Fresh Gears Tactics screens from the Game Awards

Gears of War gets tactical in 2020 with a turn-based spinoff to the popular third-person action series. Here’s a smattering of new screenshots.

Turning gears

You probably don’t think ‘turn-based strategy’ when you think of Gears of War, but that’s one of the coolest things about this new game. You’ve got the aesthetics, themes, and world of Gears of War, but mounted on a turn-based gameplay engine.

Gears Tactics had it’s gameplay premier at the Game Awards last night, and what we saw was promising. Yeah, all the press might be about the Series X, but Gears Tactics needs a look too, especially if you’re a long time fan.

The game takes players back to a mostly unseen era, the beginning of the war with the Locust. That’s right, this is old school Gears, complete with Grubs, Wretches, Brumaks, and a brand new villain.

And as you’ll see in the trailer below, it’s quite the looker too.

Seems like there’s quite a bit of customization to be had here too. Not to mention those cinematic kills. Pretty slick stuff.

For those Gears fans who’re a little apprehensive about the gameplay getting too slow with this new approach too, maybe don’t be. Microsoft is promising a “fast-paced” experience with Gears Tactics.

We’ll see much more on this one in short order though. So if you’re not quite sold yet, stay tuned. Gears Tactics is set to arrive on the Xbox One on April 28th, 2020.