Gears Tactics - Lessons XCOM Can Learn From Gears Tactics

Remove all ads!

TechRaptor compared and contrasted Gears Tactics with XCOM: Chimera Squad and found somethings to recommend for XCOM.

​

Classes and Skills in Gears Tactics

XCOM: Chimera Squad does one thing very well, and that is making every soldier feel different from one another. They all have unique skills and abilities; for example, one unit has mind control while another can place shields on himself or squad mates, soaking up some damage. Then you realize that XCOM: Chimera Squad is more of a one-off and not a direct sequel, so these elements aren't likely to make it over to the third entry of the series. Gears Tactics might not have as many characters as the XCOM: Chimera Squad, but it certainly feels like there's more to each unit you receive.

There are five classes in Gears Tactics: Support, Vanguard, Sniper, Scout, and Heavy. Each class has their own weapon type and a skill tree that puts XCOM to shame. For example, the Support class sounds like your typical healer. You can go down that route and make them a healer, but you might also want them to be competent in combat; in this case, going down the strategist route on the skill tree is ideal.

You see, each class' skill tree features four different routes, each emphasizing different styles of play. In XCOM, you'd typically be restricted to choosing one ability over the other as you level up. Gears Tactics' four different paths allow you to focus on one side in particular, or make your soldiers a generalist. I particularly enjoyed creating a Heavy-a class that uses the Mulcher minigun-who does more damage the longer he stays in cover and also excelled when using overwatch. But if that's not your thing, the demolitionist tree is perfect for those who want to cause tons of explosions. You end up with more than five classes since there are so many different routes to take, so class diversity feels more robust than XCOM.

[...]