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Concise Review:
A simplified version of XCOM with a gears universe skin. The character abilities and skill points are well done and make a big difference in combat, but characters don’t level up fast enough to get the full potential out of them. The same goes for gun mods and armor. There are a number of ways to kit out your characters that make meaningful differences, but it takes too long to unlock enough gear so that you have to make the difficult choices.
Mission variety is lacking and gets very repetitive. The only real changes are the type and number of enemies you face.
Due to the lack of abilities, characters, and gear, the gameplay is too simple for the first 2 acts. Act 3 is more challenging, engaging, and enjoyable.
The addition of a non combat max/min system that you have to manage at the home base, like in XCOM, would enhance to the game.
Journal Style Review:
This game feels very familiar right from the get go. I don’t anticipate it does anything that different from xcom. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, not for me at least, the xcom style strategy game hasn’t been overdone for me, and the gears of war universe is definitely more interesting that the Xcom universe. So if they can pull off a solid progression system and some solid strategic missions I think this could potentially surpass xcom for me. But those are two big ifs.
After the first 5 or 6 missions I’d say this game is reasonable. The challenges haven’t been difficult yet, but I’m sure they will get harder. The upgrades and perks seem alright. The actual combat is pretty fun. I’m enjoying it when playing, but it hasn’t really captivated me. I usually only play for 30 mins to an hour and then I’m ready to do something else.
Early criticism is that the gameplay is too simple. I hope it becomes more challenging but currently it hasn’t been creative or complicated enough.
The brumak fight was more challenging, but I still wouldn’t say creative. Shoot him from behind and he turns when shot isn’t that great. It would be cool it felt a bit more detailed than that. My opinion of the game has declined a bit. A few relatively dull sessions in a row.
This game isn’t bad. I don’t dislike playing it, but I do still think it’s missing some depth in both the gameplay and the preparation. I regret not playing the campaign with the jack edition. Maybe they added that because they figured out the game needs a bit more to it. For the most part I’m just trying to find effective flanking cover and timing my grenade throws well. I haven’t had to do to much else to succeed.
It’s growing on me a bit. As my characters unlock new abilities and passives I’m able to think a bit deeper. I’m having more fun with it. But it’s still only sitting at a B which is lower than I would have guessed for this game. I’m at act 2 chapter 4.
I’ve finally figured out when to play this game. It’s a Saturday/Sunday morning with a coffee kind of game. That’s when I’m enjoying it the most.
There has been some squad management to deal with which has been a nice small addition. I’m enjoying preparing for missions a bit more. Deciding who gets the best armor and weapon mods and planning out different character builds has been fun. The last 5 hours has been the best 5 hours. If it continues on this track ill be pleased.
Starting the last mission of act 2. I keep debating with myself whether this game is a B+ and think it is. The gameplay has become slightly more challenging. I still rarely need to return to past checkpoints but I do need to think outside the box a bit more and plan out my attacks more thoroughly. It’s enjoyable but it’s a casual joy. It’s fun for a couple missions but then gets repetitive. I guess that’s my main issue with it. It’s fun, I do like it, but it’s repetitive. It’s a fairly simple game. I wish there was more to it.
I just played the hardest mission yet. It was a regular old side mission but for whatever reason I found it very challenging. Took like 7 tries to beat. I really had to think about what mistakes I was making and what I could do to beat it. It was the best mission yet.
The difficultly has been way better in act 3. Definitely my favourite act. I’m actually wanting to keep playing.
If the whole game was as challenging as act 3 I’d have a higher opinion of the game. I can’t remember for sure but I think I played this game on normal and if I did that was a mistake. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I played on hard.
I played the last 8 or so missions while listening to podcasts. It was a good way to finish it off. Although the final act was much more challenging and enjoyable, I did still feel some fatigue. Listening to podcasts while completing the same repetitive missions was a good way to do it. Would recommend.
Beat the game. Took me awhile to get into it. I see lots of room for improvement but I still had some fun with it. Ends a low B+
Final Score: B+
A simplified version of XCOM with a gears universe skin. The character abilities and skill points are well done and make a big difference in combat, but characters don’t level up fast enough to get the full potential out of them. The same goes for gun mods and armor. There are a number of ways to kit out your characters that make meaningful differences, but it takes too long to unlock enough gear so that you have to make the difficult choices.
Mission variety is lacking and gets very repetitive. The only real changes are the type and number of enemies you face.
Due to the lack of abilities, characters, and gear, the gameplay is too simple for the first 2 acts. Act 3 is more challenging, engaging, and enjoyable.
The addition of a non combat max/min system that you have to manage at the home base, like in XCOM, would enhance to the game.
Journal Style Review:
This game feels very familiar right from the get go. I don’t anticipate it does anything that different from xcom. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, not for me at least, the xcom style strategy game hasn’t been overdone for me, and the gears of war universe is definitely more interesting that the Xcom universe. So if they can pull off a solid progression system and some solid strategic missions I think this could potentially surpass xcom for me. But those are two big ifs.
After the first 5 or 6 missions I’d say this game is reasonable. The challenges haven’t been difficult yet, but I’m sure they will get harder. The upgrades and perks seem alright. The actual combat is pretty fun. I’m enjoying it when playing, but it hasn’t really captivated me. I usually only play for 30 mins to an hour and then I’m ready to do something else.
Early criticism is that the gameplay is too simple. I hope it becomes more challenging but currently it hasn’t been creative or complicated enough.
The brumak fight was more challenging, but I still wouldn’t say creative. Shoot him from behind and he turns when shot isn’t that great. It would be cool it felt a bit more detailed than that. My opinion of the game has declined a bit. A few relatively dull sessions in a row.
This game isn’t bad. I don’t dislike playing it, but I do still think it’s missing some depth in both the gameplay and the preparation. I regret not playing the campaign with the jack edition. Maybe they added that because they figured out the game needs a bit more to it. For the most part I’m just trying to find effective flanking cover and timing my grenade throws well. I haven’t had to do to much else to succeed.
It’s growing on me a bit. As my characters unlock new abilities and passives I’m able to think a bit deeper. I’m having more fun with it. But it’s still only sitting at a B which is lower than I would have guessed for this game. I’m at act 2 chapter 4.
I’ve finally figured out when to play this game. It’s a Saturday/Sunday morning with a coffee kind of game. That’s when I’m enjoying it the most.
There has been some squad management to deal with which has been a nice small addition. I’m enjoying preparing for missions a bit more. Deciding who gets the best armor and weapon mods and planning out different character builds has been fun. The last 5 hours has been the best 5 hours. If it continues on this track ill be pleased.
Starting the last mission of act 2. I keep debating with myself whether this game is a B+ and think it is. The gameplay has become slightly more challenging. I still rarely need to return to past checkpoints but I do need to think outside the box a bit more and plan out my attacks more thoroughly. It’s enjoyable but it’s a casual joy. It’s fun for a couple missions but then gets repetitive. I guess that’s my main issue with it. It’s fun, I do like it, but it’s repetitive. It’s a fairly simple game. I wish there was more to it.
I just played the hardest mission yet. It was a regular old side mission but for whatever reason I found it very challenging. Took like 7 tries to beat. I really had to think about what mistakes I was making and what I could do to beat it. It was the best mission yet.
The difficultly has been way better in act 3. Definitely my favourite act. I’m actually wanting to keep playing.
If the whole game was as challenging as act 3 I’d have a higher opinion of the game. I can’t remember for sure but I think I played this game on normal and if I did that was a mistake. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I played on hard.
I played the last 8 or so missions while listening to podcasts. It was a good way to finish it off. Although the final act was much more challenging and enjoyable, I did still feel some fatigue. Listening to podcasts while completing the same repetitive missions was a good way to do it. Would recommend.
Beat the game. Took me awhile to get into it. I see lots of room for improvement but I still had some fun with it. Ends a low B+
Final Score: B+
I really hope they continue with this Gears spin-off. For their first go they did a great job. The gameplay is solid and the story is a-okay. The skill trees and gear/weapon options allow for lots of neat combinations. On the down side levelling is way too slow and the missions get repetitive; they only have a few different mechanics and the side missions force you to constantly replay them.
Date Completed: 2020-05-11
Playtime: ~ 25h
Enjoyment: 9/10
Recommendation: It's a really fun turn-based tactical game. Definitely worth a go if you've enjoyed the last few XCOM games.