It’s been a long time coming, but finally, Gears Tactics has been released for the Windows Store and Steam!
The Response
The reviews have been rolling in and I am super happy with the response. It genuinely feels like we’ve achieved our goals of marrying the action of Gears of War to the thoughtfulness of the turn based tactics genre. But don’t take my word for it, here are a couple of quotes I’ve pulled from reviews.
The real test for the game was pleasing the PC-centric crowd, so I got a real warm and fuzzy feeling when I read “Gears Tactics isn’t just good – it’s arguably the new gold standard for turn-based tactics games” from Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
But perhaps personally, the real highlight for me was Edge (issue 346) highlighting the “terrific level design” (their words, not mine), steady pacing of threats and noting the risk/reward of later biomes. These are areas where I had the greatest influence. Even all these years later, it’s still nice to get some recognition to keep the imposter syndrome from the door.
Amusingly IGN pointed out that the fact that the maps “don’t appear to be procedurally generated”, as a negative in a comparison with Xcom 2. However, there was a great deal of procedural generation in Gears Tactics. It just so happens we hid it so well that people didn’t realise. So the level design and environment art teams should really take that statement as a win. One might say that one did their research…
On top of some pretty strong reviews, the word of mouth has been overwhelming positive. I truly feel that we’ve reached our audience – and that’s the goal, right? That’s not to say you don’t want everyone in the world to play your game, but increasingly I’ve been more concerned about reaching the specific audience that the game was intended for. Perhaps some of my more indie sensibilities are showing…
If you’re interested in art of the game or want a little peek into the development of the levels, then you can check out the ArtStation art blast.
The Team
Speaking of development, I would be remiss to not credit the awesome level design team I was fortunate to work with. I’ll drop a link to their portfolios for those that have them.
- Akuila Iliesa – http://www.ai3d.co.uk/
- Simon Keep – N/A
- Konstantin Loffler – https://konstantinloffler.artstation.com/
- Tristan Meul – http://www.tristanmeul.com/
- Darren Weekes – https://tddaz.artstation.com/
And I also can’t forget Lloyd Morris. Lloyd hired me 3 years ago. And he would later pass the leadership baton to me (I hope all is well at Naughty Dog)! It’s unfortunate that Gears Tactics has been released during the COVID-19 pandemic. We won’t get to celebrate the launch in person. Shame. Maybe when this is all over..?
Digital Foundry Tech Review
I was also excited to see that Alex Battaglia at Digital Foundry did a full technical breakdown of the game. I really love these technical deep dives and without spoiling anything I’m pleased that they were so positive about the game.
So where Can I Get Gears Tactics?
Gears Tactics is available to purchase and download now from the following locations…
For further information concering a console release, future DLC, or anything else, please check the official Gears Tactics Website.