Gears Tactics

Gears Tactics is a 2020 turn-based tactics game set twelve years before the first Gears of War. You follow Gabe Diaz, a soldier given the task of hunting down the scientist who breeds the Locust, the monsters coming out of the ground. Squads of up to four fight through ruined cities in a run of missions.

Each soldier has three action points per turn rather than the two of the XCOM reboot, and movement is free rather than on a grid. Executing a downed enemy gives every other soldier an extra action, so aggression is rewarded. Enemies keep coming out of holes in the ground until the holes are sealed with grenades.

It is fast. The developers said the third action was there to make play quicker, and it works: turns are long chains of moving, shooting and executing, and good turns feel like action scenes. Its boss fights against huge monsters are well made.

Between missions there is little more than equipment and skills, and the side missions repeat. It is a game of battles rather than a campaign.

Gears Tactics keeps the reboot's cover-based turns and pushes them towards speed and aggression, and leaves out the strategic layer almost entirely. It is a good answer for players who like X-COM's fight but find it too cautious.