Gears of War: Tactical Squads – Where Strategy Meets Blood.

I. Introduction and background of the game

Gears of War: Tactical Squad is a turn-based strategy game published by Microsoft that has captivated many players in the gaming industry with its unique gameplay and exciting storyline.
The game is set 12 years before the first generation of the game, when the cities of the planet Syra are under the terrifying threat of an army of beasts coming up from underground. With the government in disarray, a small band of survivors emerges as humanity’s last hope. Players take on the role of Gabe Diaz as he recruits, equips, and commands his squad to slay the ruthless and powerful Orc army commander, Ercan.
The game pits players against the Beast Genetic Engineer, Urken, and his army of Beasts of all colors, including Gargoyles, Ravagers, and Geoducks, on the planet of Syra. Centering on Commanding Officer Gabby Diaz, it tells the story of trying to reorganize an elite unit to become the resistance resistance in a chaotic situation after being invaded by the Beasts back in the day. Gears of War: Tactical Squad serves as an episodic prequel to the Gears of War series, presenting players with a world of war full of challenge and fervor.
The game uses fast-paced turn-based strategy gameplay, where players need to form and command squads to complete various missions, using a variety of weapons and skills to defeat the enemy. In a situation where the enemy is outnumbered, fight for survival to crush the evil enemy. This kind of gameplay not only tests players’ strategic thinking, but also requires players to have the ability to make quick decisions.
II. Gameplay Characteristics

(I) Basic Gameplay
The basic gameplay of Gears of War Tactical Squad is unique and challenging. Players control a war machine in the game and participate in battles with other players or the computer. By completing various missions and battles, players can gain experience and money to enhance the capabilities of the war machine. The game uses a turn-based strategy where players need to form their own squad and rationalize the actions of each character in order to complete different missions. Each character has its unique skills and characteristics, and players need to choose the right characters to form a squad according to the needs of the mission and the enemy. In battle, players need to consider factors such as the character’s order of action, choice of weapons, and use of skills in order to formulate the best strategy. For example, when facing a powerful enemy, the player can let the long-range attack character attack first to weaken the enemy’s strength, and then let the melee character make a surprise attack to achieve the best combat effect.
(ii) Characteristics of weapons and equipment
The game has a rich variety of weapons and equipment, each with its own characteristics. The main weapons include laser guns, particle cannons and rocket launchers, etc. These weapons are able to cause great damage, but there are also some shortcomings. For example, the laser gun has a short range and low accuracy; the particle cannon is powerful but slow to reload; the rocket launcher has a wide range of damage but is heavy and affects the character’s movement speed. In addition, War Machine can be equipped with various equipment, such as armor, body armor and bulletproof vests. These equipments can improve the defense capability of the war machine, but also have the disadvantage of greater weight and size, which may affect the character’s movement speed and agility. Depending on different battle scenarios and enemy types, players need to choose their weapons and equipment wisely in order to maximize their combat effectiveness. For example, when facing enemies with long-range attacks, players can choose to equip bulletproof vests and helmets to improve the character’s defense ability; when facing melee enemies, players can choose to equip melee weapons, such as chain saw guns, to improve the character’s melee attack ability.
(C) Combat Skills and Strategies
In Gears of War Tactical Squad, combat skills and strategies are crucial. Players need to choose the right weapons and equipment according to the enemy and use tactics to attack the enemy. For example, players can use the enemy’s vulnerable position to focus their attacks, or use the terrain to avoid the enemy’s attacks. In addition, players need to understand the enemy’s attack style and weaknesses in order to better deal with the enemy. For example, certain enemies may be immune to certain types of weapons or may become more vulnerable in certain terrains. Players can strategize based on these characteristics to improve their chances of winning the battle. During battles, players can also utilize their characters’ skills and special abilities to enhance their squad’s combat power. For example, the doctor character can heal his teammates and increase the survivability of the squad; the vanguard character can carry out melee attacks and inflict great damage on the enemy; and the scout character can be invisible and carry out reconnaissance and sneak attacks, and so on. Reasonable use of the skills and special abilities of these characters can play a key role in the battle.
III. Game Evaluation

(I) Media and Player Evaluation
Gears of War: Tactical Squad has a generally positive Metacritic score, thanks to its exciting game content and unique gameplay. Numerous media outlets have highly praised the game, such as IGN, which gave it an 8 out of 10, saying that it is an excellent turn-based tactical game that transplants the Gears of War series’ iconic and visual style into XCOM-style turn-based combat. Tense and satisfying tactical combat ensues, with excellent battles and some clever sections to impress.
The game was also selected for a TGA award related to Best Strategy / Simulation Game, which is a testament to its excellence in the strategy game field. On the basis of inheriting the features of the Gears of War series, the game’s development team has boldly innovated and transformed the traditional third-person shooter gameplay into turn-based strategy gameplay, which has successfully attracted the attention of many players and media.
(II) Strengths and weaknesses analysis
Pros:
Compact level design: the game’s level design is quite compact, with 1 – 4 operable characters, basically a level can be completed in about 25 minutes (except for the chief battle). As a single-player game, it will take around 40 hours to complete, including all the branching levels, which will satisfy the needs of most players.
Excellent graphics: Although it is a turn-based strategy game, Gears of War: Tactical Squad has excellent graphics and environmental lighting and special effects. Microsoft continues to mold the game to the standards of mainstream 3A works, and the smooth combat can give players the experience of playing a shooter.
The gameplay is similar to the “UFO” has characteristics: cleverly turned into a turn-based action without losing the original flavor, the main gameplay is the enemy and I consume each character’s action points each turn to achieve movement, different attack methods, specific skills and items to use the operation, and with the scene terrain, the type of soldiers to defeat a huge number of beasts of war camps. The gameplay is similar to Spectre, but with its own characteristics, bringing players a brand new gaming experience.
Cons:
Lazy design of branch quests: the design of many branch quests in the game is obviously lazy, for example, the same map, similar quests (nothing more than saving people or treasure hunting), making people wonder if they are system-generated quests, and it feels like it is just to prolong the game time and practicing, which makes it very boring to play.
Lack of replay value: Due to the lack of creativity in the side quests, the tactical nature of the game lives up to its name, the shallow characterization, and repetitive mission structure, the replayability is also lacking compared to some other great titles. While the game’s excellent campaign and some clever sections remain impressive, the overall replay value is low.
IV. Configuration Requirements

(I) Minimum Configuration
The minimum configuration requirements for Gears of War: Tactical Squad are an operating system Windows 7 SP1 (x64) and a processor Intel Core i or AMD Ryzen (4 physical cores). For memory, 8GB of RAM is required, and the graphics card requires either a GeForce GTX 770 or an AMD Radeon HD 7970, which will allow the game to run basically at lower graphics levels. For example, if the game is played on a computer that meets the minimum configuration requirements, the graphics may not be particularly sharp or detailed, but it will still allow the player to experience the basic gameplay and storyline of the game.
(ii) Recommended Configurations
Recommended configurations include a Windows 10 (x64) operating system, again with an Intel Core i or AMD Ryzen (4 physical cores) processor. The memory requirement has been increased to 16GB RAM, and the graphics card is either GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 390. if the player’s computer meets the recommended configuration, then he can enjoy better graphic effects and smoother gaming experience in the game. For example, the picture is more detailed, the light and shadow effects are more realistic, and the game will run more stably and reduce the occurrence of lag.
(iii) Optimization Suggestions
In order to further improve the game performance, players can take some optimization suggestions. First of all, in terms of memory, you can choose the 16GB DDR4 – 3600 memory of Chips Ahoy, which has a better frequency, without overclocking operation to ensure stable performance. For hard drive selection, choose a better performing SSD like the Pocket PC M8SeG or Seven Rainbow SL500. this will speed up the loading of the game and reduce the read time. For operating system, use the latest version of Windows 10 1909 operating system to get the best compatibility and performance. In addition, the graphics card driver is also very important. Installing the latest NVIDIA driver version 445.75WHQL can ensure the stability and performance of the game. At the same time, a reasonable allocation of equipment can also improve game performance. For example, in the game, for the use of healing grenades to weigh the benefits, according to the actual situation to choose to use. For skill upgrades, consider upgrading the skill level to get better results. Through these optimization suggestions, players can get a better gaming experience in Gears of War: Tactical Squad.