Microsoft Announces Gears Pop, Gears Tactics, Gears of War 5

It's not uncommon to be baited in a press release. Start with something minor, and the something major seems bigger. Microsoft did this with their final event not once, but twice. The final announcement for the day was Gears of War 5, but before that, they announced Gears Pop! and Gears of War Tactics.



Of course, everyone was waiting for Gears 5. So let's talk about that first. The trailer isn't one of action and mayhem, but of emotional narrative. It starts with Kait Diaz expressing concern over her fallen companion. This drives her to talk about the strange dreams she's been having, and to leave the group to pursue revenge. After this, we get a taste of the action-packed gameplay. We see large locusts and strange mechanical enemies here.



We saw dramatic changes with Gears of War 4, particularly with the brothership aspects of the old games and with horde mode. It seems that Gears 5 continues this transition, even taking a step away from the Fenix family, the first time for a numbered Gears game.

Other than this, little else is known about the title. We expect more information within the coming year.



Now, what about Funko? The Gears announcement started off in an unexpected way: with Funko Pop figures. Gears Pop! is supposedly a mobile Gears game. Few details about the title were revealed, but it's slated to launch on iOS and Android in 2019 and features Gears of War characters who resemble Funko Pop figures.



The other thing was Gears Tactics. This was a turn-based strategy game akin to XCOM games. The game is described as "a true PC strategy game where brutal action meets turn-based tactics." So we can assume a PC release and likely an Xbox release. No further details were provided.