Gears POP is a Gears of War game set in the Funko POP universe using the POP style. The game is player vs. player and player vs. emend using the Clash Royal style of gameplay.
General Gameplay
Gears Pop at its heart is a Clash Royal style game where you build your armies and try to take out two towers before taking out your opponents’ character. The game uses card style of characters that have their strengths and weaknesses in a rock-paper-scissor matchup. The game is exclusively on the mobile devices and tracks your progress via Xbox Live achievements. The Game Visuals are what you would expect from a mobile game. Gears POP has the Funko POP licensing using the Gears characters in a top down view of the battlefield. The game has vibrant graphic showcasing the characters and very colorful backgrounds from the game series. The characters are shown in the Funko POP style with large heads and features from the series. The colors are easy to see the graphics as well in the game. There is a lot of details in the backgrounds and menus. Gears POP does not support a colorblind mode; however it is not needed as the game is colorful enough to see in motion on the mobile screen. If anything, the game implores a cutesy style of presentation of the game characters to showcase more of the Funko POP style of characters then anything else. The game does have the violence that you would see in the Gears franchise, but it is very toned down for the mobile version of the game. In our play testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game graphics. Audio for Gears POP is very much like the music that you would hear in the Gears universe. The same background music that you would hear in the game is here in the mobile version that you are used to hearing from the series. Where the series stands out is the voice over are higher pitched in this version to better fit the characters style in their POP version. All of the sound effects that you would expect to hear from the Gears universe are here. From weapons fire, to the grunts of the Locus, and other sounds and effects from the COG. The game is presented using the smart device speakers, and we recommend using a Bluetooth headset when playing to better enjoy the games audio. The controls for the game are very simple. Everything is controlled with the swipe of your finger on the screen. From selecting solders to specials and placement of troops, all of this is done with the swipe of the finger interface. This is designed for gamers that are used to playing mobile games and those that have played games like Clash Royal will feel at home with this simple but effective interface. In our play testing, we did not encounter any issues with the game interface or controls.
“With a simple interface and Clash Royal style of gameplay, Gears POP is a fun game for those that are looking for a Gears of War game on the go.”
Family Friendly
One of the interesting things about this Gears game on the mobile interface is how simple the gameplay is. Anyone that plays mobile games knows how the Clash Royal style of gaming is. Build your troops send them to the enemy towers and take down the enemy with using the best combination of characters and their skills to do this within the time limit. Now what makes this a fan game is that anyone that has played any of the Gears of War series games will be at home with understanding how the game will work. One of the traits that they took from the Gears series is the ability for certain characters to take cover and earn more space onto the battlefield to deploy their troops closer to the enemy. With the understanding of how the troops are strong/weak against others this at times becomes a strategy game where you must be two steps ahead of your enemy and move forward towards victory. What gives this game its charm, is the Funko POP licensing of using Gears characters in a cute way of showcasing a more family friendly game. Now those that love the Clash Royal style of gaming will love this game, and even if you are not a fan of the Clash series, you will still enjoy the game. Some of the concerns that we have with the game is Microtransactions. Over time, you will earn the better characters to use in the game, but for those that want a stronger set of troops to use, they can “play to play” and use real world money to purchase packs to better their cards. Now is it necessary to do this? No, however there will be players that will use this system to favor them. Fortunately, we have not ran into this in our testing, but we have seen others that have use this and at times can make the game unfair for some gamers. Also there is a Horde mode that you can play, however it will unlock after a certain level of your progress. You will be allowed to either create a group or join one to participate in Horde matches. We only had a handful of games that we have played but we can say that the Horde mode is fun to play with others in real time, just like the game on the consoles. Overall this is a game that is for fans of either the Clash Royal series or just really love the Gears of War series. Again, only complaint that we have with Gears Pop is that Microtransactions can hinder gameplay. So, parents/guardians of younger gamers please keep this in mind when playing the game. In our special needs game testing, we did not run into any issues with the game graphics, audio or controls, if anything the game is very special needs gaming friendly.
Closing
Gears Pop is a fun mobile game that uses the Funko POP license well. An easy and fun game that everyone can enjoy on the go. Any fans of strategy games or the Clash Royal series will really enjoy the game.
#gearspop #familygamerreview #videogamereviews #specialneedsgaming
