Missions range from the standard fare to unique takes on inter-faction interaction (say that five times fast). The Sky Shield mission tasks you with assisting Jim Raynor and Terran Forces. In Unleashed, you can relocate your base — literally shift and move your Nexus — to avoid interruptions in mineral collection. Many of the cinematics and voice recordings have been completed or are seriously underway at this point, but no official release date has been revealed.

On the other hand, Allied Commanders is an objective-based cooperative gameplay mode. You can team up as a commander from any of the three races and engage in campaign-style dynamic missions to gain access to customizable units and additional options for your armies.

The Lurker is a brutal new addition to the Zerg arsenal which deals substantial damage from below, as well as reduces the capacity for static defenses like Planetary Fortresses, Photon Cannons and Spine Crawlers to halt Zerg pushes. Ravagers and the new Infestor buffs give Zerg a little more oomph in full-on engagements, while the Nydus Worm changes allows for aggressive siege- and stalemate-breaking as well as more harassment opportunities alongside the changed Swarm Hosts.

There are some small annoyances that start to become more apparent as Gears Tactics long campaign unfolds, such as some common camera quirks and stiffness, protagonist Gabe Diaz’s mind-numbing tendency to audibly re-read mission briefs after a squad wipe, and character quips repeating every other time a unit’s selected. However, those and other little nuisances pale in comparison to the game’s droning sense of pace. Encounters feel like they drag on for ages thanks to an an inability to speed up or skip to the end of enemy turns and friendly buff animations that take too long to complete, and the overarching story is an even worse offender. Its first act is really an extended 5-10 hour tutorial, characters are uninteresting and hard to get invested in, and the plot doesn’t exactly amaze six mainline entries

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

Its greatest offering is its brilliant take on the well-worn overwatch mechanic, which expends all of a soldier’s remaining AP (with at least 3 being given each unit every turn) in exchange for the ability to cover squadmates, reserving one shot for spotted enemies per AP allotted. What sets Gears Tactics ‘ overwatch apart from the crowd, Xbox Series X enhancements though, is its spatial nature, forcing players to highlight a lane of a length and in a direction of their choosing. This not only encourages players to anticipate from where they want to defend against assault, but also allows them to prevent their units from taking unintended potshots at the wrong enemy unit and leaving their allies exposed. Along with Sniper Locust that pin down friendly units, enemies are similarly eager to box vulnerable Gears using overwatch until killed or interrup

For the stoic Terran, we have two new units: the Big Daddy-looking, drill-equipped Herc and single-target assassin the Cyclone. The Herc is trained from the Barracks, has the ability to launch itself toward a target and can be upgraded to deal area of effect damage in a small radius. It cannot target air. The Cyclone (pictured above), built from the Factory, can lock on to deal double damage while moving and can hit ground or air units. The Lock On upgrade must be researched at a Factory’s Tech Lab. It’s a quick unit with the same speed as a Stalker, and is best used for kiting and single-target removal.

Speaking of bullet penetration, keep in mind it’s a double-edged sword. Grenades can damage friendly units if they’re too close to the point of impact, but so can every other attack, a fact players might learn the hard way if you have a unit on overwatch and they hit one of your soldiers who’s behind a moving en

As long as a downed soldier doesn’t die, they won’t suffer any negative effects going forward. Players will want to heal soldiers anyway to get them back in battle, but if for whatever the player is not able to, they don’t have to worry about long-term negative attributes coming back to bite t

Here’s a fun fact: thanks to the random soldiers in the recruitment pool having no points assigned to them, and the extensive customization options, players can sort of clone soldiers you’ve lost in battle. Just grab a new recruit, customize their looks so they look like the fallen soldier, and start assigning them skill points that mirror the fallen sold