Gears Tactics

A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage.How we score:  The Destructoid reviews...

Back in the day, I was actually a big Gears of War fan. I absolutely loved the first game, and more than likely put well over 100 hours into the multiplayer.I was also a big XCOM fan. Crazy to think that I had only started the XCOM series with Enemy...

Gears Tactics is, simply put, an excellent turn-based tactics game that stands up well against titles like XCOM and others at the top of the genre. While it has some slight issues, such as disappearing characters and a story that can best be described...

Its core combat is probably better than XCOM's. If only it did a little more with it, Gears Tactics would be one of the greats.

There’s a sense that this is Splash Damage and The Coalition playing to the crowd with Gears Tactics. It undoubtedly captures the look and feel of the Gears universe, squeezing it into a slick turn-based tactical game, but while I can see a few genre fans attracted to its more cerebral form of warfare, it’s the series fans who are going to get the most out of it.

Gears Tactics is big and brash at times, but it’s also deep, intelligent and balanced, with all the heart and passion we’ve come to expect from a Gears game.

Gears Tactics does an excellent job of grafting Gears' signature look and feel onto XCOM's turn-based battle format and looks great doing it.

I wasn't expecting to like Gears Tactics this much, and the tactical layer is phenomenally enjoyable. If this is all you want, Gears Tactics is a must-buy. However, a lack of memorable moments and the lack of a grander strategy layer to dig your teeth into could leave some itches unscratched, despite the quality shown by Splash Damage and The Coalition.