In a game where troops can be killed permanently, it is both a gift and a curse that the soldiers level very slowly. On one hand, it can make the pain hurt less when a troop is killed and they aren't insanely str

It seems simple, but not allowing "friendly fire" really helps keeps the game flowing. Soldiers can accidentally shoot their squad-mates in Gears Tactics ; this can end a mission instantly if one of the main characters is accidentally killed. It makes the XCOM games slightly less realistic, but it’s not an omission that particularly gives the feeling of being less realistic. Disallowing friendly fire makes soldiers on overwatch more reliable at providing cover. No doubt thousands of hours have already been wasted by gamers who have had to restart a mission because one of their soldiers shot a character who’s necessary for the plot to conti

Though it's definitely not the shortest game out there, Gears Tactics takes, on average, around 25 hours to beat. While this is a good thing for some, it compromises the otherwise vibrant and tactical g

A standard in the customization of soldiers for turn-based strategy games, each class has a skill tree that can be upgraded to allow them all to do different things. In Gears Tactics, the skills fall into four different subclasses for each cl

For starting stats go with +3 in either Strength or Finesse, +1 Warfare, +1 Scoundrel, and a Civil Ability that fits your character, Couple Gaming like Thievery for Fane or Persuasion for Red Prince. Initial skills should include Crippling Blow for strong close-range damage, Battle Stomp to clear out areas and knockdown enemies, and Adrenaline to get bonus AP on your first action. Because the main Knight weapon is two-handed, they will have access to All In, which deals additional damage for 3 AP. If playing a human Knight, use Encourage at the start of a turn before attacks, not after as a means of spending unused AP. The same should be done for elf Knights and Flesh Sacrif

Right out the gate, it needs to be addressed that taking a series that is built around sprinting and diving until you manage to shotgun your opponent into a billion pieces and turning it into a tactics game is a bold m

When players start an XCOM game they only have a handful of fresh soldiers who feel unprepared for the mission ahead of them. As a player progresses through the game it seems like every advance in technology or newly available resource is countered by some new weapon in the alien’s arse

The problems arise when you get to the late-game, as these side missions are often required to proceed to the next story mission. It can be frustrating to be forced to go complete two of these right when the story is heating

Performance issues are not uncommon in high-octane games, and Gears Tactics is not an exception. Although the game is highly optimized, some players experience stuttering and the infamous GT102 error code problems. The error issues are mainly related to the player's graphics card. It appears when the card fails to l

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 game-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

Two-handed weapons work a bit differently than other attacks in the game: there is a greater emphasis on criticals as the Two-Handed combat skills increases the critical damage multiplier. This means one will want to aim for Strength/Finesse to Wits at around a 3:1 ratio. Constitution is rather unhelpful; leave it at 10 unless there is a surplus of points at higher levels. Take Memory only when there is a desperate need for more skill slots, likely when arriving at Reaper’s Co

Gears Tactics makes ironman harder because, if a hero dies, the playthrough ends. It requires a lot of patience and knowledge of the game, because failure to keep a hero alive will force players to restart complet

The character-driven story in Gears Tactics is more compelling, and allows for voiced characters whose banter is amusing at times. For a player’s first play-through, this method of storytelling allows for a more interesting narrative, but the player will already know the story on subsequent play-throughs. In XCOM , each game is different. The soldiers will be different, the player can build their base in a different country, and the locations under attack will be different. Additionally, a player could focus on different avenues of research and technology (or psionics) than in previous playthroughs. This makes XCOM infinitely more replaya