Since 2006, the Gears of War series has gone from being the definitive third-person cover shooter on the market to crossing over with Funko for a light-hearted game in Gears POP! and now, it takes its most significant leap ever with Gears Tactics.
The last half-decade has seen a rise of tactical games thanks to franchises like XCOM being revived and brought to new heights. In contrast, crossover games like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle have shown that the core mechanics of tactical RPGs can fit into different franchises quite well. With Mario + Rabbids, it allowed players wanting a new style of Mario RPG to have one while offering a great gateway tactical RPG experience for many who otherwise wouldn’t play the genre.
Early birds who either buy the game or download it on Game Pass before May 4 get the Thrashball Cole character pack. This character pack gets you not only Cole Train but a thrashball armor set. If you’ve ever wanted to play a tactical RPG with a giant badass dressed in a makeshift American football uniform, give it a go. Like Gears 5, Gears Tactics will be available on Steam and the Windows Store for PC. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users can also enjoy the game on day one on both April 28 when it launches on PC and whenever it comes out later this year on the Xbox One family of consoles.
If you enjoy the lore of Gears of War but want something a bit different, you can pre-load the game now on PC and give it a shot.
With the Gears franchise’s fanbase generally skewing older due to the nature of its violence, and the lack of demographic crossover appeal, Gears Tactics will likely find itself in a similar gateway position, only for a different reason. With Ubisoft’s effort, it was a matter of a game skewing younger and, as a result, maybe not even having a chance to play a tactical game like that — especially if they only have a Nintendo Switch. With Gears Tactics launching first on PC, the devs at The Coalition and Splash Damage know they’ve got their work cut out for them because they have to aim to please the PC tactical market and not just the console space where pickings are slimmer. Consoles will generally only have things like XCOM and some side offerings like X-Morph, so it isn’t as crowded a field.
Check out the launch trailer for Gears Tactics for more information.
