Any fan of Apex Legends knows what sliding into cover means. Allies can easily slip into cover from a couple of feet like a gigantic magnet is dragging them.The cover magnetism cheats slightly by allowing a player get to areas that would otherwise be out of ra

Overall, it leaves the campaign feeling about two-thirds baked. Adding in more mission variety (or even trimming the side mission fat) to minimize repetition would undoubtedly solve attention-loss issues towards the ending stre

At the end of the day, Gears Tactics transitions the series into a new genre admirably well. Although there is much to be desired regarding mission variety and replayability, the developers did a great job interweaving classic Gears combat and weaponry into a tactical format, making for a positive experience over

For instance, all the customization options are gender-neutral. The player can also color each piece of armor however they want. And let’s not forget the plethora of neon options to make each fighter stand out. Basically, players can make their units as flamboyant, macho or ridiculous as they w

Though this starts as a small glitch in the initial stages, it becomes a big problem towards the end as the war gets tougher. Watching similar animations repeatedly can be tedious, especially in essential side missions or in missions that you lose something if you f

Weapons in the XCOM games are odd in that they are important, but also don’t really add anything to the game. They have names that reflect their purpose; Sniper Rifle, Grenade Launcher, and Sword are just a few examples. The weapons in Gears Tactics have names with a little more flare to them, like the Hammer of Dawn weapon that calls down a strike from a satellite. Gears Tactics has fewer weapons, but the weapons have more variety via the game’s modding system. Armor can be modded in Gears Tactics also- unlike in the XCOM ga

Heavies exist to deal tons of damage. Thanks to their wide field of overwatch fire, they can carry plenty of ammunition. Later on in the game, Divinity original sin 3 they can develop the Ultra Shot ability, which allows them to continuously fire on an enemy until the enemy d

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

Checkpoints are so plentiful that, to be frank, they are a bit ludicrous. The player can even get checkpoints in the middle of a boss fight, which means they can use all the outlandish strategies they can think of until they defeat a b

Perhaps best of all, however, is the cosmetics selection. Equipment and appearances (limited on certain heroes) are each highly-customizable, more so than I expected from a turn-based strategy game – and without any microtransactions in sight! Almost immediately, I turned Sid Redburn into Uncle

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

Messing around with customization between missions sucked up way too much of my time – and that’s not particularly a bad thing. The equipment menus could’ve been redesigned for more convenient loadout swaps, sure, but the high volume of tweakables was pleasantly surpris

Very demoralizing, right? So check ammo from time to time just to be sure. While snipers can easily fire and reload during the action and others have battling gear that enhances ammo; For the rest of the characters make sure reloading is done regularly. If it comes to a point where there is no other choice, do not forget grenades or pist

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

It may sound like a given, but Tactics truly impresses in its presentation as another quintessential Gears entry. All of the smells and flavors that helped characterize the series are seamlessly translated over. Cinematic cutscenes are smartly interwoven throughout the story, filled with plenty of tension created by the cast of fantastic voice talent. Low, brassy orchestral lines to add to the gritty, dark atmosphere – it’s all th