Hello 
Gears: Tactics
12 years before Gears of War, a squad was sent out to fight the Locust. Four (soon to be five games) later, we know how that battle went. In any case; this title isn't about killing monsters in third person action view; instead its about turning the Gears of War universe into a modern XCOM clone, or at worst, a Dawn of War 2 clone.
Its called a "character driven story", with fast, aggressive game play, boss battles; and custom weapon load outs, and something very, very ambitious for Microsoft in 2018 - or 2019, or whenever it releases, it will be an exclusive, PC only title.
This looks like XCOM: Gears of War, but will PC gamers accept a title in the genre belonging to a popular franchise? It is hard to say as details are very, intentionally vague about this game, and as it is only in "Pre-Alpha" according to the too-short game play snippet provided; we'll just have to wait and see.
Mark this one down as "big franchise tries to cash in on niche, complex gaming genre". Hopefully it is a gateway drug for titles like XCOM, to introduce more people to the wonderful world that is turn based, tactical strategy, with persistent soldiers.
It's a surprise I certainly didn't expect.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
Now that the Life is Strange story is complete, relating to Chloe Price and friends, it's time to go back to that universe of story telling, from the perspective of Chris, a 10-year-old boy. It looks like a much more light hearted take on the storytelling strengths of prior titles in the universe.
The very interesting part about this title is that it won't cost a single cent. It will be entirely free, and even more interesting; it will be released on the 26th of June. Less than fifteen days away! A title kept that far under wraps so close to release is rare these days, and it will be interesting to see where Square Enix decide to go with this title.
If they hook the ten-year old audience, I can see Captain Spirit related toys in retail stores around the world - (beyond Pop vinyls) - this could be an excellent way of capturing audiences and giving them another "growing up simulator."
Watch the trailer and decide for yourself:
Shadow the Tomb Raider
A new trailer has dropped for Lara Croft's origin story's end. On September 14, it looks like more of the same; with stalking enemies through detailed environments, trying to survive against creatures that are trying to do the same to you; and a story filled with action, explosions, and of course, jumping, climbing, and the raiding of tombs.
The trailer is ... inconsistent visually; with some scenes looking truly remarkable, while others are less impressive. This could be due to compression artefacts from the fact that it is uploaded to YouTube and then compressed by their algorithm, or a simple case of "Game still in development."
This one is, and has been on my list of "buy it" for some time now - I'm a Tomb Raider tragic.