This game rocks. I'm in chapter 3 now. It has an interesting feel to it. It all feels a little more mushy but dynamic and violent when compared to XCOM. I know it wasn't turn based, but in ways its actually reminiscent to me of Dawn of War II with its hero units, similar feeling boss battles, and violent clashes.
I also love the skill trees for the most part and how it opens up the experience of building out your soldiers. I may find some OP compared to others with time and some may not change your playstyle much (the Sniper skill tree, though fun, doesn't really change the Sniper experience) but there's no doubt it opens up variety more than XCOM. Gear really can as well, which I like because its a separate factor from class which allows even more freedom.
I have Gabe as a Support who often is hanging put, healing, doing overwatch, getting more actions from other characters moves, and giving other characters more actions compared to a different support who has high damage power shots and as focused to heal the whole squad and increase their evasion and abilities when they get a chainsaw kill (which the character has on extremely low cool down) and has a few debuff abilities. One is much more of a back line while the other is constantly in the thick of things like the Vanguard class. Having the gear abilities separate of class is cool that way because it allows you to say throw some big heavy armor on your support that can really change your playstyle.
Unfortunately, at least for how I play (do some reloading, but i play on the Hard mode), you don't have to use too much of your roster. I like when they force you to use more soldiers on series side missions but I wish it actually just went a little bit further. Even still, you only are going to use 4 soldiers in your big missions and often 3 will be required for story reasons so that limits that. They can't die on missions so that limits a lot of possible character deaths on some of the harder missions, including bosses. Adding two more characters would increase the scale of the game a lot it seems but I can't help but wish you had two more slots per mission.
I have enjoyed the character parts and story more than any other Gears game (but that's not too much praise), but it is interesting to think about how that part factors in compared to an XCOM, where you make all your heroes. I actually think if you did away with the whole hero system you could really open things up for some areas where this game shines (character variety and build difference) and you would get that investment more in your characters. Maybe a different mode or a mod would be cool in that way.
Overall, great experience so far. Having a couple build types in each class has been really fun and getting different cosmetic stuff as you go has led to some really cool characters to make.
The game nails the Gears stuff and if you've played some of the series it is cool and satisfying to see certain enemies pop up or get your hands on the power weapons like the Torque Bow. It all looks great from the top down perspective and mostly the design here is great. I think its kind of drab color wise but when I play each class is color coded and has flair. It does give you nice options for that.
I've had some bugs but not many (one was insane, with a big color distortion over a ton of the screen, i should have got a picture of it haven't seen anything like it). I also have a little complaint that the game doesn't let you totally break it even though you can set it up to be broken it seems. I have one Scout set up as a total Grenadier unit and with ability and gear they should have zero cool down on their Grenade, which is ridiculous balance wise but I am hitting that number and the game has capped it at 2. Oh well. I also wish there were more execution animations.
Tips I would give:
-This is probably a no brainer but overwatch can be even more OP in this game than XCOM with its interrupting potential and possible boosted damage. The game however makes you learn this lesson with multiple small swarming enemies, at least on Hard, so I feel like you have to learn this to make it far.
- When your AP counts, try to move 1 AP at a time and judge each step. It can make a surprisingly big difference to how far you can get and it allows you to react if you expose enemies.
- Be willing to abort missions (certain missions really can lend themselves to certain classes and set ups and if you aren't set up, don't be afraid to fix your squad since you only get 4 or less).
- Some of the skill tree does seem like a no brainer but you can do some cool stuff elsewhere. For example in Scout i think the possibilities outside Grenades/Mines as far as for example the Anticipation abilitiy. With my Scout with that build, I send her way behind lines to set up ambushes Ghosted with Sprint at least a turn in advance, and once in position you can use that Anticipation to create 2-3 extra AP for the next turn eventually and go WILD with the Gnasher next turn to the exposed backs of the enemy, with executions allowing you to return to cloak and basically be the Predator. Doing that to an entrenched position of Snipers and overwatching Grubs is so satisfying. Don't get me wrong, the mines kick ass too.
- Planting grenades as mines is great, has a whole different cool down to it so can be used often.
- In part with that, although the game can have huge pushes and lots of moves that allow you to be super aggressive, at times running away is the best move, or keeping units out of range from the enemy in more cautious positions. Be willing to fall back tactically. Planting a Grenade as a mine and running back is a great example. The explosion will interrupt enemies which is hugely useful against enemies like the Grenadier. The next turn you can launch a counter attack to anything you gave up.
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