and enemies to keep the campaign feeling fresh. It was nominated for Best Sim/Strategy game at The Game Awards 2020.