Gears Tactics, the XCOM-like turn-based strategy spin-off for the Gears of War series, only released back in April for PC and will soon be coming to not only the Xbox One as promised, but it will also be a launch title for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles and be available as part of the Xbox Game Pass as well.
With it coming to next-gen hardware, developer The Coalition has stated that Gears Tactics will be taking advantage of the Xbox Series X's capabilities and run at a native 4K and 60fps, but it will be more than just a simple upgraded port of the game and will include whole new content.
Firstly, the character of Jack will be joining as a squad member. Long-time fans of the series will remember Jack as the robot companion that aided Marcus Fenix and his allies in the original Gears of War trilogy. He had cloaking and hacking capabilities and later became a playable character in Gears 5. In Gears Tactics, Jack will possess area of effect skills and the ability to take control of enemy units, meaning returning players will be able to come up with whole new strategies to complete missions.
The other main addition is a new enemy type that has been designed to inject a little extra challenge to the game, called Deviants. The Coalition hasn't gone into too much detail as to why they'll be more difficult, only saying that these enemies will be much smarter and can respond to the player's strategies quicker. But killing them will be worth it, as they drop new high-level gear as a reward.
The new content won't be exclusive to the console releases either, with The Coalition adding that those who already own the game on PC will be able to download these additions for free. However, they apparently won't be available at launch, though The Coalition says that they'll come shortly afterwards, so hopefully PC players won't have to wait too long.
Gears Tactics isn't the only major cross-gen title arriving on Xbox Series X at launch. Since Microsoft announced the console's release date, the likes of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon were confirmed to be releasing on the same date, all of which will come with the expected next-gen improvements.
While fans of the series may find the shift from third-person shooter to turn-based strategy a bit off-putting, Gears Tactics received mostly positive reviews from critics for successfully adapting the series into a strategy title.
Gears Tactics is available for PC. It will release for Xbox One and Xbox Series X on November 10th.
Source: GameSpot